God, Happiness and Life

Hi Ayat, Happy Birthday My Friend !

She is now 74 years old. Hypertensive and glaucomic. Well that's the term I use to lighten me up. My mother has glaucoma. It is a progressive and irreversible eye ailment. It seems I could not do anything for her. She is fast losing her sight. Back then, my mother often irritated me. When I was younger, she would nag and nag and nag. Oh, but these were the useful nags, I must admit. When you are young, parents can really piss you off, right? But that's all changed now. The realization came when I had my own children. Parents will be parents and children will need to be children. They have to go through life like we all did. They have to experience everything - good or bad, first hand. Life was designed that way. And when I see my mother now thinking how I could make the remaining years of her life better. I remember the first time my children and I visited her in her new place. She was oh so happy. Typically, she had prepared well. She kept apologizing saying the place is too

My father died in 1995. He wasn't sick. In fact, it was just a cataract operation. Something went wrong with the operation. Some doctors intimated it was overdose of anesthesia . Emotionally, it was difficult for me. In the past I had some issues with my father but at the time of his death all's settled. We had made up. What remained was the animosity coming from my mom. She remained rooted in the past.(emotional as well as physical pain dominated their married life) And the after effect of this situation destroyed my balance. I loved my mother. I knew where she was coming from. And this made it even harder for me. When Papa died, we were financially alright. Being the eldest, I took care of everything. My father had also left some money. We buried him at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani literally translated -- Burial For Heroes. (He was a WWII veteran) God Is Good Always! Now, I remember my father with longing. Despite his "shortcomings", I realize I loved him. Though he w

The last time I visited the Virgen of Antipolo was ages ago. Back when I was sooooooo much younger. It was a trip made around this same time of the year to celebrate summer. Back then, weather patterns were more predictable. Summer is summer, not a drop of rain. Riding on a public conveyance to Antipolo gave us a good look at the scenery. Felt like taking a short trip to the province. Lots of trees and plants along the way. If only the radio didn't so much produce those head cracking music. And I thought that there was a law banning loud music blaring on passenger jeeps. I knew we had arrived. The roads had suddenly turned dense with tricycles, jeeps, and vendors by the wayside. We alighted and I asked my friend if she knew the way. She acknowledges that it was a mere walking distance. We'll just have to feel our way. And so we walked turning to the left here, and turning to the right there. And here we are. Obviously, we looked like people who hadn't been there for a while

Aging is inevitable. Much like death, all humans will eventually grow old. Perhaps, I am on the verge of meeting the inescapable. I am happy but not really ecstatic that soon this certainty will come to pass. Now what do I still need to do to make the passage as cool as possible. Here's a few from my list: 1. Continue marketing. Go to the market to buy our week's supply of foodstuff. The slight anxiety from all the bargaining helps strengthen my negotiating skills thus, sharpening my memory cells. 2. Get it going with the cooking. Early on, I used to consult cookbooks before I can cook a relatively good dish but not anymore. Cooking came in as a creative exercise. Concocting different food preparation styles including different combinations of ingredients made cooking an adventure. 3. Housework? Done! Makeover the house. Clean the bathrooms, Wash the dirty kitchen and laundry sinks. Sweep the dried leaves accumulating in the garden without let up. Wash the dishes. Dry and

I had a dream early this morning. I dreamt G was on his way to where ever he's going carrying this laptop. In the dream I was afraid or worried. For one, I saw dogs. And in my dreams this usually meant treachery... I just had to post it here. So I can come back later if and when my dream positively prove to be psychic? I had so many similar dreams about dogs. In many instances one or two devious humans would really prove themselves back stabbers or 'do no gooder'.

It's summer this part of the world. This means temperature can rise up to 36 degrees. We are a tropical country and perhaps that's one of the reasons why lots of foreigners come to our beaches this time of the year. I read somewhere that Boracay was inhabited by no less than 80,000 people during the Holy Week. And I've been there only through pictures and stories care of my children. They say and I believe that sand is as fine as sugar? But Bali too has the same quality of sand. I know I have been there. Too bad, Bali isn't as attractive as before. Remember the terrorist bombings. Pity! These days you need to say you've been to Boracay to be cool. Otherwise, how can one explain why you haven't been there..there's not enough dough. Gosh, I haven't even been to Puerto Galera , the poor man's Boracay so my son says.