Chloe turns 14

A special little lady in my life turns 14 years old today.

I want to tell her lots of things. How proud I am of her. How special she is. How she has blossomed into a beautiful and elegant young woman.

I want to explain to her that it's tough being 14. That other people can sometimes be cruel, that she needs to keep her head up and walk proud and respect herself, and have enough confidence and wisdom to respect the choices she makes.

I want to tell her that it's OK to make mistakes. That we learn from mistakes. That mistakes can make us better people. And if we live life afraid of being wrong, or making a mistake, that we never grow.

I want to tell her about how hard it's been being a working mom, but because it's been worth every single second, I won't.

I want to tell her all about how in life, there are always choices, and that it is these choices that define us, that build our character, that make us who we are.

I want to tell her how much she means to me, and how I love her.

And, as a very special birthday present today, I'm going to read "Goodnight Moon" to my baby tonight.

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Tita Linda's Journey

We lost our Tita Linda the other day. It was just last month when she was diagnosed with cancer, the disease was already in advanced stage. Unfortunately, a few days ago, her condition made a sudden turn for the worse. In the end, she was still unable to overcome her illness.
Hailing from Bacolod, Tita Linda was cheerful and malambing. She was also an excellent cook and I will certainly miss her paella and home made strawberry ice cream.
Some people shine so brightly they light the way for others. My tita was such a person. Having that light snuffed out so suddenly is a loss to the world.


It is said that Death is like a great ocean, and we are on this shore seeing people depart. But every ocean has two shores, and every person we see depart is seen as arriving on that other shore. Death is not the end.

We are standing on the seashore.
A ship at our side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength and we stand and watch her until at length she is a speck of white cloud just where the sea and the sky come to mingle with each other.
Then someone at our side says, 'There! She is gone. There, she is gone.'
Gone where?
Gone from our sight, that is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left our side and she is just as able to bear her load of living weight to her destined harbour.
Her diminished size is in us, not in her, and just at the moment when someone at our side shouts, 'There! She is gone. There, she is gone,' there are other eyes watching her coming and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, 'Here she comes. At long last, here she comes!'
And that is dying.
-Henry Van Dyke

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12 Things I miss

Looking back, I miss a lot of people and stuff--close friends long been gone, food I haven't eaten in for a while, even shows I haven't seen in a long time. Here is a list of these that I would want to meet up, eat, and watch again:

1. My highschool friends. Ilang dekada na ang nakaraan since we've graduated.
2. My classmates in Maryknoll na baluktot ang dila.
3. Serg chocolate bar. They would melt in your mouth with all their milky goodness.
4. Chikadees. Lagi ako bumibili nito kasi may toy na sticky inside.
5. Scramble. shaved ice mixed with powdered skimmed milk, plenty of sugar, flavoring and pink food color. Frothy and super yummy.
6. Magnolia Chocolait in the bottle. Noong kinder ako, Chocovim ang brandname nito.
7. Tira-tira. Ang may salarin ng cavities ko
8. McDo strawberry milkshakes
9. Sundot-Kulangot. brown sweet sticky things placed inside small bamboo shoots that you eat with a small stick
10. Cheese Curls na binebenta ng magbobote na nakabalot sa yellowpage na directory.
11. The "I Can Feel It" Commercial ni Alice Dixson. Feel good commercial kasi to.
12. That's Entertainment. hahaha..ang jologs...

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Splish Splash!

On a hot summer day, there's really nothing else to do but have fun.

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My Shining Star

Meet Chloe, my Girl No. 3. Looking at her pics, I couldn't bring myself to the fact that my little girl has metamorphosed from being a shy and quiet one to now a sociable, confident, responsible, and independent girl of twelve.

Invisible Girl
When she was younger, Chloe used to seem invisible. Her tiny frame and "emily the strange" manner made her barely noticeable to anyone but me, her mom. I wondered... will she be always this hidden from the world?


Shining Moment
Last week was Chloe's shining moment--her graduation from grade school. Not a tremendous milestone, in the scheme of things, but very important to her. She bagged four academic distinction awards and I am so proud of her. I couldn't help but brag about her.

Chloe is indeed far from invisible. She's a shining star in my eyes.

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