This blog is turning out to be a chronicle of my life’s important and unimportant events that could have easily been flushed down my memory bank drain. At this age when my 64k RAM has failed me many times more than I can remember, keeping a top 10 list every month is actually a good exercise for me. Much like keeping a diary. For as long as this blog site remains live, my memory lives on. And so before I forget, here are my top 10 for April.
1. The Word. He is not here, for He has been raised just as He said. -Mat 28:6
Easter is the biggest annual event that the Church celebrates. It is also the one that I celebrate everyday:
After maneuvering through a Good Friday traffic in EDSA, I finally arrive home. Easter.
After meeting with the Pontius Pilates and the Barabbases of my industry, I come home to a kiss from my loving wife. Easter.
After a Calvary of unfinished projects beset with all kinds of complications, I get to rest and retire in the comforts of my own bed. Easter.
Every time I experience peace in the celebration of the Holy Mass. Easter.
Difficult times, troubles, pains in the neck and somewhere southern -they can be a bother. But they never last forever. At some point, they cease to be. Because. Easter. Alleluia!
2. Dals's Birthday Party.
There can be times when I find it difficult to identify the exact circumstance that made an event like a birthday party memorable enough to stay in the hard drive of my rustic brain. Few times it is easy. This party is one of them easy. Because there, I met my 2nd grade teacher. Just when I thought most of my elementary school teachers have moved up to the next level or turned stiff as a stick shift, there she was looking as old as I thought she was when I was seven. Her memory still appeared to be intact as she recalled having us in her class. Maybe because my twin brother Fred and I were her first pair of pupils of strange symmetry. Or maybe we were the cutest. Regardless, this I will always remember.
Anyway, the birthday girl. Adelina. Dals for short.
She's my mother's younger sister who's been through a lot not only in years, but also in her anatomy -knee operation being the latest. Celebrating her birthday is such a blessing. Friends and relatives, young and old -very old -most of which she surprisingly remembers, came to celebrate. Though there were times when connections had to be established to wire her memory nerves, she knew almost everyone. Either that or she faked it well.
3 & 4. Cebu and Bohol: Business and Leisure.
Perfect déjà vu moment. Exactly a year after our father and son adventure, am back in Cebu with the wife and daughter. Work or business or leisure or ministry -whatever it is am going away from the standard and predictable routine of home or workbase for, is a delight for me. Maybe because when we were young, we never got to travel beyond 30km radius of our home. Really. I was way beyond the moon over my puberty years when I first set foot in Manila and I only flew out of the country after my first job. Both good stories to tell in the future. In Cebu, my daughter Nikkei and I accompanied my wife Rissa who conducted a seminar for homeschoolers based in the Visayas. While there, I got to visit #Toespin projects in SM Cebu and SRP. From Cebu, we ferried to Bohol for the Catholic Filipino Academy (CFA) 2016 company outing. The Bellevue, where we were billeted is a fantastic place to go R&R especially if you are with a bunch of crazy and insane people of CFA.
5. Até Vi The Wonder Worker.
And while we were away, an angel cleaned up all trash we've left behind and like magic, made our house look like one. The hands of até Vi, my sister Tess's household angel, work like a wand -they transform a dump into a wonderland. You can eat kare-kare straight off the floors. Just don't ask her to clean up after. It's one good thing being home after a vacation but it's totally another being back to a very clean livable house. Thanks, até V.
6. Korean Visa.
Sometimes blessings come even when you don’t ask for them. My daughter Nikkei is going to Korea next month to make good use of the Korean language she picked up watching Korean shows 25/7. And since Visa, the credit card card company offers free multiple Korean visas to cardholders and with nothing to lose, we submitted our passports, too. Visas granted! Annyeong! We took a proactive step in the right direction towards the next blessing: I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. Phil 1:6
So when are we going to Korea? Yes.
And which part of Korea are we visiting? Yes.
7. A New Doctor in the Family.
…but there are blessings that are hard to come by. Some take six years of hard work and hard-earned money. Like becoming an optometrist. After daddy Benjie, mommy Tess and kuya Matt, Bernadette becomes the 4th doctor in my sister's family. While the first three are all dentists, Badette is an optometrist. Looking into a one-stop clinic for perfect smiles and clear visions. But not everyone in the family can be doctors. Jaymee, the youngest, is the patient.
8. #SMCitySanJosedelMonte.
Going to the mall -con o sin la familia -for me is work. With more than half of all our current lighting projects being malls, even if it is just for a MickeyDinner, I always feel the urge to check on the illumination. It's an instantaneous reaction. For the past 25 years, my eyes have been trained to look, observe, critique and mentally re-design lighting systems. Am not complaining. The end result of all these is food on our table.
I've attended many SM openings but it was when #SMCitySJDM opened that Tessie Sy-Coson, during her traditional mall-opening walk-thru, expressed her approval and appreciation of the lighting design. In effect, she said in front of everyone, consultants and division heads: Leave lighting to the lighting consultants. And for all intents and purposes, that's us, #toespinlighting!
9. #Celtics down #Warriors
Oh yeah, this is deep I know. But am a fan. An old fan. Ever heard of John Havlicek’s clutch shots or Dave Cowens’s acrobats? They were the Splash brothers of their time, so to speak. The very first time I got introduced to NBA was the finals series of the ’73-’74 season -the best in the East vs. the best in the West (the Bucks starring Kareem Abdul Jabbar and his dreaded hook shots). Yup, that old! After school, I watched the replay in our 14” black and white TV set with arial antenna, cheering them on like it was live. There was no remote control and the 3-point shot hasn’t been introduced yet.
This season’s Celtics may not reach the finals but a rare win against the team that will later hold the record for the most wins ever in a season is something to brag about -as a fan, it’s the best I can do. As of this writing, the Celtics are one of only 9 teams to beat them this season.
I haven’t watched a live NBA game or have been to Boston yet. One day, I know I will.
10. Traffic Violation
Driving to Lipa city to visit an SM project, I was pulled over for swerving across a solid white line. I was praying the rosary then which is what I always do when driving long distances.The traffic police may have noticed that I was clutching a rosary when I rolled down my window that he, in probably his most gentle and polite voice, asked me where I was going.
"In Lipa. I have a project in the Archdiocese of Lipa."
Are you a priest?
"No, I am a lay minister."
Alright, please drive carefully.
Here now is my public confession. I have sinned. Not because I told about a project in the archdiocese because technically, SM Lipa is within its jurisdiction. Neither because I said that I was a lay minister because I do serve as reader in the chapel where I attend my weekday masses. I sinned because the words I uttered were meant to deceive the police officer into thinking their obvious meanings.
