It’s In Your Heart

LIFE –

Is wonderful when you are happy

But it pains you sometimes when you are sad.

Life’s surprises don’t always come in dainty packages

Of pink ribbons and lovely boxes

Life’s surprises come sometimes in inopportune moments

Catching you unaware.

You smile with a certain sadness in your eyes

You greet the day

Dragging your steps along the way.

I’m here to listen

When the time comes that you want to share

I’ll be here to make you smile again

and make you believe that life is worthwhile.

Happiness lies in your heart my friend.

And it’s really wonderful to be alive.

(reposted from September 05, 2011)

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My 700th Blog After 29 Months Of Blogging

Reposting this blog I wrote back in November 3, 2011. Most of you here were not yet my friends then but I had a few followers I lost touch with over the years.

When I look back at the times that I felt so down, writing my thoughts on paper helped me to cope, a sort of  catharsis for me since I found out I had Stage 3 colon cancer. It was not a walk in the park  but faith , prayers and love of friends and family made me realize  that when you have all these, you have enough. When you believe that you will get well, you will. And when you believe that God is by your side, He is.

So this is my 700th blog according to WordPress. Since they have introduced letting bloggers know which post was magnificent, grand, dandy, splendid, sensational, fabulous,far-out, groovy, slick, superb, super, wohoo, way-out and all the other positive words they say about a current blog post, I’ve recorded every word count and which post describes all those words. It’s kind of fun to know what word they will use to describe what you have just posted. At the start of the year, I was in a quandary whether to take part in the Post A Day Challenge 2011. I asked myself, “will I be able to do that, write and blog everyday the whole year of 2011? “ Two more months to go and I will be able to say, “I did it.” And George S. Patton was right when he said and I quote: Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.

I was reviewing my earlier blogs this morning and I was smiling like crazy thinking, I was a little emotional in some of them but who cares, it’s the process of writing that heals you. And I would like to share a list of at least twenty-five top-rated blogs that I wrote in a span of twenty-nine months. They are not exactly my favorites since there are other blogs which I like better than some of them,  echoing what I feel and describing the true “me”. But the following are my most read, obviously for the simple reason that they frequently appear even if I wrote them a year or almost two years ago. You are welcome to read through my search box since I don’t exactly remember  when they were published here.

1. Homepage
2. The Early Bird Catches The Worm But the Second Mouse Gets The Cheese
3. UAAP Season 73 (University of Santo Tomas)
4. Friendship Quotes
5. Soulmates, Karma, Reincarnation
6. Unang Taon, Ulat Sa Bayan Ni PNoy (June 30, 2011)
7. Happy Birthday MAMA MARY
8. Dapitan Arcade (A Shopper’s Delight)
9. It’s Why I Love It
10. University of Santo Tomas at 400
11. On Meeting Dr. Samuel Ang Again
12. The Aquino Grandchildren And My Own Memories of Ninoy
13. Bank Of The Philippine Islands, Let’s Make It Easy
14. Suha,Lukban, Grapefruit, Pomelo
15. The Famous Transfiguration Chapel – Caleruega, Philippines
16. Oh, Oh!
17. Quotes To Live By
18. It’s Kung Pao Chicken Pasta For Dinner
19. Some Tidbits On Pres. Noynoy’s Inauguration
20. Moringa Juice
21. Sioma-making, A Great Feat For A Six-Year Old
22. Celebrating 400th Year (University of Santo Tomas)
23. Meeting Manuel Baldemor, A World-Renowned Artist
24. New Life, New Hope, New Beginning
25. Special Palabok

Thank you all for visiting my blog and leaving lovely comments. Hooray to blogging! And WordPress says, this blog is wonderful😀

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Those Days

Yesterday, I wrote about what life is like these days and some of you who are my faithful followers had those uplifting and inspiring comments, thank you.

You had glimpses and snapshots of the things I wrote since I started posting back in July 2009. That’s how long I’ve been writing here though not regularly now. I started with Friendster, blogged about a few posts and when it closed, I opened an account at Multiply and I tremendously enjoyed sharing with about a hundred close friends. I posted my collection of CDs, poems I wrote when I was in college, lots and lots of photos and blogs too. My youngest brother shouldered my premium account until it also closed years ago. A friend invited me to Facebook and I am still there, a co-admin of a Catholic page and two Catholic groups.

The reason why I opened an account here upon the recommendation of a friend was that I wanted to share my plight as a cancer patient and survivor. I had sigmoid surgery back in July 2009 and I painstakingly posted almost every day after I went back from the hospital. Had six cycles of chemotherapy after a month of my operation. Know what encouraged me to write further? It’s the people I met here who had the same ailment like me. They asked how the treatment was done, they asked about my oncologists and where they could find them. The thing was, they came back thanking me and shared their own experiences. What a beautiful journey! Some of them even wrote longer messages than my blog posts. Met two doctors who shared their plight as cancer survivors too.

Whew! I got lost here somewhere, I planned of blogging about my childhood in the province but I got diverted again, maybe on my next post.

I found a book about Tibet and East Timor. Want to know what life is like in those places. Excited! The weather has improved. The typhoon is out of the country now. No more heavy rains but public school classes and public offices are suspended today.🌦☔

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There Is Always Room To Grow

Have you ever thought of starting a new hobby because of this pandemic, when you can’t go out and you have so much time in your hands?

Early this morning, I took out the transparent plastic bag which have my eraser, sharpener, some small brushes, colour pens, crayola, water-base ink,  two sets of watercolor, my green glitter colouring book and my Zen Mandala colouring book.  Some of them were previous gifts from Nissa.  Then I visited my Memories page on FB and what do you know, there were the pictures of my Mandala coloured figures. You can see some of them on my previous post  here.

I hope I could give justice to all these designs.  They would surely help during some boredom weekday afternoons.  Since I have met my goals in Goodreads, I am choosing those books which are somewhat longer than the previous books I’ve read and are on my TBR list.

Night by Elie Wiesel, another WWII epic, Reduced to Joy by Mark Nepo, book of poems, Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry, an  Oscar-winning story of a memorable mother and her feisty daughter, Consolations by David Whyte. I love reading his poems, It by Stephen King. I haven’t read a King novel for quite some time. There are many more which I want to finish before the year ends.

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Something New

I finally got my badge.  I could still read more this year. Love, love books.

Thank you Goodreads.

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Treasured Memories

Senior  moments!

I wonder if I have posted this before here but I found  it on my Memories page  on Facebook and again it reminds me of those days when dad was still alive.

Dad, Noel and I

This was taken forty six years ago when dad was recognized by the University of Santo Tomas for his exemplary record  at the high school department. My youngest brother was a first year high school student here and I was in my sophomore year in college. Noel and I stayed in UST until our graduation from college. He took up Electronics Engineering while I majored in Economics. Dad was so supportive of us all that he transferred  the four of us in UST during high school.

I remember the days when I was just a first year high school student. Our class begins at 6:50 am until 12:50 pm (all girls) while the  afternoon session was for the boys. Dad would fetch me at the exit of the  school and accompany me to the bus stop at Espana Blvd. to get a ride. I was then new to the university.  Throughout my nine years of stay there,  I learned to adjust to high school and college life. Since UST is in the low-lying area of Manila, every time it rains hard, it also gets flooded. There were times when upon going home from class,  my classmates and I would remove our socks and would hike up our skirts to avoid getting wet all the way. There were even times when we would walk  about more than a kilometer (flood and all) to get a ride home.

I worked for about five semesters in college as a student librarian. Imagine the hardship of  searching for a ride on the way home at 8pm when my classes ended.   I remember those times when Dad and I will  have lunch together at his office after my morning duty at the library. I  only  used to work for six hours so I was on a full load  in my subjects.

My stay as a student librarian were the best years of my teenage life since those were the times I met friends, some of whom are still my friends until now. I learned the value of books in one’s life and how they enrich one’s knowledge through reading. When I was assigned at the Humanities Section of the library, I appreciated most of the collections there and when I was transferred to the Asian Section for a while, I learned to appreciate history and Asian literature.

How a photo would spark  wonderful memories,  for this is what it did to me today.

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Getting A Grip

It used to be a cup of coffee

But now it’s a hot mug of tea.

It’s a must every night while reading.

 

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It Makes Blogging Worthwhile (The Early Years)

You know those inspiring comments that you receive now and then from people from all walks of life and it really makes blogging worthwhile. I am quoting some of them here.

“Hello there Arlene!

I didn’t know before now that you are a cancer survivor… I am glad that you are okay now and I suppose that it is an everyday, every minute awareness of gratefulness and miracle you are living now.

I enjoy reading your writings and seeing your photos and I cannot thank you enough for sharing a bit of your life with us. I do not know you personally but when I am reading your ‘articles’, it’s like reading something from a friend…

Always keep well and I hope that your apo and your family will always have happiness and lots and lots of blessings!

jocelyne”

“Well done 👍

You are a survivor

And you know what’s like to feel death knocking at your door..
And know that you have overcome and surpass it..
It’s a great accomplishment indeed…

11 more years to you”

(from Nita, a follower for quite sometime)

“It’s so true that when we are well, we take our health for granted. My youngest daughter has been ill for two years but she is finally getting better now. She is only nineteen but really appreciates the days when she is feeling good and says she will never take good health for granted as she knows what it is like to feel so bad. Wishing you all the very best with your own health, Arlene.”

-jean reinhardt

“Really, when a book makes me cry, I give it five stars.” – I am with you, Arlene. Because your heart did the reading. ( Virgilio Gavia)

“Sometimes we really need to get out of our comfort zone to see things at a different perspective then we realize life out there is better. Your neighbors were so nice to invite your family.

I just had my colonoscopy too and though how uncomfortable the prep was it is a necessary test we have to take. Like you I hate those tests as they are anxiety causing moments and the wait is always stressful

Am glad that you are over the hump. Keep your positive outlook and eat well. Those are necessary to getting well” – Lou Burgonio

“Praise God! Your journey is inspiring and I am certain your thoughts and feelings, which you have so generously shared, have meant the world to anyone struggling with pain and suffering. Looking into the abyss of the unknown is terrifying and you and others like you are standing in that Abyss lighting the way for others to navigate their way out. I pray abundant blessings upon you as you continue your journey of life!”

Tina

(Tina seldom visits my blog but when she leaves comments, they are always heartfelt).

From a certain Doc In DC. I was touched. His comments were longer than my post:

Hi Arlene!
First of all, I’d like to say Kudos on your getting through the chemotherapy! I only know too well what it is like to be going for each cycle. Not that I’ve experienced it myself but my dad, who’s 65 years old was diagnosed with Stage 3 Colon CA like you sometime in 2009. He had surgery and finished chemotherapy. Like you, we all anxiously await each CT scan, CEA and colonoscopy that he has to go for for surveillance.
I am currently in DC doing my fellowship training in Hematology and Oncology. Yes, I am a doctor and at first found it ironic that my dad was diagnosed with cancer as I got accepted into a training program for Cancer and blood disorders.
I am religious and close to God but I don’t think my dad is but at that time he was diagnosed, I really would like to think that he found God…in so many ways.
Recently, he had a colonoscopy and it showed a sessile polyp in the cecum. This was biopsied but the results are not yet back. It does make all of us nervous. I have already started asking friends,colleagues about a good surgical oncologist. When dad had his first surgery for colon Ca, he had to have it in cebu and there were no surgical oncologists available there. The surgeon who did his surgery was however very good and is US trained. Samuel Ang’s name came about when my friends told me about him. I googled him just in case the biopsy results turn out unfavorable and I came across your page.
I take comfort in the fact that other patients out there are doing so good after chemo and it gives all of us hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I am praying for a favorable biopsy result. How I wish, you could talk to my dad at some point and give him encouragement. I think people with cancer should all unite and support each other. It makes the journey of fighting cancer more easy. Well, I hope you are in good health and as I’ll be praying for my dad each night, I’ll include you and each and everyone who has been diagnosed with Cancer.
God bless.

Paying tribute to some of my friends here. It is so nice going back and reading their comments. Most of them are Filipinos like me.Thank you all so much.

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Morning Thoughts

Reposting this without the photo. I noticed that those posts I did during the early years have more meaning and  more reflective of how life is. Maybe it’s because this is a life of second chances.

I sat there waiting

for the morning sunlight.

Then she came and perched atop

our bare avocado tree.

I listened to her sweet rendition –

a tweet, a song probably.

As if sensing that I was watching,

she quickly flew away.

And I was left

With a tepid cup of coffee.

Thinking –

I wish life could be this simple.

No extra baggage to carry.

Just this –

a sweet melodious song

a bird in flight

unmindful of what she left behind

but just enjoying what the morning brings

and what she can find

and discover beyond.

And I sit here

still….

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For Anne Merhling

Hi Anne, I know you’re curious how my new journal looks. These are those words I’m gonna share to Fr. Pao’s program called  Interaktib.

I hope you can still read my handwriting, got these from my earlier posts, copied them at random.  It was when I was still in the process of recovery long ago.

I am on page 6 and still updating it. Hopefully, I could fill this up as I  go along. Have a good day.

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