Cheaper by the Dozen

To me, a family with two kids is okay, with three is a crowd, four or more is already a community. But there is a saying which goes like this: it's cheaper by the dozen. LOL!

My parents are a good example to this. They had nothing when they got married. The only things they had were their few pieces of clothes. They were just so determined to go to the world and multiply and fill the world. LOL! So they struggled a lot for existence. In fact my father was known to be the man from the sea to the mountain. In the evening, he went to sea for fishing and during the day he went to the farm. He did not sleep enough just to make both ends meet. There were times when he went to the farm twice a day and sometimes twice in the farm. Then they were blessed with one...two and three. Then my mother suggested family planning, but my father was strong in his belief that it was against the will of God. So they continued in their divine mission, but the fourth died of measles when he was only 1 year old. Then another one was added and my father often told my mother that life was still the same since they got married. The same hardships, the same struggle but few opportunities started coming out in the open. So they tried another one and then one and then another one until the number of siblings resembled the number of the so-fa syllables. If they put us together in one single line chronologically, they could sing the do-re-mi. But my parents did not mind all those jokes they heard.

With eight, my father was able to breath. With his fishing skills, people started to trust him with their fishing business. Life started getting better and better as the family grew. Then the eleventh was born... just one more. And so they did but since my mother was already in her forties, her last pregnancy failed. She had a miscarriage. That was to complete a dozen.

My parents were right. They were never afraid of challenges. They both worked to send us all to school. They thought that education is the only wealth they could give their children when they die. They often told us that what we would learn in school would be our own property and could not be taken away from us.

Look at us. We are all "obsolete" children now. It's a village with husbands and wives. These two pictures were taken last December 2007 when we went to see my whole family. This is a real community, with all my nieces and nephews. (Yet one nephew is not in picture.)

Cheaper by the Dozen

Looking Back

It's exactly three years and a half today when I first set foot in the United States of America.

I had never dream that I would ever drift here. But God has a plan for everybody. To me coming here was the best thing that happened in my life. Because having to live and spend the rest of my life with my dearest hubby is the sweetest dream that I always dream and hope to come true. Now that I am here, I want to spend every moment to make the best for both of us, because life is too short.


This picture was taken at San Francisco International Airport when I arrived from the Philippines. I am glad that I was able to retrieve this from somewhere in our files.

Looking Back

Retrospection

I watched TV Patrol today and saw the kidnapped victims being interviewed. It was really touching when Ces looked for her family, especially her Mom, upon arrival in Manila. The ordeal she had been into was tantamount to seeing your very own death in front of your very own eyes.

My family had almost similar experience that Ces' family had gone through. I remember, at least quarter of a century ago, when the NPA's or New Peoples Army Movement in our place was on its peak. And because of that, the government sent a battalion of armies in our municipality. They built their battalion headquarters just 1.5 kilometers from our house. It was a very crucial year for all townspeople because there was always a threat of NPA attack. We knew when the soldiers went on operation because their vehicles would pass through the center of the town with a very loud noise. And we knew when they had encounters. Sometimes we heard gunfires even in the middle of the night.

It was mid 80's when it happened. I was already a teacher in our district. My father had a carabao. He kept it in our farm which is 2.5 kilometers away from our house. He decided to keep it there because he used to go there everyday. And besides, he had crops that need to be weeded and watched since some people, out of poverty, would harvest the other farmer's crops.

One day, my father did not go there because of the military operations taking place just few kilometers away. But he was so worried about the Carabao not being fed. So he asked my younger brother to go with him after school. He was on his teens at that time. My father told us that they would be backed soon but we waited and waited. It was already around eight o'clock in the evening and he did not come home yet. So we were worried to death. Then he came just by himself without my brother. He told us that while they were tending the carabao, the soldiers passed by. Then they thought that my father and my brother were NPA's in disguise. The officer asked them few questions then took my brother with them. My father said that he begged for them not to take my brother but still they took him. So we did not sleep that evening. We went to the battalion, we contacted officials whom we knew could help us on that situation. It was so horrifying. And that night, we heard huge gunfires. We thought my brother was already dead, thinking that he did not have any combat training the way soldiers were prepared for. We were just crying, feeling helpless at that time.

In the morning, since there was no cell phone during those days yet, we sent wire to my Tiya in Cagayan de Oro City. She was the Regional Accountant at the DPWH at that time and we knew that she had few friends in the Military service. My Tiya took action and in the afternoon, the battalion had the order to release my brother. But because the operations lasted three days, my brother stayed with them until the encounter was over. The soldiers were scheduled to return home on the following day but as we monitored, the Battalion Commander already ordered the Team Leader to protect my brother. It was a little relief on our part but we were still in fear.

The following morning, we heard the military trucks back. We rushed to the battalion headquarter to pick up my brother. The officer apologized for taking my brother by mistake. It was a relief but I knew deep inside that it was very traumatic for all of us and most especially for my brother. So we took him home to get some rest. Then he told us the story how the soldiers treated him that evening when they took him. He was made to carry a huge backpack loaded with ammunitions. They treated him like he was really involved in the movement. They thought that my brother knew the way in the forest. Then they asked him to climb the tree to spot where were the enemies resting at that time. And while he was on top of the tree, he saw huge bullets fired to where they were. He was so scared but he had no choice. He said that the soldiers started treating him good the following day when they received the radio message from the battalion commander. That's the time when town officials interceded. We were all crying in great relief.

My brother has his own family now and I know he still has a story to tell. But I am glad he was able to come out of it. If not, he would not become the vice mayor of our town today. This is my brother holding his son. This was taken just last December 2007, when we went to see my whole family.

Retrospection

Tribute to my Father on Father's Day

My father is a picture of a man who is so hard-working, very industrious. He is a quiet person. To him, everyday counts.

He is an example of wisdom. He never finished school but he was properly schooled in the school of life. The lessons he gave us lingered and will always be until we grow old.

He is a model of simplicity. He taught us how to love what we have, no matter if it was small, and never let go of it until something bigger is at hand.

He is a portrait of a family man. In him we learned how to love and feel each other despite scarcity of almost everything.
To my father, hAppY FaThER's Day!

Tribute to my Father on Father's Day

A Call from my Sister

When we came back from church this evening, my cellphone suddenly rang. It was my sister from back home. She was with my other sister. She called me to let me know that they got problem with the money I sent them the other day. She asked me whose name did I put as receiver of the money. So I went to reach for my receipt. I found out that the name of the sender and the receiver were the same. And it was in the name of my sister. That's why she got denied in the first outlet where she went to pick up the money. By the time she called me, she was already in another western union store where she knows the operator.

I then talked to the person in charge there and told him everything about what's written on the receipt. Then he said that he's going to call the head office regarding that error. My sister then told me that she would call me back for the result.

After 30 minutes, she did not call so I did.I felt relieved to find out that she already got the money and they were already on the drug store to buy my mother's medicine.

A Call from my Sister

Conversation with my Sister

Early yesterday, I sent a text message to my sister telling her about the money that I sent. Then I waited for her reply whole day. I didn't hear a beep from my cellphone so I began to worry what was going on back home. The other day she told me that she was going to bring my parents to the doctor for check up. It's the reason why I was restless yesterday.

So before I went to bed last night, I decided to call her to find out. And Thanks God! Everything is fine. Then my sister told me that she sent me a text message in response to the one I sent her. At first I was telling her that she might have sent it to someone else's number. Then I started scanning all the messages on my phone...and there goes her message. I just did not hear my phone beep. There must be something wrong with my ear toy. Or perhaps, I was just so busy yesterday.

Conversation with my Sister

Western Union

Yesterday, after work, I decided to send money for my mother's medication back home. It was just a little help for her expenses. I sent it through Western Union. It is fast and no problem. It is affordable, too.

Western Union

The Fairytale Come True

It took me over three years to craft this story. I tried many times but I failed for some reasons. We always both wanted to broadcast everything so as to let the whole world know that nothing is impossible with God.

There is a saying that says, "If two people are destined for each other, then no matter what and no matter where and when, life's going to be for both of them in the end."

This is how impossibles are made possible by our Maker, if we really think about it. Because, it is really a mystery how two people from half across the world can meet and be in tune with each other so deeply. Information technology plays a vital role in connecting people nowadays, near or far does not matter. But what sustains the relationship is something else. Our story is a testimony of how powerful is prayer and meditation.

It was during the bleakest season of our life when my honey and I met on the web, to be specific, the Christian Cafe. He was out to the world looking for somebody whom he could talk to in order to vent out all his heartaches, frustrations and all that is attached to broken marriage. He wanted to find an Asian woman who also suffered as much as he did, but those sufferings need not be related to being married. It could be something else. He always thought of a Vietnamese lady who fled from her own country by boats or whatever. What led him to me were the screening factors he set for himself. First factor: She has to be a catholic. Second: She has to be within the right age bracket for him.

On the other hand, I was also on the web out of my frustrations in life... of my broken relationship. I was really hurt that I felt like a shuttered pieces. I prayed so hard like never before, asking for signs. On the very first day I signed up for the cafe, I met him. He sent me a short and quick message and I wrote back to him. That's how it all started and that day turned into weeks and those weeks rolled into months, then years.

Our everyday communications lasted almost three years. Within those years.I used to wake him up to work in the morning, five days a week while he used to call me, too. He was my regular caller during my lunch break in school that all my colleagues knew. But they could not afford to stop me even if we had meetings because they knew that we were both unstoppable. I collected all the cell cards that I used and he collected huge phone bills every month as evidence, too.

Calling each other and sending text messages were not enough. We set every Saturday a chatting day for us. It was sometimes unbelievable that our chatting would last eight hours that the owner of the cafe had to give me a signal that they would soon be closing for the night. It was really a pain in the pocket but we made it.

After all the processes we have been through, now I am here with him, enjoying every opportunity that life brings for both of us.

It's our story and it is still going on.

The Fairytale Come True