Whenever I hold a workshop or do a project away from home, I typically give away the clothes that I've worn and the things that I bring with me. I have too many clothes and too many things. Should I pass away suddenly, I do not wish to burden my granddaughters with the task of having to clear away a lot of my stuff, especially items that meant something to me but nothing to others.

When I was a little boy vacationing every year in San Fernando, Pampanga, I recall that the uninhabited, ground floor of the huge, Fil-Hispanic house was filled with antique armoires. Each one of them was packed with items belonging to aunts and uncles who'd passed away.

I don't want to leave trails like that behind me when it's time for me to go.