Failures

How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?

I always accept failures as mere challenges. Learning a lesson through failures is always a possibility, right?

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Writing Your Autobiograpy

You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?

This is it….my life’s journey!

That would be the first sentence if ever I find myself writing about my life. I am never ambitious enough to write one though. Having almost four thousand posts in this blog and hundreds of posts in my four other blogs would be enough if the purpose would be to show the world how I am and what good memories are worth-keeping and angst that sometimes surfaces now and then. At times, I do feel insecure especially with my health, most of the time though I am tremendously happy.

Life is short, I agree but if you could leave something behind that would make someone reflect and smile, then you have accomplished something worthwhile.

I have a friend on Facebook who has just written his autobiography by answering guide questions. I don’t know where he got them. He said it is a pamana, a legacy of sort for his grandchildren. It is a self-published book.

Would you attempt writing your own?

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Getting There

A smile

a handshake

a hug

an embrace

making up for the lost years.

Time stood still for a moment

and memories are reborn.

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Thank God It’s Friday

When you have all these, you are rich beyond measure.

Culled from sketches and stillness!

Yeay, family comes first. When you can’t rely on no one, your family will always be there by your side. So grateful for having a caring, kind and loving family🫂

Good friends will always be there to lift you up when you’re feeling low, they will listen to you without judgment. Just being by your side is quite enough.

Hugs, laughter, happy memories. They make life meaningful. They keep you going when you have far to go. They always say that laughter is the best medicine.

Sleep. This is one thing that I lack sometimes. Last night, I was in bed at 7pm. I didn’t even finish praying the rosary. I woke up at 1am still clutching my rosary and my hands smelled of roses. Yes, it was one of those gifts I received from a friend when our grotto was blessed after my chemotherapy almost thirteen years ago. It is a rose rosary. By the way, I collect rosaries and alternately use them in prayers. I have one from Sienna, two from Jerusalem, one from the Vatican, another two from Rome, some bracelet and ring rosaries from friends abroad but the one I use most is the bracelet rosary from Josef. It is always on my arms when I go out. Back when Nissa, Josef and I were still making rosaries, I made one for myself out of pink quartz crystals. When our friend Fr. Aly came over, I have some of them blessed. Most of them though were already blessed when friends gave them to me.

Truly, the best things in life are free.😘🥰😉🌹🌻🌱🎉🎈🎊

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Life

They always say, the journey is better than the destination. Do you agree?

Life is a long road to journey through. We may encounter some glitches and difficulties along the way, it may not be a straight path to our destination, it may be one difficult trail of stones but we struggle through. Who says life is easy maybe avoiding the truth.

We cannot hold time. The hours of the day and every day of the month pass us by. Some become lovely memories that we treasure. I am always of the thought that we carve our own destiny. Our positive outlook in life is a big factor to succeed.

Do you still observe new year’s resolution ? For me, not anymore because anytime of the day, resolutions break. I just tell myself to do the best I can and look at life as challenge to overcome. My health hasn’t been good for forty years now. It started with my preeclampsia before Nissa was born. She was not a full-term baby. From then on, I had high BP and chronic UTI.

Visiting the hospital and doctors’ clinic were more the norm than exception. I learned to adjust to what life is like when you are not hundred percent healthy. The good thing is we have a lovely gift in the person of Nate.

Josef and Jovy came home in time for New Year’s dinner last night, Nissa our photographer was not around so we didn’t have a family photo. It was only the four of us – mom, Josef, Jovy and me plus our two pets Oreo and Cookie running around under the dining table. I took shot of our simple meal with only lime juice as chaser.

Adobo, macaroni salad, pancit palabok, grilled pork and roasted chicken with yummy ensaymada for dessert.

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It Is Now Voluntary

The president of this land has lifted the wearing of face mask in public places except those who are senior citizens and persons with comorbidity. It is now voluntary.

I’ve been wearing one since my chemo days back in 2009. I don’t want to give it up since I have low immunity. It is so easy for me to pick up germs on the streets especially when I take a commute. Pollution is such that sometimes I am afraid to go out on my own.

They never update us anymore of the situation of Covid in the country. Based on some news, most vaccines for Covid have already expired. That’s a lot of money.

Peso to the US$ dollar is getting worse. We could not even hear from this administration what they are planning to do with the rising cost of almost all commodities and basic necessities. Shall we just sit back and wait? How pathetic🤔😒☹

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Things I Miss

A warm welcome, smiles, tight hugs from a friend, endless conversations over a cup of coffee or tea, reminiscing about dreams that came true and did not, laughing about simple jokes that may not be laughable to some – these are the things I miss today.

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Growing Old Gracefully

I promised I would write about my childhood a week ago. Some may not be as clear as what I am going through right now but I still remember.

I was born in a little town in Pangasinan in Northern part of Luzon 65 years ago. Come to think of it, I’ll be turning 66 in two months, October 27 to be exact. There are four of us kids in the family, I have three brothers, I lost one with cancer three months ago. Together with my two brothers, we spent four years of grade school in our barrio then transferred to the school in town during intermediate grades. Our youngest graduated grade school in Quezon City when the three us older siblings were already in high school.

You won’t probably believe this but in our barrio, we only had two school rooms and two teachers. Miss Rimando taught grades 1 and 2 while my uncle, mom’s cousin, taught grades 3 and 4. What I vividly remember were those nursery rhymes I learned back then. We didn’t have school uniforms and we went to class in slippers. Every morning before class started, we were assigned to water the plants then we had flag ceremony and Panatang Makabayan. There were always some kind of reminders from our teachers before going to the classroom. Imagine just learning your ABC in grade 1.

Dad decided that we spend high school at the University of Santo Tomas (the oldest university in the Far East) since he was working there. I was late in the entrance exams so I took it at the principal’s office late summer of 1969. I enjoyed high school life although the administrators were strict to us in wearing uniforms especially, all girls in each class and we were only allowed to mingle with our brother sections during school activities. We belonged to the morning session and we had separate exit at the end of the day while the boys had separate entrances.

It was there I learned to read books since we had high school reports back then. A classmate introduced me to Mills and Boon paperbacks. Dad borrowed those books from the high school librarian. I was a freshman in college when Dad suggested if I wanted to work as a student librarian. I took the exam and passed even if I didn’t understand what library catalogue was for. I was assigned at the Humanities Section of the UST Library where I learned serious reading. I took up BSC Economics and graduated in 1978. I was employed at Bank of the Philippine Islands and worked there for more than twenty one years before I availed of early retirement. It was those times when I armed myself with books, an eclectic mix of reading genre.

I taught Nissa and Josef to appreciate books when they were kids. It paid off. Both of them were smart and honors students. Josef earned medals every school year until high school while Nissa had hers until college, she graduated Magna Cum Laude. The three of us are alumni of the University of Santo Tomas. Josef is now working at JP Morgan Chase Bank while Nissa is a manager at Bank of PI. I was blessed to have smart, loving and thoughtful kids. Thank God.

I am getting old but I like to think I am growing old gracefully. I enjoy bonding with my only grandchild Nate although we don’t see much of each other nowadays.

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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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Clearance Lab

Yesterday, I was able to get recommendations from Philheath on the different lab tests that I have to undergo. I went to the hospital again this morning and I am done with chest x-ray, sugar testing, urine, ECG and blood works.

The lab results would be released in different dates then I have to go back to the Hub again for them to schedule me for cataract operation. That would probably take another two weeks. Such a long preparation. I started seeing my optha last June. Took two months to complete the requirements. They don’t always call, you have to call them. I am praying and hoping that everything is normal.

I have to see another doctor so he can read the results.

How are you all doing?

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