Picked up a ten dollar bill a couple of weeks ago.
I looked around for the person who had unknowingly dropped it but there was no one near me or the place I picked up the bill from.
And so I decided to keep it for good luck.
Well, it came in handy today and turned out to be "lucky"for someone who needed it.
I was at the airport this afternoon when this guy came up to me and asked me if I could help him. He didn't look dangerous enough to worry me so I asked how I might be of help.
Turned out he needed ten dollars for a reason I won't go into detail except to say it was (or sounded like) a valid one to me.
Gave him the bill I had picked up and told him it was probably really meant for him.
After all, how many people could have come up to me since I found it and asked for exactly the amount.
Just another $10.00 bill.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Lying, Honestly !
It happened this morning at work.
I counted at least five of the women in the office get new hairstyles, including the one working nearest me.
I told her that her newly permed hair looked good on her.
I let the remark settle in, let her enjoy the idea that another person liked the way her hair looked on her.
And then I told her that I was also known to lie.
I counted at least five of the women in the office get new hairstyles, including the one working nearest me.
I told her that her newly permed hair looked good on her.
I let the remark settle in, let her enjoy the idea that another person liked the way her hair looked on her.
And then I told her that I was also known to lie.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Insecurity
A news item on the early morning news brought this about.
There was a multi level parking garage in some city in a southern state which collapsed yesterday and in the process flattened 45 cars.
Life, it's filled with uncertainty. And yet we manage to get on going back to what we have to do.
We have to.
Anyway, let me segue into the title of this post.
I have some married female friends (don't we all ?).
And I have a female officemate who's been married to her husband for so many years and they're still very much together with no plans of splitting up. Not that there seems to be a reason to. Imagine my surprise when my office friend told me one day that her husband was the jealous kind, after telling me of his infidelity. DUH !
Okay, so it was a one time thing and they have gotten over it. Still., she can't be seen with other men unless they were related. WHAT ? (I thought that just was a custom in a Middle Eastern country.)
What are their husbands scared of ? That they would have an affair, given the chance.
How well do they know their wives ?
How well do they know themselves ?
And there was this moment of insight for me. Some men (I hope just a small number. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part) are really just an insecure bunch of idiots.
But I think, other then GREED, the other underlying reason for most of the troubled times we live in is really just due to a basic "troubled" state of mind men have - INSECURITY !
Enough said for now. Go think and figure it out for yourself. Maybe I'm wrong. Then again, look around you.
There was a multi level parking garage in some city in a southern state which collapsed yesterday and in the process flattened 45 cars.
Life, it's filled with uncertainty. And yet we manage to get on going back to what we have to do.
We have to.
Anyway, let me segue into the title of this post.
I have some married female friends (don't we all ?).
And I have a female officemate who's been married to her husband for so many years and they're still very much together with no plans of splitting up. Not that there seems to be a reason to. Imagine my surprise when my office friend told me one day that her husband was the jealous kind, after telling me of his infidelity. DUH !
Okay, so it was a one time thing and they have gotten over it. Still., she can't be seen with other men unless they were related. WHAT ? (I thought that just was a custom in a Middle Eastern country.)
What are their husbands scared of ? That they would have an affair, given the chance.
How well do they know their wives ?
How well do they know themselves ?
And there was this moment of insight for me. Some men (I hope just a small number. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part) are really just an insecure bunch of idiots.
But I think, other then GREED, the other underlying reason for most of the troubled times we live in is really just due to a basic "troubled" state of mind men have - INSECURITY !
Enough said for now. Go think and figure it out for yourself. Maybe I'm wrong. Then again, look around you.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Moment of Clarity
Been wanting to write about this moment when the words forever and eternally made sense to me.
It happened soon after my mom passed. I was the first in our family to see her body at the funeral home. I did not expect that I would be the one. I guess it was just meant to be. One of brothers in law had told me of how traumatizing it could be. Because for him it was a moment when you finally come to grips with your loved one's death. You know for sure that he or she is gone - forever.
I arrived at the funeral home where the funeral director led me to where my mom was and found the florist and his assistant still working on the floral arrangements. They left to allow me some private time with my mom.
And so it happened. I found myself alone with her in a coffin. Surreal, not really.
I took a good look at her while holding her hands.
What was surreal was the moment when I realized what the words forever and eternally meant.
My mom was gone - physically. But she would live and be with me forever, till I have my memory intact. That was the first time evrything I had heard about those two words made perfect sense to me and I finally undertood what they meant.
And so I "spoke" to my mom, said my goodbye and told her things which I could only say to her and know she'd understand. I remember telling her that I'd be seeing her, maybe not so soon, then again, maybe not. I told her I'd be fine. And then I said a prayer for her.
I turned around and found I had been alone in the room with her. The funeral director and the florists had closed the room behind me and I didn't notice that they did. So I opened the door and let them in. They uttered their condolences, the florists firt and then the funeral director.
Okay, here's where a fun part begins. Just soon after the funeral director said his words of condolence, I told him that the body in the coffin was not my mom.
I meant to say that it was just the body of my mom, not the mom I had known and spent a life with. But of course it sounded different to him.
You should have seen the look on his face change from one of feeling empathy for me to one of "oh, no ! then whose body is that one of ?"
I immediately noticed it and told him what I really meant. And then of course, his demeanor slowly returned to what it was earlier, if not showing a sign of relief. After all, I had told him so calmly "that's not my mom !"
It happened soon after my mom passed. I was the first in our family to see her body at the funeral home. I did not expect that I would be the one. I guess it was just meant to be. One of brothers in law had told me of how traumatizing it could be. Because for him it was a moment when you finally come to grips with your loved one's death. You know for sure that he or she is gone - forever.
I arrived at the funeral home where the funeral director led me to where my mom was and found the florist and his assistant still working on the floral arrangements. They left to allow me some private time with my mom.
And so it happened. I found myself alone with her in a coffin. Surreal, not really.
I took a good look at her while holding her hands.
What was surreal was the moment when I realized what the words forever and eternally meant.
My mom was gone - physically. But she would live and be with me forever, till I have my memory intact. That was the first time evrything I had heard about those two words made perfect sense to me and I finally undertood what they meant.
And so I "spoke" to my mom, said my goodbye and told her things which I could only say to her and know she'd understand. I remember telling her that I'd be seeing her, maybe not so soon, then again, maybe not. I told her I'd be fine. And then I said a prayer for her.
I turned around and found I had been alone in the room with her. The funeral director and the florists had closed the room behind me and I didn't notice that they did. So I opened the door and let them in. They uttered their condolences, the florists firt and then the funeral director.
Okay, here's where a fun part begins. Just soon after the funeral director said his words of condolence, I told him that the body in the coffin was not my mom.
I meant to say that it was just the body of my mom, not the mom I had known and spent a life with. But of course it sounded different to him.
You should have seen the look on his face change from one of feeling empathy for me to one of "oh, no ! then whose body is that one of ?"
I immediately noticed it and told him what I really meant. And then of course, his demeanor slowly returned to what it was earlier, if not showing a sign of relief. After all, I had told him so calmly "that's not my mom !"
And I kind of felt bad for making him "freak out", even if it was for a minute or less. I offered to get him a drink, if he was old enough to get an alcoholic one. He looked pretty young to be one. And he told me that he was really old enough, early 20's, and that he got into the job early on.
I explained to him what I meant and told him that I thought he might have been in similar situations he had just found himself in. I'm sure he'd see more if he stays in the the same job.
But during those moments I spent with my mom, taking it in by myself, evrything made sense to me and there was indeed that Moment of Clarity, that moment where I seemed to have lost my fear of the uncertainty of life. I realized that one day it would come to me, it would be my turn to leave behind the life I am living now and just be "no one"
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Unread Eulogy
My mother passed away Sunday, January 11.
She was 78, was married and loved her husband for 58 years.
The marriage was blessed with 5 children and the usual other stuff which come with a family of differing leanings. In spite of it all, the bottom line, the glue which held it together and sustained it at the end of the day was something invisible but came out when it was needed most - Love.
And I am not saying it with sentimentality. If you could read, you should be able to figure it out.
Anyway, a couple of my siblings had told me, as they were making funeral arrangements, that I would be assigned the task of eulogizing my mom if it came up. I was not worried about the eulogy, I was worried about how if I would be able to do it without breaking down. Luckily, I did not have to.
So here is most of what I had written (with a little help from a colleague at work).
First of all, I THANK EVERY ONE who came and helped us out in our time of loss and mourning, including all who called or e-mailed their thoughts and concern.
This is a sad day for our family and for the people who held my mother dear to them, including her siblings and the friends she made and kept close to her heart if they could not be physically close to her as well as other people she came into contact with and got to know her.
Some of you here today have only come to know my mom through us - that is my dad, myself and my siblings. I wish you had come to know her as we and our relatives and the friends she made had known her. You would have been able to enjoy her cooking and her little tidbits on food and life which she was lucky enough to have learned and shared through her 78 years.
I am sure you will remember the good moments you shared with my mom as I am about to share with you some things you may have known (or not) about her and the family she loved and shared her life with.
Let me start with my dad whom she married when she was just 20 and he was 21. Their marriage had its share of ups and downs just like most marriages but I think the 58 years they were together shows that they had more ups than downs. And their union was blessed with 5 children whom I hope brought them the family they hoped for.
My mom's passion for cooking my sister Josephine has picked up on. She has as well picked up my mom's need to keep her home spotlessly clean, specially the bathrooms and the kitchen.
And my mom's love for shopping my sister Jocelyn ishared and indulged her in, even bringing my mom out on a cold winter's day to the mall because my mom felt cooped up at home one time.
My mom liked the way my sister Rosana, whom my parents named after my grandmother Rosa, as she bore a close resemblance to her, could come up with tasty meals cooked on a moments notice. My mom also liked that Rona always had something for eveyone she cared about even if she didn't have enough for herself.
Her desire for higher education, she lived vicariously through my sister Ana Lisa. She also admired Lisa's fashion sense and liked her for her fairness and generosity.
My mom influenced my sisters' ways of dressing but in her later years she picked up trends and advice from them.
I think by now you are wondering what I'm going to say about myself. I will let this eulogy say it for me. I will tell you this - my siblings just like my parents have always looked out for me. sometimes, my siblings act more like my parents. I want you and them to know that I appreciate it even if some times I seem to prove otherwise. Just like my mom and dad, they are irreplaceable.
Allow me to share with you something about me and my mom. She rarely scolded me or my siblings and it was usually about school work or our prayers or our grooming when we were growing up. My mom was all love and Dad, I'm sorry I have to admit this but I felt worse on those rare occasions that mama would give me a scolding than those times you used the harshest words on me. Dad, I won't forget that you taught me not to forget the bad, the sad things and times we encounter so that they would guide me in making decisions. I won't forget. And neither will I forget Mama, her love for me, for us all. She will always be with me, with us until that day when we are called to join her.
Lastly, I want :
1) my nephews and nieces to know that my mom has always loved them as much as she loved their parents;
2) my mom's aunt, siblings, and nephews and nieces that they were always in my mom's thoughts and prayers.
This may be a sad moment for us all but I would rather you remember it as a happy moment as well. Sad because we are losing a loved one and happy for the life we were allowed to share with her. I am sure my mother was happy that as she was being called away her husband and children were with her in her final moments. I am sure she is happily watching us as we gather to say goodbye to her or rather her earthly life, a life in which she gave her love and her best to all of us.
She was 78, was married and loved her husband for 58 years.
The marriage was blessed with 5 children and the usual other stuff which come with a family of differing leanings. In spite of it all, the bottom line, the glue which held it together and sustained it at the end of the day was something invisible but came out when it was needed most - Love.
And I am not saying it with sentimentality. If you could read, you should be able to figure it out.
Anyway, a couple of my siblings had told me, as they were making funeral arrangements, that I would be assigned the task of eulogizing my mom if it came up. I was not worried about the eulogy, I was worried about how if I would be able to do it without breaking down. Luckily, I did not have to.
So here is most of what I had written (with a little help from a colleague at work).
First of all, I THANK EVERY ONE who came and helped us out in our time of loss and mourning, including all who called or e-mailed their thoughts and concern.
This is a sad day for our family and for the people who held my mother dear to them, including her siblings and the friends she made and kept close to her heart if they could not be physically close to her as well as other people she came into contact with and got to know her.
Some of you here today have only come to know my mom through us - that is my dad, myself and my siblings. I wish you had come to know her as we and our relatives and the friends she made had known her. You would have been able to enjoy her cooking and her little tidbits on food and life which she was lucky enough to have learned and shared through her 78 years.
I am sure you will remember the good moments you shared with my mom as I am about to share with you some things you may have known (or not) about her and the family she loved and shared her life with.
Let me start with my dad whom she married when she was just 20 and he was 21. Their marriage had its share of ups and downs just like most marriages but I think the 58 years they were together shows that they had more ups than downs. And their union was blessed with 5 children whom I hope brought them the family they hoped for.
My mom's passion for cooking my sister Josephine has picked up on. She has as well picked up my mom's need to keep her home spotlessly clean, specially the bathrooms and the kitchen.
And my mom's love for shopping my sister Jocelyn ishared and indulged her in, even bringing my mom out on a cold winter's day to the mall because my mom felt cooped up at home one time.
My mom liked the way my sister Rosana, whom my parents named after my grandmother Rosa, as she bore a close resemblance to her, could come up with tasty meals cooked on a moments notice. My mom also liked that Rona always had something for eveyone she cared about even if she didn't have enough for herself.
Her desire for higher education, she lived vicariously through my sister Ana Lisa. She also admired Lisa's fashion sense and liked her for her fairness and generosity.
My mom influenced my sisters' ways of dressing but in her later years she picked up trends and advice from them.
I think by now you are wondering what I'm going to say about myself. I will let this eulogy say it for me. I will tell you this - my siblings just like my parents have always looked out for me. sometimes, my siblings act more like my parents. I want you and them to know that I appreciate it even if some times I seem to prove otherwise. Just like my mom and dad, they are irreplaceable.
Allow me to share with you something about me and my mom. She rarely scolded me or my siblings and it was usually about school work or our prayers or our grooming when we were growing up. My mom was all love and Dad, I'm sorry I have to admit this but I felt worse on those rare occasions that mama would give me a scolding than those times you used the harshest words on me. Dad, I won't forget that you taught me not to forget the bad, the sad things and times we encounter so that they would guide me in making decisions. I won't forget. And neither will I forget Mama, her love for me, for us all. She will always be with me, with us until that day when we are called to join her.
Lastly, I want :
1) my nephews and nieces to know that my mom has always loved them as much as she loved their parents;
2) my mom's aunt, siblings, and nephews and nieces that they were always in my mom's thoughts and prayers.
This may be a sad moment for us all but I would rather you remember it as a happy moment as well. Sad because we are losing a loved one and happy for the life we were allowed to share with her. I am sure my mother was happy that as she was being called away her husband and children were with her in her final moments. I am sure she is happily watching us as we gather to say goodbye to her or rather her earthly life, a life in which she gave her love and her best to all of us.
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