One Cup of Resilience Over a Platter of Kindness and Laughter, Please.

I hate hospitals maybe because as kids all three of us are notoriously sick, especially my sister. Among us, my sister maybe the most resilient given that she is the most sickly and survived it and now has a beautiful family with two gorgeous boys (ok, fine, let’s include her husband 😛 ).

Then my brother came along as a menopausal baby; kind of taking the crown from my sister as The Most Resilient as my mother didn’t know she was pregnant that time and would work incessantly around our salon and house. Dear brother clung like anything and shocked us all when he came along five years after I was born.

So that leaves me, the middle child with no “special powers” at all. I weighed in at 7.11 pounds making me the chubbiest of us all, if that counts for something. 🙂

Both my parents, especially my mother prove to be source of our resiliency given the many trials our family went through before we finally got our lucky break. When we all finished school and started working.

And now our resiliency is once more put to the test; seven months after enjoying the news that my father is out of harm’s way.

What comes with this test are realizations that get us through this difficult time.

• That a one-minute phone call from that one very dear person is enough to give you strength to cope knowing that someone got your back covered.
• That though the Philippines and China are at odds over Scarborough Shoal, two people infused with Chinese blood never fail to make me feel panatag in their own way.

To the man responsible for stewing posts at So What’s News, thank you for being so nice to a relative stranger; I am almost sure he’s trying to kill me with kindness. 😀 I haven’t met him and yet he’s more of a friend than those who claim to be friends with me.

To Ivy, who I’ve known for years and just about the friend who keeps reminding you of their presence via texts, tweets and comments. Makulit talaga. But she is one of the truest friends I’ve got.

• It is during this time that the depth or shallowness of relationships or character is gauged. My heart swells with gratefulness over likes, comments and text messages that I receive from relatives and friends, especially those that I least expect from.

• That one cannot simply rely on science and drugs for your love one to heal. I still believe that we can turn to The One to help us. It is faith.

Seeing my father with the IV meds and tube on his side make me wish that it be me instead lying on that bed and spare him the pain because I know I’m a lot stronger than he is right now. Then again I know that it will pain them even more to see any of their children lying on that bed.

Because we are a resilient lot, we still manage to share some laughs courtesy of my very quotable mother and crazy brother. Seeing my father crack into the faintest smile or show his annoyance (which I actually think is concealed bemusement) over my mother’s constant nagging that he eat more and finish his milk, feel like we’re just at home and not confined within the four walls that has been our second home for the last five days.

Paradigm Shift

There are times when our perspective change only because it makes things normal; it makes things look so much better at a certain vantage point.

I never thought I’d wish to be on the receiving end of my father’s sarcastic remarks if only it means he’s strong enough to dish it out. Those in science may disagree that sarcasm is not hereditary but us three siblings are living proofs that this is indeed hereditary.

We get spanked as kids because we can be quite a challenge to their sanity back then. And right now, I can only wish that my father can wield that belt if only it means he has the strength to do it.

I would love for my father to scold me for having a sharp tongue when I’m peeved at something or someone if only it means he has the strength to keep up with my rantings. Often times, he just smiles and occasionally laughs because he knows I hardly mean what I say when I’m boiling mad. Either that or he just doesn’t have the strength to argue with me and my reasoning.

That I can only be thankful that we have some resources to admit him to the hospital when others don’t even have enough for a mere checkup. There goes my paycheck. But still, I’m thankful because I have something to spend when others can’t even buy a generic drug for their sick family member.

It really is difficult to keep it in when all I wanted to do is let it out. Because these nurses keep checking up on his IV meds and at the risk of looking like an overreacting loony, I just rub my ‘tired eyes’ and pretend that my eyes are tearing because I’m staring and incessantly typing on my red netbook.

Here’s to hoping that my dad get all these fluid off his other lung and so that when he’s asked how he is, he can say, “I’m ok. Parang wala lung nangyari.” 😛

Thank you,

Stephen Covey (October 24, 1932 – July 16, 2012)

 

 

Pardon My Poor Comprehension

Sometimes even while malling, commuting  or sitting by the window of a coffee shop,  you will see something that will make you go, “Whuuutt?!” I’ve seen some and I’ve forgotten some but here are some things that I’ll probably never understand. Maybe because I find them obtuse? Or maybe I just don’t think like most?

Image via jytanx.blogspot.com

Is carrying a girl’s purse the foremost expression of a guy’s enduring love and devotion?

Because I sincerely do not understand why she is able to carry that nifty cutesy little purse when the guy’s not around and all of a sudden becomes an invalid that renders her hand, arm and shoulder useless when she is with him.

It. Is. Not. Sweet. At. All. Unless you take pleasure in making him look ridiculous in public.

Dear women with significant others, not only do your men look absurd when they carry your hot pink little purses, you do too. Believe me, when these boys become your husbands, you’ll be carrying a sack of rice on one shoulder and your kid on the other and he won’t notice unless you holler at him to help you. Yes, that’s exaggerating. And no, I’m not jaded. 😉

Remember, they have the tendency to be the most docile, sweetest creatures when they want something and too phlegmatic you start to think if aliens have actually taken a hefty part of their being and left you to deal with their useless earthly bodies.

What is so romantic about a bouquet of roses dying on you days later?

And all you have left are dried up twigs, leaves and petals and whole bouquet of mess. Well the ribbons and wrappers are recycable so that makes it a tad useful.

An utter waste of hard-earned money, really. Unless you have money at your disposal, then by all means. But won’t the girl appreciate something that will not wilt on her? Oh please! You can do better than a stuffed toy. (See? My thoughts are entirely clean 😉 ) Maybe because I’m a practical person  and I’d rather it be spent on something useful like for instance, a hobby. A 35mm prime lens, perhaps? (I am not picky! Promise! I don’t mind a good second-hand! 😀 )

Why wear a short skirt only to keep tugging it down?

Why is it that women taking the public transpo will wear miniskirts then keep on tugging it down? Dear, the more you tug it down, the more you are attracting attention to yourself. Unless of course that’s what you’re gunning for.

Mantra: Look all you want but touch me not (Noli Mi Tangere, ring a bell?). Once you get touched, aim to slap (but punching and kicking are what I like best, though 😛 ).

So here’s a tip. When you’re wearing those sexy skirts, carry a big, fashionable bag; that way, it can cover your legs when you’re seated in the jeep, fx or bus. But if you take pleasure in seeing men drool over you, disregard this tip by all means.

What is up with people (worse, couples) talking to each other but have earphones on?

I actually saw a couple talking to each other with their earphones on and I’m like, “Why even bother when clearly they’re both absorbed in their own little worlds?” Because even as I am seated right across them, I can hear music blasting from the girl’s earphones and the guy was busy playing on his smartphone.

I mean if you like your time alone, that’s pretty understandable because every one needs some me time every so often. But to be with me yet not with me, what is the point?

It’s plain decency to take off your earphones when you’re with someone; regardless if you’re just together or talking. In this digital age of social networks and smartphones, people seem to have conveniently disregarded or completely  forgotten what social graces are.

What Showbiz Taught Me

:: That there is always somewhere to go even when you feel like there’s none. Hero Angeles found his refuge in Walang Tulugan; thanks to Kuya Germs. Please don’t crucify when I say I don’t know if he’s still there. 

:: That the besugo-look is a testament of one’s ginormous wealth. Cristina Decena (I’ll be damned! She is the wife of Ariel Villasanta?!) , Philip Salvador’s ex, is the living proof that what comes with wealth is one serious trout-pout 😉

:: That being married to the likes of Manny Pacquiao is a sure way to be rid of looking like your twin. For life. I’m pretty sure Jinkee’s parents now have an easy breezy time telling one from the other.

:: That you simply have to have guts and sing. Loud and proud (and off-key). Take Anne Curtis. She’s a self-confessed non-singer but she has an album, did a concert, did a tour of sorts and now, she’s singing on every endorsement that will let her, both on tv and radio.

:: That being as tall as Eddie Gutierrez can be a serious liability especially if all you wanted to do is to hide under one of  the tables at The Heritage Park’s dining area during Mang Dolphy‘s wake.

:: Lastly, that no designer wardrobe and accessories can cover for an outrageously trashy behavior. I’m sure you don’t need a name for this one. She makes me so proud that I have a mother who in spite of not finishing school and does not dress in expensive clothes has manners that will not shame us like this woman does her family.

Several Shades of Redundancy

I tried giving this Fifty Shades trilogy a chance to redeem itself in Book 2 and I regretted giving it a go at page 11.Why on earth was this a bestseller?

— image via http://beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com

The prologue seems promising enough but by page 11, I was thankful I didn’t have the physical book with me or those nifty Kindles and iPads. I would have seriously hurled it out of sheer frustration. I have never read a book as ridiculously redundant as this one. The initial email exchange alone was enough to “make me roll my eyes” to the highest heavens and then I accurately guessed that “‘stop biting your lip, Anastacia” will make a reappearance in this second installment; it was only a matter of sentence variations and on what pages will they appear and keep reappearing.

Given that this is a trilogy, consider me more than 50 shades disappointed because I just expected more from a bestseller. While I understand that it takes an amount of talent and courage to pen your thoughts, get it published and put it out there for the wolves to devour and rip into shreds, it’s beyond comprehension why it reached the bestseller status. I’m sure there are a lot more  talented writers out there who can do justice to a bestseller.

As Amazon suggested, if you can’t get enough of the erotica genre, maybe you want to check out A. N. Roquelaure’s Beauty trilogy. That is Anne Rice’s pen name for books she wrote under this genre. Now this looks promising. I may hunt these down just to negate the vibes of this rather pale bestseller. 😉