Father's Day Laundry Reflections

Today I woke up  at 5:10am with nothing in my mind apart from doing my regular Sunday 5k run and the laundry in the washing machine that I’ve programmed last night to finish by just about this time. Still with that crusty gunk in the inner corners of my eyes, I went down to check if it’s done. And it is. I set another 15mins for extra spin to make drying faster. Google says it’s going to be sunny today ’til about noon. A responsible laundry guy like me knows how to check the weather forecast. As I write this, my laundry is basking under the 31° heat of the early morning sun. It's 8 o'clock high noon!

I thought I’d do a chill run today -being Father’s day which I really do not regard any more special than the regular days since I still have to do the laundry anyways. This day is for the malls, Lazada, Amazon and other online stores. Not for real - for me. 

Anyways, back to the run. A chill run for me is not trying to outrun myself or break my own record or run under 30mins. Just. Run. 5k. Nonstop. No matter how long it takes me. The first km is always difficult -for some reason, this is how my body reacts. At every start, this bod makes me think that it’s good for only about 2 to 2.5k this run. Always. Every run. The second, third and fourth are usually better but the last K, mentally, is most torturing. It feels like you need to pee already but you’re in the middle of a heavy traffic and you’re still like a harrowing half-an-hour away to your destination. In our village, I run past the usual early morning neighbors around the block that I cover. Around the corner just before turning to the street where our house is, the usual neighbor is a lady with a coffee mug in one hand and a rosary in the other. Sometimes I see her walking around the same block until she finishes the rosary. Today, she was just standing there as if waiting for someone to walk or run by. I did. Even before I’d do my usual no-word g’morning hand gesture, she greeted, “Happy Father’s day!” I was, by then in my last K with that I-need-to-pee-already-in-the-middle-of-a-heavy-traffic feeling, expelling every ounce of oxygen out of my lungs. But believe me, when I heard her greeting, I felt I could do another 5k. What a short, simple action can do even to a person in a breathless situation like I was in! Amazing! Then, just then, I thought maybe Father’s day is for real.

But it is real. You know why? Ask me “why?”

Am waiting… 
Ask me now.

Father’s day is real because our Heavenly Father is real. The Father and Creator of this universe. He is real. I know this because I am reminded of His presence all the time. This day is not really for me but for me to honor my Heavenly Father for His miracles that I continuously witness in my life and in the people who matter to me. I honor Him for all these and also for this:

Yesterday, I mounted these frames that Andre and Nikkei have been pestering me to put up since pre-covid days. Oh man, that was a long time ago! They were supposed to surprise Andre and Nikkei who were out swimming with their cousins. But surprise was on me. I realized that all this time, I was denying myself the joy of seeing how beautiful the children that Father God has given me to look after, to guard, to love. And now as I sit chugging the protein drink I prepared before the run and listening to my Sunday playlist, I smile looking at the new wall of fame. Today, I am also reminded that He also gave me an earthly father -tatang Didong, who left this world seven months ago. I read again this article I wrote on the day of his burial. It's good to be reminded every now and then.

Thank You, Abba Father. Thank you, tatang D. To all the fathers who inspire me and to all the fathers reading this, Happy Father's day. The extra 0.25k distance and the extra 5'41" time I ran today are dedicated to you. Yep, every puff of the way.

Previous: "I Am Content, I Love"                  Next: "Healthier, Wealthier, and Wiser in Covid-19"

I Am Content, I Love.

Disclaimer: Modesty is temporarily quarantined and suspended in this post.

I am content at how I turned out to be as a person. In equal measure, I can honestly say the same for all my siblings. None of us became civic leaders, youtube sensations or influencers of the sort but we’re no thieves, arsonists, or mercenaries. Neither do we side with any of them. We love God and we love our families. What formed us, you ask?  In the beginning, we had someone to love -our dear mother, Leonila. She was a gentle soul. So beautiful, so kind, so soft-hearted.

We, my 3 brothers and a sister were our mother's biggest headaches as she concerned herself with nothing but our well-being, day in and day out. We loved our Inang dearly and even now that’s she’s gone, our love for her is manifested in our looking out for one another. We are who we are because I firmly believe, we loved our mother. I miss and think of her everyday.

This is my theory: a person who loves his mother is a good person. Though maybe not absolutely, but generally.

Celebrating a cousin's birthday. Good ol' days.

Now, I am content at how my children are turning out to be. All two of them. They may one day be influencer-leaders contributing much to society or just to the people around them. They will most likely be because they had someone to teach them to love God and respect others -their mother. I often hear them saying one day, they’ll send her to Europe for a vacation. Me included, of course, but that’s for a Father’s day post. Andre, in his Facebook greeting post to his mother a few days ago, even declared proudly that he is a mama's boy. Nikkei wrote about the comforting texts she gets from her mother while at work and expressed her forever love.

These are the same children who bicker now and then and every day -but that’s ok. I am not losing sleep and hair any further because I know that they do care for each other. They also love God. They also love family. They also show respect. They are turning out to be and will turn out to be good people. Why? Because they love their mother.

My dear Nerissa, I thank the good Lord because our children have a mother worthy of this love. The Bible says, “We love because He first loved us.” This love is one that is sacrificial. This is the kind that you mirror so clearly, so beautifully. Your children love you because you first loved them.

Thank you, dear. I am content, and will ever be. Happy Mother’s day! We love you.

Milestone

お誕生日おめでとう！

I must welcome you, dear, into the “for the rest of our lives” part of our militant existence. You do know that I’d rather be Kon'nichiwa-ing with you if only to memorialize this milestone but we are held prisoners by something smaller than a speck of dust. But I can't let it arrest my thoughts and senses. This day may pass sans pomp and a brass band but not without this: 

I’ve honored you most for all that you do, but since there’s not much to do now, here’s to honor you for the things you do not do:

You do not cause me to burn a building in anger, just to burn with passion like the morning sun;

You do not look into my eyes, wicked cold and careless, but with a comforting warmth more soothing than a cup of coffee in your hands;

You do not hit me black and blue, but bring color to my world like red, yellow, green and blue; and ok, lavender, too;

You don’t drive me into madness, but to be MIL with you even more like a bee to its honey;

You don’t keep me away from my dreams, but help me make them come true, like one and one is two;

You do not smile for nothing, laugh for nothing, breathe for nothing, live for nothing;

You don’t do things ordinarily, but put extra into everything, like ube in ice cream.

You do me good. You don’t-do me good, too.

There’s also something in between, but that’s just for me and you.

Soon, after this ECQ, we’ll be hitting the reset button and start anew. 

Life’s been pretty and good, pretty good, I’d say. And in this new one that’s coming, we’ll make it prettyay.

I love you doe-a-dear. Happy birthday!

Tatang, I will not forget

Today, we your children will bury your body 6-feet under in a cemetery plot beside Inang’s body or whatever the last 16 years have turned it into. I just find it strange to bury and leave behind a beloved someone buried in dirt, never to be seen or touched again.

But I will not forget. You made sure I didn’t.

Whenever I see a jeepney. You’ve driven one to earn a living. I was too young to remember. Either that or we weren’t born yet. But you told us many kwentong jeepneys. I will remember.

Whenever I see a taxi cab. This, too, was your source of income after the jeepney. A promotion. An upgrade. Words to that effect. Those career moves drove you into losing one of your kidneys in 1995. I will remember.

Whenever I eat watermelons. Kuya Boy and I fought over one which ended in a watermelon throwing contest. We both lost ending up on our bellies to receive a pair of broom-stick spanks each. I will remember.

Whenever I see the beach. One summer day in Olongapo where we usually spend summer in the house of our aunts, Dà Viring and Dà Sayong to help out in the grocery store, you fetched us, Fred and me -your twins, in your cab and brought us to Kale beach. That was one fine picnic day -just the three of us -engraved in the happy moments sector of my brain’s hard drive. I will remember.

Whenever I hear a politician making a speech. In grade 3, I ran for a seat in the Student Council. I was up against two students whose mothers were teachers of the same school. You drafted my campaign speech full of promises I could never keep. Perhaps you knew what politicians were made of. I won convincingly. The school was never the same again -for better or for worse is another story. Twenty years later, I was made its guest speaker. I wrote my own speech. I will remember.

Whenever I see light. You were the electrician at home. Subconsciously, this must have inspired me to do the lighting thing I do now. You were also the plumber, the gardener, the carpenter. You were the my Handy Man in James Taylor’s song. I will remember.

Whenever I hear mass. And I hear mass everyday. The Holy Eucharist reminds me that you shared in the Lord’s sacrifice: as a jeepney and cab driver trying to hold that trip to the bathroom before reaching your passengers’ destination, as a farmer never minding the burning of your skin under the sun -if only to be a good husband and a good father to your family. I will remember.

Whenever I eat rice. You were a farmer all your life. You made sure we’d understand how hard it is to be one by making us plant and harvest with farmers during off-school days. We dried palay grains harvested during the wet season on concrete roads and on the school open basketball courts. And when the dark clouds appear, we’d rush to rake and shovel to sack them back in. We were little farmers, fast and furious. As a young Beatles fan, I didn’t fancy those days. Now, I see gold in every grain I see. Now I appreciate every bit of lesson there was to learn. I will remember.

Goodbye, Tatang. No more looking forward to movies together. Or going to the beach together. My eyes will not see you anymore. My hands will not touch yours anymore. But the unseen and the untouched can be more powerful than what is seen or touched. This family you’ve left behind, you’ve left behind solidly together. You and Inang were the loving catalyst that united and will keep uniting us. We will remember. We will love. Always.

Goodbye, Tatang. I love you. 

I'm An Addict

…to early Sunday morning jogs, that is. I’m training for the April 2019 NatGeo run in which my son Andre and I participated during its first three-year run. 

But since then, bum knees and arteriosclerosis happened. Later on, a stent in the artery, turning vegan, Japanese muscle exercises to strengthen the knees and a day in Bohol where I tried running again for the first time since the cardio procedure got me back on the tracks again. 

This morning’s early hours were wet, very wet. But I just had to run today, having missed it last week because running at 3°C in Tokyo might get me arrested for violating the strict harakiri law in Japan. There was just a mild drizzle so I put on a cap just to keep away the colds virus that a nearly-senior citizen like me must always be on guard against. 

My usual weekly run starts with 10 walk-laps around our village block with a perimeter of about 250m. After which I run 20 laps simulating a 5k run. But halfway into that, the rains got stronger. Keeping a cap on I assumed will get my neighbors thinking I’m stupid twice over. So I decided to swing by our garage to drop the cap without having to disturb my pace rhythm. 

Then it happened -third degree stupidity: I stepped on the most slippery part of our garage. Yes, the very same usual spot we tell house guests not to step on. 

THUD! 

Gravity pulled my not-so-fat pair of buns and left elbow against the rough parts of the garage floor first and the back of my hard skull against its wall next. Not even the new UA pair of running shoes could break the fall. No one witnessed I assumed, but the sound produced by that disgusting spectacle of myself was heard by my wife Rissa resting on the couch in the living room. "What was that?" she asked as I opened the door. Lifting my skinless elbow, I answered, "I slid."

After some first aid from the mad wife, I went back into the wet perimeter tracks, in my totally-drenched shirts, shorts and shoes to finish the remaining half of the run. Still raining. And just as soon as I resumed, my iPhone’s Spotify playlist started playing Cat Stevens Hard Headed Woman. Ha-ha, I thought. I am my wife’s Hard-headed Man.

I finished the run wounded but wiser with some hard lessons learned: keep the cap on; don't give a rat's whatever on what neighbors will say; skip the Cat Stevens song; and for the nth time, do something about them darn slippery tiles.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Dec 26 Update:
My wounds are healing fast, thanks to Nikkei who dresses well, not only herself but also wounds.

In hindsight, during the fall, I was conscious enough to protect my head. Although it did hit the wall behind me, the impact was mitigated by that conscious effort. While earlier I wrote nothing broke the fall, I was wrong. Somebody did. I am guarded and protected by my guardian angel to whom I pray everyday: Angel Dei, cui custos es mei... 

And yes, I bought a can of rubberized floor coating for them tiles already.

Happy New Year, everyone!

The Gift Turns 21

The day you were born was the day God completed His biggest blessing to this vacay-crazed family - the gift of God-fearing children. Before my very eyes, I saw this gift grow and give joy to those around it. I’ve seen it smile and with it I smiled. I’ve seen it cry and with it my heart wept silently.

I saw it tough. I saw it tender.

In so many ways when you didn’t have the wits about you, you terrify, confuse, intimidate, scare and horrify us and the people around you. Borderline insane, ikr! But in equal measure, you make us laugh that only a Nikkei can. You make us proud for what you’ve become. So far, so good.

You hardly ask for attention because beautiful things do not ask for attention. Yes, that I know.

Regardless, our love for you will always be unconditional. You know that, right?

One of my favorite Bible verses is Matt 6:21 - Car là où est ton trésor, là aussi sera ton coeur. I wrote it in French just so you’d open your Bible to look it up. I love this verse and live by it because when you look deep inside mine, there you’ll find my treasures. There, you occupy a special place. 

Happy birthday, Nikkei. I thank God that I am the one and the only man who can truly call you -my daughter.

This is getting long already. Am done here.

Now bring out that vegan pizza and lemonade.

Top 10 October 2016

October. Already?! Octo means eight which means we are in the eighth month of the year, yes? Right -if March is the first. Actually, it was the first. But just Google it. October is the time to look back on what's been done the past three quarters of the year and time to look ahead on what's needed to pick up the slack, or more appropriately, to take up your own. Me, I look back and count the blessings. And be thankful. My October top 10:

1. The Word

"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" Luke 1:28
Whenever I pray the Hail Mary, there is this feeling in me that unites me with my mother who was taken away from us nearly 13 years ago. While I call on Our Lady who I’ve seen not, I also call on my Inang who nourished me to intercede and pray for us. Afterall, it was her who taught us to pray the rosary.

2. Final Drive In My Old Reliable

After 17 years of service to my family, I am taking my old Honda Civic for a final spin to its new owners guided by my own emotions I was trying to control. The drive from our village to Waltermart where we, the buyers, the middleman and I agreed to do the big exchange, was a sad one. Short. And sad. I wanted to make it longer, enough to recall all the good and the less-than-good times with this old baby. The red lights at the final crossing helped. Memories came back to me. Funny thing though -good memories remain good, and bad memories turn better when you look back at them. 

Read the blog here.

3. Foods That Keep My Family Together.

How often together?
   Sunday mass. Food for the soul.
   Sunday brunch after mass. Food for the body.
   Travel. Food for the senses. We check out schedule of each when planning for one.
   Sleep. Food for the dreams. For heaven’s sake, we all sleep in one room to save on electricity bill.
   Every night we pray as a family. More food for the soul. This October, it's the rosary followed by our daily Psalms recitation.
Oh yes, food does keep our family together.

4. I took an illegal U-turn.

A day after André forgot his specs that he had to employ Grab Express to have it delivered to him that same day, I told him to only think of a checklist before leaving the door: cellphone; wallet; glasses. For me it’s cellphone, wallet and meds. Guess what, that day I forgot my wallet. I was driving without my license. Somewhere in C5 road Taguig, I made an illegal U-turn, still unaware that my driver’s license was about 25kms away. Had I been aware of that distance, I probably would have been more careful. Sometimes, it’s knowing that you are equipped with what you need that gives you the power to go. Lesson learned.

5. 'Ber' Traffic.

Ber here refers to the ber months. Although EDSA has been designated as a parking zone for most days of the year, it takes this designation with more gusto during this time approaching Christmas when rush hour is no longer true and the word traffic is a misnomer. How can one move with urgent haste (rush) when you can’t even move at all? Or how can there be traffic when there is no longer movement? Go figure.
But enough of this rant.
All I want to say about this is that I am good with traffic. When driving alone, I am not really alone. I keep my mind busy praying the rosary, interceding for many including our country, dusting the interior of the car and counting forever ’til I get to the nearest pit stop. If forever takes longer than usual, then I panic busy looking for a bottle of gatorade left in the car. You know what they say about a bottle of gatorade, they’re spot on accurate: gives you relief!

6. #SMStoreMolino.

Another project finished. It took some extra miracles to pull this one off because of problems (not our doing) that came up days prior to its opening. Challenges come into sight not only to test one’s abilities but to pull oneself back, stand straight preferably on an elevated position and declare out loud, "Who did this?"
Am kidding you, of course. The challenge was an occasion to pull back and pray -pray for inspirations, for wisdom. And true to His promise, the inspiration came. All glory to God!

7. I Reward Myself.

This was the original intent, a noble one if I may say so. Because of the High on Three Counts diagnosis I got the previous month and since coffee is one listed high on the dont’s, I todally skipped drinking it. But when you’re a coffee drinker, you are a coffee drinker. Its morning aroma invites my senses like a filthy garbage bin to an undernourished feral cat. And so I thought of this reward idea in which I can only drink coffee the day after I have exercised for at least an hour in my stationary bike. Or in strenuous car cleaning -including but not limited to waxing and polishing.
And as good as the shine on my forehead is, it was too good to last. It did last for several days, though. And that was it.

I think I’ll have a cup.

8. The Purpose Of Life Is Not Happiness: It’s Usefulness.

One of the best short articles I've read this month. A good read, promise.
For the longest time, I believed that there’s only purpose of life: And that is to be happy.
Right? Why else go through all the pain and hardship? It’s to achieve happiness in some way.
And I’m not the only person who believed that. In fact, if you look around you, most people are pursuing happiness in their lives. 

Read the complete article here.

9. Lighting Fair.

Now this is where I turn into a kid in a toy store. My happy place. With over 50,000sqm of exhibition halls, tens of thousands of lighting enthusiasts looking at hundreds of thousands of LED lights, this is my playground. Every year, I come here to feed on the industry’s techno advances I could use in my design work. Although this year's fair didn't offer a fair amount of breakthroughs, touching base with people in the industry provided for some delightful time.  Too bad I only had a day to do this because the following day, it’s the next item on this list.

10. Feeling High In Shang!

Totally unplanned, unbudgeted, unscheduled. But these are the elements of a good vacation, are they not? Thanks to the sweet-talking Bing, a Shanghai-based good friend of ours and godmother of my daughter Nikkei who prevailed upon us when my only intention was to book a buy1-take1 fare to the lighting fair in HK. Instead in a flash, we found ourselves hypnotized and booked to HK and Shanghai. Included among the victims of hypnosis are my family, my bro-in-law Hermie and his family and my sister Tess. 

It was a blast, nonetheless. Six years since the 2010 Shanghai Expo, we were back! We also got to visit the West Lake in Hangzhou and Tianducheng -the Paris of China complete with the Eiffel Tower and Champs Elysees. Really, in China, counterfeiting goes large scale!

May you be showered with God's abundance.

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