Life, Day by Day

After retirement in April 2021, I heartily said...It is ME time, but a year & seven months after...NOPE, not really. When I ended my time spent on all the bureaucratic maze of government service, I thought...this is it, finally Freedom. But you know what, all that is an illusion because I just got busier...at home. With what, one might ask...with everything...EVERY LITTLE and BIG THING. All of a sudden, I was at home everyday, available within sight any time, with no clear schedule for my day. This is the first time in 60 years that this (I am home the whole day & night) happened. I started school at age 6, and I began working right off college, until mandatory retirement. Unlike my Mom who both managed work, home, and children, I was all work and play. When she passed in 2019, I was still out at work the whole day, and although now I had to run the household, work was still the priority. Looking back these last 19 months of being at home almost 24/7, I am at awe at how my mot...

My Mom and Tita Mimi were very close, being the only 2 sisters among 4 brothers, both born in Cebu while the 3 younger boys were Manila-born. Tita Mimi at 3 years old suffered complications from measles and had special needs, so Mom always gave her special attention.

What is it about the word "retirement" that make some people afraid? Not me, because after 39 years, it's Cheers to retirement!  When my mandatory retirement from government service finally arrived,  I was so excited that weeks before, I could not fully concentrate on work anymore. I was counting the days and literally daydreaming about the things I wanted to do. 

My work as a civil servant will be ending soon. I have served for 39 years...why so long, what made me stay? Well, for a thousand reasons that I will share in future posts. Right now, it is apt that I end my journey with a short story of my time in government, first as a resident physician, then as a hospital chief.

When the Covid19 global outbreak was declared a pandemic in March 2020, everyone thought that this will last about 3 months at most. Well, that was 12 months ago with no end in sight. Today, life has changed for everyone, and many of the things we take for granted are no longer easy to do. Take schooling, for instance. My preteen daughter was so looking forward to Junior High at a new and bigger school. Then Covid19 happened and government suspended opening of classes all over the country. A "new normal" was implemented, and when school finally opened in August last year (October for public schools), there was a shift from face to face classes to online learning which may continue even until the next school year. To say that she was not prepared for this is an understatement, and neither was I.

Technology has advanced so fast in the last 20 years, putting the world in a digital age that has changed the way many people parent their kids. It was not so long ago that life in this world was so much simpler, less complicated compared to what we have now.  While it is true that there is such a thing as "the generation gap" a term first used in the 60's,  when the younger generation seemed to go against everything their parents had previously believed in terms of music, values, governmental and political views as well as cultural tastes, this "gap" is more pronounced in this present generation, among the so called  Millennials, or th ose born  between the mid-1980's and early 2000 .

Last November, 2018, I had the privilege of another heritage experience, this time at the former Army Navy Club of Manila , now known as The Rizal Park Hotel .  I spent three days of comfort, warmth and beauty in this wonderfully renovated and preserved edifice.  If you are the type who  likes  to avoid big crowds and noisy places, this is the place for you.