One of the things I am thankful for is that I was born to a family with simple dreams and simple joys in life. We live in a modest house. My siblings and I went to private schools but nothing too fancy. We don’t have a car at the moment but we used to have [...]
When you say family, what does it mean? Does it mean immediately family only? Does it include the extended family? Does it include a few very close family friends? Personally, family for me includes my immediate family and only close relatives. By relatives I mean my father’s side of the family and not all of [...]
Amidst the chaos that was the birthday party that I attended this afternoon, I got to talk with some elders about the financial crisis that’s affecting the whole world today. Of course, they are all worried. I am worried myself. Most of the people I talked to this afternoon are breadwinners of their families. Some [...]
My sisters, Hazel and I attended our cousin’s birthday party at Jollibee Luneta Park this afternoon. Our nanay (paternal grandma), some aunts and other cousins were also present. It was really fun! We had so much fun laughing, enjoying watching the kiddie games, and the Jollibee mascots. It was actually a riot when the mascots [...]
Let me tell you about a woman I know. Let’s call her Woe. She is close to me. I’ve known her since I was a kid. And her story goes like this… Woe is married and has two kids. Her husband is jobless. By choice. Ever since I was a teen, I’ve known him to [...]
Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus, photo from Vanity Fair People can be malicious. I’ve been seeing so many articles written about the “cuddly photo” of teen pop star, Miley Cyrus and her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus. Most are maliciously pointing out how close the father and daughter are and if it’s normal at all. Let [...]
My brother, James, wants to become a PMA-er. Philippine Military Academy student to be exact. He’s been telling us this desire since he was in 4th year high. He told me that he would rather enroll in PMA in Baguio City. But I have the same answer again and again. NO! You see, I don’t [...]
We should not feel embarrassed by our difficulties, only by our failure to grow anything beautiful from them. – Alain de Botton I’ve encountered a lot of difficulties in the past. Financially and emotionally. I remember a comment from Raquel in one of my posts about having so many worries these days. She’d take a [...]
It is hard for a boy to grow up in a household of girls. I know this from experience because I have a younger brother (our youngest) who is struggling to live with four older sisters. I can see how hard it is for him, especially he and my dad are not really close. He [...]
Four years ago, I was considering adoption. I really wanted to have a kid of my own that time. I was checking orphanages where I can find my baby. But months after that search, I realized that a kid is not like a puppy that you can adopt easily. It takes not just money and [...]
What would you do if you heard that your cousin got his girlfriend pregnant? Will you ask him about it? Will you ask his parents if they know about it already? Or will you just pretend that you don’t know? We heard something about my cousin who’s the same age as my youngest brother, James. [...]
When you come from a large family like me, you would know that going on trips is not easy. Consider these: budget, schedule, destination. BUDGET. You all know that the higher the number of people going on a trip, the higher the costs involved. SCHEDULE. Well, since there’s school and work to attend to, most [...]
I grew up a Catholic. I studied in a Catholic school, too. But growing up, I did not see my parents that devoted to the Lord. Yes, they are both religious but not with the same faith that my dad has right now and my mom had before she died. I am just amazed at [...]
Whenever I pray to Him, I always ask for guidance for my brother. I always worry about the choices he will make. He doesn’t have a male figure to look up to. You know, my brother is not close to my dad. They hardly talk. I mean, yes, they talk but only when they have [...]
With the death of John Travolta’s 16-year-old son, Jett, it made me think again of the natural order of things. You see, a parent buries his or her child. It’s not the other way around. But we can’t really say what will happen. I know how hard it is for a parent to bury a [...]
This year will be a year of living right for me and the family. Life insurance and auto insurance comparisons are the priority to look at this beginning of the year. Health care insurance is another priority. Everything that has to do with preparing for the future will be a priority for the whole family. [...]
Is there such a thing, you might ask? Well, there is. In our house, you can slice through it, in fact. Time to act on plan B now. You see, Plan A is all about us moving. I won’t go into details but suffice it to say that we were so excited about the prospect [...]
My cousin, Yong, is the person the whole family calls when we encounter problems with our computers. Anything concerning computers and the internet, we ask him if we don’t know it. He is a certified Microsoft computer engineer. Cisco certified as well. So I believe he is an expert when it comes to things concerning [...]
I cannot imagine what this British man was thinking… raping his two daughters in a span of 27 years! A British man was jailed Tuesday for raping two of his daughters and fathering nine children over 27 years, a case with echoes of Austria’s Josef Fritzl. The two daughters were made pregnant 19 times; there [...]
A neighbor of ours has this really strange habit of talking in a loud voice even if the person she is talking to is just in front of her. What’s worse, she talks as if her kids are not there, listening to her. I was looking out the window when I heard her a few [...]
