Yes, it was another busy Sunday for the family but I must admit that no matter how busy it was, it was fun all the same. Sundays are always the best , I think, because we are usually together at breakfast and the simple meal of fried rice, left-over pancit bihon and scrambled eggs look like a feast to us. It is the best time to catch up on news with every member of the family. We are counting the days actually, we call it the Big Day since Nissa’s wedding is the first in the family. It’s three weeks to go and we are all excited.
We offered mass for Dad and our departed relatives. We’ll be celebrating All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day in a few days, another chance for most of us to visit cemeteries and offer a prayer for our dear departed. Compared to Halloween which is greatly celebrated in other countries, the two earlier events are always something to look forward to. We are definitely catching up on celebrating Halloween but it still could not compare with the solemn remembrance of what all saints and all souls day mean to us Filipinos. All Saints’ Day is a Holy Day of Obligation for all Catholics and is celebrated every November 1st of the year. It is also called All Hallows or Hallowmas. October 31 was declared a holiday until November 1.
I remember Fr. Michael’s homily yesterday. The gospel was about the two greatest commandments – love of God and love of neighbor. He said in his homily that “love is 1% emotion and 99% commitment”. Do you agree? I do, but maybe, add a little more on the emotions because when you love, the heart is always at the realm of it. And before you can commit yourself to someone, you have to feel that strong force which your emotions dictate. Gee, falling in love and being in love are not really the same, are they? Suffice to say, for you to stay in love, you need commitment and it’s such a hard act to follow if you are not sincere enough in what you do. It might be easy to fall in love but it is harder to stay in love. So much for this, let’s leave it to poets and romantic at heart.
And the best part of the day was having one of Nissa’s friends way back in college for a sleepover. Bonding time so to speak. Mumai is the maid of honor on Nissa’s wedding. We had a good laugh at reminiscing their college days and the times they used to stay here to make school projects. She gave me an advance birthday gift of ube cake, had some of for midnight snack with Twining’s Raspberry & Echinacea tea. I love tea more than I love coffee. And I love drinking them on dainty tea cups while having friends around. You name it, I have Earl Grey, Banaba green tea, Peppermint tea, and lately, I’ve been drinking Salabat brew. There was a study made that ginger is good for cancer so I am making it my regular hot drink from now on.
Time really flies so fast. It’s my birthday in three days, another year to be grateful about. I remember the time I had my chemotherapy treatment on my birthday two years ago. It’s definitely another year of blessings and celebrating life.
Thank you Lord for the miracle. Thank you for the second chance. Thank you for the gift of life.
Dreams And Escapes 