Dawn

I greet the new day with a smile and a prayer

A hope for good things to come

A loving remembrance of the past

A new lift of the heart.

Hello –

I welcome with fondness the new dawn stirring

A new day unfolding…

(reblogged from June 15, 2011)

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I Miss You Still

If he were alive today, he could have been 96. He left us ten years ago. Until now, there is still that void that I feel with his passing. Sometimes, I could still  imagine him reading the daily news from cover to cover. It was always his pastime  so when he was alive, I made it a point to have a daily supply of the newspaper in our place.

I miss those days when he would recall how he struggled  in early life so he could find a nice job to support the family. My three siblings and I all  went to his favorite university where he worked for more than thirty years.  I miss those afternoon when we would take coffee and light snack and he would recall the earlier days of his life, the hardship of being a working student, those times he was away from his parents and siblings  while he worked in the city. I don’t remember his mom, my grandmother.  She died giving birth to their youngest. What I only knew  according to my grandfather was that I looked like her.

We could talk about anything under the sun. We could talk about  family members who went away to find good jobs. His two sisters and a brother (through a second marriage of my grandfather) work abroad. Two are in  Spain with their families and one resides in Japan. I am almost as old as my youngest aunt.

I miss those days when I was in high school and it was only the three of us  (my oldest brother, dad and I). My mom stayed in the province with my two younger brothers until  our youngest transferred to Manila to study when he was in grade school.  The days when he would teach me how to cook…..priceless.   He would usually drop by the wet market  after office work and he would teach me how to prepare a simple dinner.  I was not just a bystander when he was in the kitchen because he would  just instruct me what to do and watch me cook.

I miss those days when we would spend lunch together when I was in college  with one of his co-workers.  Every day, he would buy food at the UST resto  before  my class ends at 12 pm then we would share lunch.

When he got sick with ESRD and had to undergo dialysis treatment, my older brother and I accompanied him to the hospital twice a week.  The days he was bedridden after each session of dialysis, the enormous medications he had to take to stay stronger.  the graceless time he had to wear a catheter for many months, I still remember them all. My dad was a fighter. It was so painful though to watch his deteriorating health. For each session of dialysis he lost weight.

We lost him one December night ten years ago.  He may be gone from us but he still lives in my heart and the memories linger.

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” 

― Elisabeth Kubler Ross

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Another Milestone For Our Baby

 

Just updated my blog on Our Precious Bundle Of Joy  posting photos of Nate on his graduation from Nursery yesterday afternoon at Manila Hotel.

It was a lovely day of celebration, family togetherness and bonding. We were so proud of our baby. Time flies fast. It seems like it was only yesterday when he was in nappies and we were singing lullabies and children’s rhymes to him.  How proud we are of him.

Next school year he will be in  Kindergarten  and it will be another milestone to go through and  tackle. I wish  you all the best Nate. I am pretty sure  you can do it better.

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A Perfect Ordinary Day

It’s been a while. A week of not writing my thoughts seems like a month of empty imaginings. I got so used to blogging everyday that a few day’s lapse loosely translate to not knowing what to share here.

Gosh, yesterday was a scorcher. Metro Manila is really, really hot. Imagine registering a 35.4°C, the hottest in Metro Manila so far this summer. I went out though and spent my morning at MetroEast Mall. I need to have some documents photocopied and our printer is out of ink , a perfect excuse to go out and visit Booksale despite the heat. I decided to have some pictures of our baby Nate printed. I have hundreds of photos since he was born and he does not even have a framed photograph. At least Picture City still charges a reasonable fee for photo enlargement, although cropping the picture is not much to my liking. One of their staff explained that it is kind of different when you’re using a  printed copy, you can’t edit it in their computer the way you want so you have to be content with raw shots directly from the flash memory card.

It has now a pride of place atop one of our side tables in the living area. I have to source an 8 x 10″ inch frame for his picture. I smiled like crazy when some of the salesladies at Robinson’s exclaimed, “what a good-looking baby”. And I answered, “he is my grandson”. Fancy a proud Nonna in their midst. His other pictures are also my wallpaper displays on my two cellphones.

A bookworm can’t miss out on checking new titles at Booksale. Every time I get the chance to visit, I enjoy looking at the titles and find  one within my budget. Although they sell second-hand books, they’re still a  bit pricey. If you’re lucky though, you can find nice titles below P50.00. I have a growing stash of summer reads, light novels from some favorite authors that I collect. Of course, between these are my inspirational books that give me a lift when I am hungry for lovely words  – they inspire, they make you love life all the more, they make you long to write too. Didn’t we, at some moments in our busy life,  dream of writing our own stories?

The Hot Zone was a nice find. It’s a true story about terrifying virus found in monkeys. Just looking at the picture on the book cover reminds me of another book I’ve read so long ago written by Robin Cook. Outbreak  was made into a movie and it’s about Ebola virus. Of course, Maeve Binchy is the Maeve Binchy and her books are nice family sagas of redemption, love, struggles and relationships.  I am collecting books by Anita Shreve and finding another one although it’s just a paperback copy made me smile.  Yeay to An Amish Christmas,  a handy hardbound copy that I also found yesterday at P95.00. It contains four Christmas stories. Fancy reading a book about Christmas when it is only the start of summer. I love Christmas stories that really tickle the heart.

I was looking for a nice essence for this lovely tea light candle holder but found them too strong for my liking. I love a clean scent, not too overpowering but would give that sense of peace and tranquility in a room. Can you suggest some?

And to cap it all, a close friend sent me a picture of a portable hard drive which she bought for me and she said, it’s for all the pictures of Nate I’ll be taking in the future and as back-up for my blogs. You see, she is an honorary grandma of Nate. How lucky can one get?

I am truly blessed and it was a perfect ordinary day 🙂

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Remembering You In Prayers Dad

I can’t believe that it’s  only been five years since you left us. It seems so long ago, that day when you finally said goodbye.  Memories are sometimes tricky, they’re like a closed book that you only have to open to refresh the pages and the story in your mind.  Know one thing Dad, I cry because you didn’t have the opportunity to see your cute and cuddly great-grandson. If you were alive today, you would have smiled at the way we were all going gaga over our little Nate. You would have tried holding his tiny hands and marveled at the way he kick his feet when he goes hungry.  If you were alive today, you would  have regaled us with your stories when we were growing up and how you dreamed of us all going to your favorite university where you worked for thirty-two years.  I always loved to listen to them anyway even though sometimes you did forget that you told them more than a dozen times already because every story became more meaningful with the re-telling.

I got lost on my way home the last time I said goodbye to you.  I was full of thoughts with what you said earlier that day that you saw some of our relatives calling you home, Tatay especially. I dreaded the sound of the telephone and prayed hard that it would not ring, and when it did, I knew you were gone.

I used to listen to Josh Groban’s You Raise Me Up because of its meaningful lyrics but when I learned that they  played the song  during your funeral, it acquired a different meaning for me because I always remember you  and it makes me sad so I stopped listening.  But I also recall your fondness for classical music and your Johnny Mathis’ Merry Christmas album.  Do you remember, it has become a favorite too and now that it is Christmas once again, I listen to some of the songs on YouTube and picture you in my mind, listening to the old LP album on our small player.  And celebrating Christmas would not be complete without the music of Johnny Mathis 🙂  I am listening to it now and I smile and say in my heart, Merry Christmas Dad!

I miss you….still!

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Thank You Once Again Richard (Sixth In A Series)

Some new quotes from my favorite author, Richard Paul Evans.  Let me see, I have a total of about 108 inspiring quotes now from his various books. Can’t get enough….

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Just Getting More Excited

My own photo album on Nissa’s wedding finally arrived today after a long, long wait of almost a year. It’s a mini version of their  own wedding album and it took them a while to choose which to include in it because it  was just limited to about 150 pictures among the more than 2,000 shots done by their official photographer. Anyway, I still have to watch the DVD on the wedding itself and probably choose more pics and have them printed too. We have all the pictures in CDs. How lovely and it’s nice to recall an event that somehow  made my only daughter so happy. We’re waiting with bated breath for baby Nate….about five weeks more to go!

I had fun sorting the baby layette –  booties, diapers, baby clothes, pajamas, receiving blankets, bonnets. I was excited, who wouldn’t? So I started washing some of them using a baby liquid detergent. Love that feeling of nostalgia –  remembering those days when my two kids were still babies. It really feels good to have another baby in the family, this time, a wonderful baby boy who would give us joy and happiness. If  Obet and Nissa are excited, I am more excited than they are. It’s Nissa’s 30th birthday in a week and with that little bundle of joy coming soon, what a beautiful birthday gift. It seems like only yesterday when I blogged about the joys of being a mom and my own power moments. And it seems only yesterday when it finally dawned on me that my daughter is getting married. How time flies and I remember blogging about their lovely November wedding last year. And now, she has her own family to speak of.  Am I getting old? But they say that age is just a number, and when you add numbers to your age, you grow a little wiser. But still, I am excited.  The baby that I used to cradle in my arms is now a mother in her own right.

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Saturday, Saturday, What An Amazing Saturday!

I was chatting with a friend last night and I told him Mama Mary must be proud of me because every time her birthday comes, I blog about it and my stat goes haywire. And I mean, it could not be crazier than this. Last night, I thought I have surpassed my previous stat last September 08, 2011 when it registered a total of 1,553, my highest so far in my two years of blogging. Last night though, it registered a high of 1,686, surpassing my previous stats on the same date but then I was truly amazed when it kept pointing up, up and up today with total views of 2, 410 as of this writing and when I took a look, they were mostly about Mama Mary. Oh, she’s doing a little magic with my blog 🙂 Amazing!

Nissa finally brought the DVD they have especially made for Nate.  I love it, what a lovely thirty-minute bonding with the family. My nine-year old niece was so caught with Nate’s movements and asked why  he  was always covering his face. And we all laughed when she said that he looks like her Ate Nissa, “mas matangos lang ang ilong”. Hahaha! I love the Biblical quotes they inserted in the video and the texts, wow, so touching!  I just could not wait to see him come into the world. Truly Amazing!

It was quite, quite an amazing Saturday, time spent with my daughter and son-in-law, my younger brother and his family and with Mom  who was so excited to go home to the province after almost four months of stay here.  I will miss her of course but I know she’ll be happy to visit her sisters and tend to her vegetable garden. I guess it’s time to catch up on my reading. I found three more books of Luanne Rice yesterday at Booksale.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA MARY! Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the inspiration. You are one amazing mother of all!

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The State Funeral For Sec. Jesse Robredo

I watched this from beginning to end – the requiem mass, the 19 gun salute, Pres. PNoy’s eulogy/tribute  but Leni’s response as recorded in this video is the one I love best. He was an ideal father, an ideal husband, a  man who loved  his family and found time to be with them despite his being busy with his government post as Secretary of DILG. The President conferred  on him a posthumous Philippine Legion of Honor, with the rank of Chief Commander,  and presented it to his wife, Atty. Leni Robredo.

You can never put a good man down. He will always occupy a special place in your heart.

I salute you SEC. ROBREDO for making us so proud that good governance is not lost in our country. May this be a wake-up call to those government officials who only think of their own selfish motives instead of sincerely serving the people. It’s never too late to put into action what they promised to do and serve the Filipino people with sincerity just like you did.

(Thank you ABS CBN for sharing these videos).

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A Prayer For Nathaniel Owen

It is always a welcome thing to see my daughter  and son-in-law during weekends. The few hours that we spend together more than make up for the days that we get in touch just through texts and phone calls. We had an early dinner or shall we call late “merienda”, I prepared spaghetti while Nissa made Panini bread with cheese.  When we are on the dining table, the topic seems to veer on food.  Kev says he hasn’t tasted nor seen a zucchini yet so he suggested to Nissa that it would be their first find on their next trip to the grocery store.  I told them we could try to plant them outside just like what we do with squash or pumpkins. Zucchini belongs to the family of squash, right?  I love zucchini and I always buy some when I chance upon them fresh from the market.

Nissa showed me the much-awaited  sonogram of our baby. At 28 weeks and a few days,  it is so exciting to see him inside Nissa’s womb and our conversation goes this way:

“He has your nose”, I told Obet  (my son-in-law) and he smiled.

“Thank God for that”, Nissa said adding “he has my lips”.

There is this standing  joke in the family that is always retold  with family members and close friends. Nissa was  a premature baby  because I got complications when I was pregnant with her. She was only eight months when my OB-Gynecologist induced her birth and at 3.9  pounds,  she was left at the hospital for about a month before we were able to take her home.  There was this oxygen attached to her and hubby said, “ang tangos ng ilong niya” meaning her nose  was not “pango” or flat as we say in Tagalog. It turned out that it was just the taped nasal cannula to make her breathe.

And I said, “maybe that’s the reason why medyo flat ilong mo”  and we all laughed.

Anyway, it is really so exciting to see baby  Nathaniel Owen and by God’s grace, we will welcome him to the world in two months. Nissa wants to call him Nate. Nice name, I said but we all laughed when we realized that his initials would be N.O.A.I. So how do you pronounce that? Nissa forgot to bring the DVD, we could have seen Nate move inside her womb. It is something more to look forward to, I just hope on their next visit, I would be able to see it.

I am praying hard everything would be okay when she gives birth in two months. We are all excited to see Nathaniel Owen.

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