She was 7 when her father gave Joohyun her very first cassette tape as a Christmas gift. Being young and naive, Joohyun had no idea what to do with a copy of Let It Be by The Beatles until her father showed her a Walkman and taught her how to use it.

Young Joohyun felt puzzled as she held the tape with both hands and a creased forehead, “Papa, paano po gamitin ‘to?”

Joohyun’s father couldn’t help the smile that bloomed on his face because of his child’s innocence, “Halika dito. Ipapakita ko sa’yo.” The man tapped the spot on the wooden table in front of the sofa he was seating on.

Joohyun followed her father’s gesture and sat in front of him. The man took the tape from her daughter’s tiny hands and brought out a rectangle-shaped device from his messenger bag.

“Anak, ang tawag dito ay cassette tape,” He began and lifted the tape to properly show it to his daughter, “May music ‘to sa loob pero hindi siya tutugtog kung hindi mo siya ilalagay dito.” He then showed Joohyun the device in his other hand, “Ang tawag naman dito ay cassette player o Walkman.”

Joohyun stared at the items and listened to her father like she was receiving a lecture at school. She understood his words quite well and then nodded, causing her father to beam in satisfaction.

“Gusto mong patugtugin na natin?”

It was Joohyun’s turn to beam and nod with much want, “Opo.”

Her father’s smile never left his face, “Sige.”

Joohyun’s dad proceeded to explain to her how a cassette has two sides, each containing a different set of songs. He put the tape inside the player, making sure that they were going to listen to side A first, and then pressed the play button to hear the first song in the album. However, Joohyun noticed that her father pressed the skip button a few times before a familiar intro began to play.

When I find myself in times of trouble

Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom

Let it be

The tape sounded old because of the grainy sound of white noise that came with it, but that didn’t stop Joohyun from remembering a vivid memory brought by the song.

“Tatlong taong gulang k