Month: July 2015

“In the presence of my enemies”

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I have mentioned in my previous post, Who and Why, that we are dealing with some vexatious individuals, who are related to each other and have been harassing us in various ways. Today, I finally received the subpoena for the first of the string of criminal and civil cases that I have filed against them. I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am that finally, there is now a schedule for the preliminary hearing at the City Prosecution Office for the first case(s) that I have filed. To me, that means justice is on its way. I can’t wait to see these people behind bars, who are also rumored to be members of a drug syndicate and are apparently notorious for their ill manners and violent nature. They may have instilled fear in us at one point in time, especially among my children, but shall do everything (legal) to make them own up to all their crimes against my family and me. One of their victims and a witness to their evil deeds, my father, died recently. …

Wanderlust

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These past few days, I keep thinking about one thing: travel. I’d like to get on a plane, go somewhere nice and peaceful, and just wander for a few days. I feel like this is the jumpstart that I need to be productive again. The past few weeks (and months) had been very stressful and I could use a change in scenery. Although I’ve been writing a lot, wandering with my feet and not just with my mind is just different and I do not want to pass up the opportunity. I’ve been thinking of going to Singapore again because I have not fully explored the country yet. Besides, it’s just a few hours away, PAL is having a sale until tomorrow, I won’t have to worry where to stay, plus I can explore the country by myself since my husband and friends would be at work. Perfect, right? So what’s keeping me from leaving? My kids and finances, I suppose. I don’t really want to leave my girls behind, especially on a school week. …

A full house and a whole range of generation gap

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  There are 15 kids in our house right now and only two of them are mine. My tweener asked if she and her classmates could come over and practice their dance presentation for Wednesday’s school activity, since they’re not allowed to overstay at school. She initially said there were only seven of them, so my husband and I agreed. Lo and behold, a van brought them here and one by one, came all thirteen of them! Good thing I have ordered two party-size pan pizzas and the pizza company gave us two buckets of mojos instead of only one. For once, their mistake became favorable. The kids arrived a little after 12 noon, famished. I expected them to devour everything, but I was in for a surprise when some of the girls said they did not want to eat much because they might get fat(ter). I mean, really? They’re just 11 or 12 years old and they’re worried about their figure? I was already 22 when I started paying attention to my weight and …

Friends and funerals

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It’s interesting how the death of a loved one has made me take a closer look at my circle of friends and relatives, as well as my own attitude toward funerals. There are friends who stick closer than a brother, as the saying goes. When my father died recently, I have seen how certain friends really went out of their way to see me and comfort me, while others tried their best to extend their sympathy from a distance. I suppose people deal with death differently and show sympathy differently, too. I don’t mean to judge others, especially my friends, but I couldn’t help noticing the similarities and differences in their ways as they extended their condolences and showed their support. For one, I noticed that it was my friends from the church who immediately contacted me to send their condolences and asked for the details of my father’s wake as soon as they learned the news. I wonder if it’s because they’re Christians and so they must take to heart the value of being sympathetic, “bearing each …

Keeping the legacy

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It’s been a week now since we buried Papa and I have also been sick since that day, but I feel much better now these past few days. I just had to take things slowly, one day at a time, as they say, to keep the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy at bay. It has started to bother me, so this week I focused on getting well and tending to my garden a couple of hours each day. I’ve been trying to keep my mind off what happened and I thought I’d start with forgiving and making things right. If it’s true that souls roam the planet first, visiting its loved ones, before going to the heavens, then I just had my first visit from my pops. It was Friday evening, I was battling with fever, when I suddenly smelled an unlit cigarette. It’s like it was being waived right under my nose. I imagine Papa holding it up to me to see that he has not lit it yet and has no intention of really smoking. …

Goodbye, Papa!

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  I grew up always anticipating your coming home. I almost never saw you, never really got to be with you when I was a child. Nevertheless, I have fond memories of you the few times we were together, and some of them were among my many firsts. I remember the first time we went to Jollibee together. You were driving a dark blue Mercedes Benz–one of the perks of your job, I guess–that looked incredibly long and big to me at that time, and you allowed me to sit in the front, which was a first time too. I was quiet, but couldn’t sit still. I kept looking all around me, wondering if the view from the front would be different if I were seated at the back. When we reached Jollibee, however, I was disappointed that we did not go inside the store. I didn’t realize that I was in for a big treat – burgers could be bought from a small window without having to leave the car, not to mention we …