Echoes

 

I spent some time in the garden early this morning. Removed the old and dried Zinnia together with my drying Four O’clock.  They have self-propagated, small seedlings that don’t need replanting. A few more mornings then I’ll be able to finish pruning and weeding too. Such a hard job but it has to be done.

Aren’t I lucky? I tried searching for John O’Donohue’s website on Facebook and what do you know, I finally found one and some of his writings are posted there. The page is maintained by the Director of John’s Literary Estate, Ann Cahill, in partnership with the O’Donohue Family. Beautiful! I won’t need to go to other sites except to his home page.

It is more complete and is being managed by his brother. Wow, I am enamored by  his words. Echoes of the past that create beautiful and lovely memories of the author.  You look behind and you look back and it seems like one does not really goes away but he stays because of his words. This is what we experience when we find something wonderful like a good book that lets you live and visit the places  with the author. Such thrilling adventures created by words alone.

Another author whose words touch my soul is Mary Oliver. Like O’Donohue, she left some wonderful works of art in her books of poems. She died last year. And this reminds me of another favorite author whom I discovered  a  few years ago and like Oliver and O’Donohue,  Peter Mayle died two years ago. And they have something in common, they all passed away in the month of January.  They were all gifted writers.

I am on my 94th read on Goodreads 2020 Reading challenge. Another lovely book I found  about India.

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A Promise To Keep

I’m sure we’ll meet again someday

One of these days I guess.

And we would smile and laugh

About those long-ago days

of our youth.

We’ll share more cups of coffee

Just the way you like it.

Friendship is such a lovely thing.

The stories get more interesting.

Along the way, we’ll meet again

That’s a promise.

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You Are Family

I found this on my newsfeed a few moments ago. Too good not to share it.

from dailynet.co

Friendship, that one word that makes the world go round.  I have my share of friends for almost half a century now and I love it that we still get in touch after all these years. And yes, my high friends are still there too. We have regular reunions every three years but I don’t always get to attend.

Doesn’t it feel wonderful when you find someone who is attuned with what happens in your life? Don’t you find it beautiful when they are by your side through thick and thin ?  Isn’t it lovely when someone laughs and cries with  you?  We are one big family.

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What A Lovely Surprise

Odette, a friend, surprised me with a visit and gave me a brand new hardbound copy of Richard Paul Evans’ latest book entitled Noel Street. She is so thoughtful when it comes to providing me with books by my favorite authors. She gave me several books and blank journals in the past years. I introduced Richard Paul Evans’ works to her and since then she had provided me with copies that are not sold here. And she likes the works of RPE too. It’s always a “one copy for me, one copy for her”. Her kids who are based abroad know this 🌝🥰☺

I enjoyed our chats while we had dinner at KFC near our place. We both wanted to avoid the traffic so KFC was our best choice. She even bought a barrel of chicken and side dishes to bring home to Josef.

I love unexpected meetings. They are priceless moments that a friendship brings.

When friends meet, hearts warm👭🌺🍻

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Comforting A Friend

My  neighbor (a kumare, I was one of the sponsors of her daughter’s baptism fifteen years ago) and I were waiting for the garbage truck to arrive a few hours ago and she asked me about Nissa. So I told her today is Nissa’s check-up with her surgical oncologist.

She told me about her plight nowadays. She could not stand now for long and when she walks she drags her feet slowly. She even said that when they are at the mall, people look at her askance on the way she walks. I told her to not mind them. A few months ago, she still could do morning rounds of walking at the village park. She was crying when she told me that she is just waiting  for the end of it all. I didn’t know how to comfort her so we just held each other tight. Those patients that she used to see at her doctor’s clinic are now on wheel chairs. She is suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s disease is progressive. It gets worse over time.  Symptoms start gradually, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. Tremors are common, but the disorder also commonly causes stiffness or slowing of movement. Back in 2009 when typhoon Ondoy struck and five families were in their house including us, we noticed her slow movement. That was the start.

Knowing how to comfort a friend. We are quite afraid at times that we might say the wrong words. It’s okay to just listen and empathize. Don’t act as if you know it all. Just tell them you understand.

Habang may buhay, may pag-asa. 

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Getting In Touch With Friends

The last few days were spent sharing with Nissa and some of our friends over the phone. It was so nice to get in touch with friends again and lovely to know they were praying for Nissa’s quick recovery. I got to see her sis-in law and brother-in-law at the hospital. Haven’t seen them since Nate’s kinder graduation last March.

Talking about anything under the sun from our pet dogs to our health and getting old. Yes, growing and getting old is one of our favorite topics. Sometimes you can’t help but think about it when you feel those aches and pains that suddenly manifest themselves and they catch you unaware. Last Thursday, I had a long trip (close to three hours going home from the hospital because of traffic. I almost could not walk when I alighted from the jeepney because of muscle pains. My legs were aching like crazy. Add that to the weight of my travelling bag 😦

I saw again that ice cream vendor at the university campus on my way home. He is the same man I used to see when Nissa was still studying there. Talk about the rituals of our lives. He seems comfortable selling ice cream inside the campus. There are lots of fast food chains and a couple of high-end restaurants inside the campus fronting the UST hospital, they cater mostly to students. You won’t need to go outside the perimeter of the university to alleviate your hunger pangs.

One of Nissa’s doctors asked me if I am her mom. I told him in passing that I am a survivor for ten years now under the care of Dr. Samuel Ang, a  surgical oncologist recommended by my OB GYN. He said that Dr. Ang is also practising in UST and that his son, a doctor too  was his schoolmate.  Oh to meet people who are caring enough to know a little about you….what a blessing.

Haha, Nissa and I talked about our doctors one night at the hospital and we were laughing when she said that most of them are so handsome in their white medical attire. So agree 🙂

Meeting friends all over again, meeting new ones, we are doubly blessed.

 

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Thinking Of Yesterday

Just saw this from the “memories”  app at Facebook. Back when Multiply was still alive, I had a little more than a hundred friends, both online and personal ones. I got to see some of them eventually. Multiply has disbanded sometime in 2012 I think but the memories remain.

What Are Friends For?

One of those close friends at Multiply then was Bella a retired teacher who taught in Thailand.  She  was sickly but I admired her wit and how she viewed life. She viewed herself as a fashionista here and depicted me as a gardener which I loved.  She was always the first one who would decorate her house as early as October with those Christmas trimmings and tinsels. Every year, the colorful themes and decorations made us uttered “ohhs”  and “ahhs”. She made the celebration of Christmas so beautiful.

There are friends and there are friends but a few of them touch you  and they’ll remain in your heart forever. Bella is one of them.

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And More Books

Saw this on “my memory”  app at FB yesterday.  I can’t help but repost it. The value of reading….priceless.

I marked this quote when I started another book yesterday. It’s by  Martin Luther King.

Faith is taking  the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

Gosh, I just love, love this book. For a first time author, Amy Markstahler is pretty good. Love, family life, second chances – they’re all here. I cried at the scene when Tyler gave a eulogy on the death of Elsie’s dad. That was so sweet. Another book that I read in one day. It was that good. I was clearly surprised seeing that the author just followed my review at Goodreads. I hope I could find more stories like this.

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Sunday Musings

An old blog post which I wrote back in August 2009 resurfaced from my notes on Facebook. A former office mate and a friend again commented why she is not seeing new posts from me. I actually stopped re-posting them to Facebook because I  find the site so messy and noisy.

I’ve often said before that this blog came to existence  because of my journey as a cancer patient and survivor almost ten years ago. The years in between have been good and blogging has become a hodgepodge of daily happenings and adventures. Way to go, it’s a lovely journey.

For two consecutive Sundays now, Josef and I have attended  the 6 am masses at our parish, St. Francis of Assisi. It’s a ten-minute walk from our place. Mass schedules are a bit earlier than those at the town proper.  It’s a good thing we get to have Sunday morning exercise.  Compared to our subdivision, this part of the town still has plenty of vacant lots which used to be rice fields. Imagine listening to rooster crows and  chicken crossing the road to find their morning meals.  It’s like being in the province once again.

Sunday.

Time to relax, catch up on reading. Watch the world go buy and play with  Oreo in between.

Happy  Sunday all.

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Forty-Six Years And Counting

Yes, it’s been almost forty- six years. We met for the first time back in 1973 when I reported to work as student librarian at the University of Santo Tomas. We both worked at the university library until I was in my third year as Economics major and she finished her Library Science degree.

The friendship has come to a point when we would write each other daily on date due slips of the library.  She was Nissa’s godmother during her baptism and again one of the principal sponsors during Nissa’s wedding. She migrated to Canada sometime in 2001.

The last time we saw each other was almost eight years ago until yesterday. A happy reunion between friends, a lovely tête-à-tête updating each other on what’s happening in our lives, non-stop smiles and laughter. Her husband showed me their photos when they were in Japan before coming to Manila a week ago.

And a happy reunion would not be complete without some photos, right? Although Mark took photos of Grace and me, I had a couple of shots in my phone taken by one employee of the hotel where they stayed.

Mark, Grace and I

She gave me two books, a copy of Thomas Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain and a trade paperback of Maya  Angelou’s The Heart of A Woman. We developed our love for books when we were both assigned at the Humanities Section of the UST Main Library. Can’t wait to read these two.

Friendship is a lovely thing. When you find true friends, being apart for so many years doesn’t really matter. It feels as if you’ve seen each other only yesterday.

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