Life, Day by Day

My Dad would have turned 77 years old today August 25, 2009 except that he passed away 18 years ago. We have celebrated his birthday every year since then by attending mass, visiting his gravesite, offering flowers. It is not often that I would feel his presence and I'd like to believe that this is because he is happy in Heaven. But today, it seems to me that Daddy was making his presence felt in more ways than one. It seems that he knew I needed him because looking back in the events of the past few days, people I needed to aid and encourage me were suddenly there...people whom I rarely see but they were just the right people to help me! It was like I had a special angel looking out for me. Everything was falling into place...I felt so cared for and supported. Serendipity? I don't think so. This is a time in my life when I really need my father to be there for me, to guide and to fight for me...and he came through! He could not be here physically so he sent angels in the

These days life gets much harder and there is really not much to smile about. Maybe because I feel that there are just so many things beyond my control and the purity of my intentions is often misinterpreted and seen as intrusion. Then in a sort of roundabout way, a friend's friend said something that triggered a memory and all of a sudden I feel, hey! it's not that bad (^^) I remember the feel good times of my life and I was surprised that I have forgotten many of them...like the fun christmas vacations in Manila spent with my maternal grandparents...the feeling of awe and wonder on opening my presents...the carnivals and Holiday on Ice at the Araneta Coliseum...the pleasure I felt when eating ice cream at Dairy Cream...the excursions at Balulan Beach and the effort I put in to get a tan and the allergies that resulted afterwards(although how that could be classified as feeling good escapes me at the moment...but yes, remembering those times make me smile)...the stories my

It's been more than 2 weeks since Michael Jackson's sudden death on June 25, 2009 and since then there has been relentless media coverage in the US that has not waned to this day. I am not a Jackson 5 fan nor am I a big MJ fan. But his death has made me realize how unfair the world was to Michael Jackson. Michael from the time he learned how to talk was conditioned to become an entertainer. This was a boy who grew up without a normal childhood. He was surrounded by people who over-protected him and limited his human interaction to his family, his record producers and people who all had a bested interest in him one way or the other. It is no wonder that Michael Jackson went into adulthood in a suspended state of childhood. His emotional maturity was probably near the bottom of the chart. Like a child who has not much experience in dealing with adults, he was full of trust and wonder. And because this is the big bad world...Michael was exposed to the wolves in people's clo

I know I have been neglecting my blogs since the tail-end of April and there's no valid excuse, really...just poor time management and plain laziness. There are so many things happening all at the same time that somehow "inspiration" and "motivation" get lost or buried among all the other daily issues and concerns that come my way. And what are these issues and concerns? Well, some are indeed urgent and important, a few can be life changing, others I would consider abuse of authority but most were just petty. The most important one for me...the CON-ASS. Now, I am not a radical person and basically, I have a rather high tolerance for politicians but this...this takes the cake for the most " walang-hiya " house resolution ever cooked up by this congress. The motivation here obviously is to get into the good graces of GMA and probably get that much coveted funding for the 2010 election...plus of course, let us not forget the pork barrel. This particul

What is it about summer that brings about a certain restlessness in me. I used to think summer mattered only for those who are still in school and looking forward to vacation, but so many years have passed since my schooldays and still when summer arrives, I always get that feeling of anticipation...that sense of holiday that only summer could bring...everytime. Is it because there are still school-age kids in the house? Or maybe because it is too near Christmas break that somehow I haven't shed off the holiday mood. But summer started late this year since it continued to rain till mid-March. In fact, it was only in April that the rains stopped...and not entirely because till now, there's minimal to moderate rainfall at least once a week during late afternoons to evenings making nights cooler. In a way, it's nice because the humidity is high during the day, but on the other hand, a rainy summer is a sure sign of climate change. So maybe...in reality...it's not about su

February 2009 started out not differently from January or so I thought. The first week, my son Ramie's cellphone was lost...misplaced...fell...whatever. But, if you saw his phone, you'd have said good riddance. It was functional but looked...well, battered. Since his last phone was a camera phone which he also lost, he chose a cheaper one as replacement and it has been put to good use(abuse)for the last 2.5 years. So losing this phone didn't hurt as much. One week and one day later, on Friday the 13th, it was my turn to lose something. This time, it hurt! We planned to attend a fund-raising for a young man stricken with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia but at the last minute, it was only Ramie and I who decided to go. I brought my 3 month old digital camera "just in case" there was a photo opportunity. Well, when we got there, it hasn't started yet and so we decided to drive around. When we came back, I decided to leave the camera in the car and forgot about i

Who is Preemie Girl? Last year, in mid-July, a woman was brought DOA to the emergency room of the provincial hospital. Her severely premature baby miraculously survived but was brought to the hospital 6 or 7 hours after birth. Her mother was previously admitted to the hospital's ICU due to hypertension and was closely monitored for several weeks.  She was relatively in a stable condition and the doctors were waiting for the baby to become more viable before doing a caesarian section, but the family decided to go home.  She eventually delivered at home and died due to severe postpartum bleeding.  The baby developed acute respiratory distress syndrome and was not expected to make it.  Because this was a public hospital with limited resources, she was not getting the kind of care severely premature babies like her should have. Some mothers nursing their own premature babies would give her their milk and help take care of her. Initially I really did not take much interest in he