Life, Day by Day

Today is Christmas Day ...a few more hours and it will be a day of the past. I went to hear mass at 11 AM, having overslept after our noche buena celebration which ended at about 2 AM. As I listened to the sermon, the words of the priest struck a note because he talked about something which I needed to hear.

The last time I saw them was in 1984 just before they left to immigrate in the US with their parents. They were children then and so much has happened and changed since then. Last week, they came to visit...our US based first cousins, children of my mom's youngest brother. They came with their mother, my uncle's first wife and also, the 4 year old daughter of my cousin, the first grandchild in their family. It was good to see them all grown up and leading relatively responsible lives. It would have been really wonderful if their dad was with them but, he passed away 2 years ago and part of his ashes is buried here with his parents. But, like what his daughter said, she was sure that their papa was with them in spirit and happy to see them connecting with his family here. I think so too...and my mom after we brought them to the airport and saw them off...said aloud, " Raul, are you happy now? "

Two years ago in July 2003, I wrote this in my first blog... The unexpected happened over the weekend. Some battle-scarred officers and soldiers decided to launch a mutiny during the early hours of Saturday morning. I was suddenly awakened by my mom at 4 am, ending my restful weekend plans. Let me explain something here. The Philippines is an archipelago made up of many islands...so that whatever happens in Manila does not mean it is happening everywhere else. Of course, the tension isn't any less. I think the government handled it very well. Now all they have to do is to pay attention to the issues and accusations of these soldiers and then maybe we can now go forward in our quest for a stable economy. You'd think that the rebels who call themselves Magdalo would have learned their lesson but no, they did it again. This time by forcing their way into The Manila Peninsula , one of the country's premier hotel last November 29, 2007. That morning, I was on the plane coming