In all my previous years, I never thought I would have the opportunity to be standing in front of the most powerful house in the world, let alone to see it up close. My son, Yogi and I had only been in the U.S. for seven months when the opportunity came knocking. My SIL’s sister informed me about the Notre Dame Dadiangas University’s (my alma mater) Alumni Biennial Reunion in Virginia. I wasn’t even aware of the organization until she told me. And part of the activities of the reunion was visiting the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.

To see so many of my countrymen in a foreign country was exciting, not to mention that we all attended the same university in my hometown in the Philippines. Even more exciting was to see one of the famous landmarks of my new country, if not the most famous, made me totally giddy with excitement.

But the feeling was not only excitement when I finally saw the beauty of the famous structure. Standing right in front of it was a dream come true. It was surreal to say the least. I’d only seen the building on T.V. and magazines before and to be honest, never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d see it up close and personal.