Under One Roof

Have you heard about the “Death with Dignity” law of Washington and Oregon in the US? It is assisted suicide for those who are terminally ill and have no more recourse.

Linda Fleming of Sequim, 66 years old, had stage 4 pancreatic cancer. She died Thursday night last week after she took drugs prescribed under the “Death with Dignity” law. Fleming is the first death under this law that was approved in November of 2008. In Oregon, it started as early as 1997 and around 401 people have used it already to end their lives.

You know, when I read this today, I was torn between agreeing to the law and shaking my head because this puts a different light to my stand on suicide.

Taking one’s own life is any which way is suicide. That’s clear. But, when one is terminally ill, or those who have been in life support for a long time and clearly has no more chance of waking up, then it becomes a matter of mercy on the person. Yes, still a suicide but then, as the name of the law suggests, it is giving the person a chance to die with dignity.

A person, taking her own life for no other reason but a problem she thought she cannot solve, is gravely insulting those who still wish to live. But in these cases of euthanasia, where a person is terminally ill, probably in too much pain and would like to dictate the way she finally succumbs to death… it really puts a dent to my stand.

Did you know that in Saudi Arabia, a girl or boy under 15 years old can be legally married? There is a big case about a court in Saudi Arabia granting an 8-year-old girl to divorce her 47-year-old husband. The little girl was married to the man by her father as a payment of sorts for the debts he had with the man. What a barbaric thing to do!

Apparently, this custom in Saudi is very much legal. Marrying a kid to someone far older than her is quite the practice in this country. The United States, United Nation and even their very own justice minister are all doing something to change this law. Yes, this is, in fact, part of their law! Their justice minister is planning to enact a law to protect the rights of minors in their country.

We are in an age of advance technology. Gays and lesbians are gaining equality in the US and other western countries. But a country as rich as Saudi Arabia is still backwards with their customs. I was so appalled when I read this news. The little girl is actually living with her mother but was already married to the man. Her mother didn’t know what the father did because the two are separated. When the mother knew, she brought the case to the courts and asked that her daughter be divorced from the man. After several attempts, a victory like no other was awarded to them.

The little girl is lucky her parents are separated. Because most mothers in that country would just bow to the wishes of their husbands. It’s their custom.

The divorce is being touted as a landmark case in Saudi Arabia. This is the first time that something like this happened. And I am praying that many others will follow suit. It’s about time their barbaric customs be reviewed and discarded!

UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman said, “the right to free and full consent to marriage is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Consent cannot be free and full when either party to a marriage is too young to make an informed decision.”

*Source

My dad, my sister, Hazel and I went to a street near a chapel we went to last Maundy Thursday for our annual Visita Iglesia. The church was situated at the corner of a street. At the end of it where newly-built townhouses being sold. We went there and checked out the unit. All the units are still unsold. Quite understandably because of the pricey tag. But then if I have the money, I would buy it in an instant! The location is worth the price. Quiet and we were told by my youngest sister’s friend who also lives in the same street that the place is safe at night, what with at least two barangay tanod patrolling the street at night. Water supply is also okay.

And you know, we’ve been in different houses for sale in the past. I haven’t been in one where upon opening the door I felt positive vibes coming from the house. Sunlight comes in through the wide windows. Almost the whole house is painted white which is what I want in a house.

The only problem is Read more… »

I have always said that having kids is a big responsibility that should not be rushed into. You always have to think a million times before deciding on having a child. If you have more than enough for yourself, then that’s the time you can proceed in considering having a kid. But then if you are having problems feeding yourself, then don’t even think about it!

Nadya Suleman is the prime example of someone not even thinking of having a kid. But she went and gotten herself octuplets! Imagine that! If you don’t know her story, you’d think that it’s actually cute. Octuplets! She’s the first one to have all living kids. However, she already has six kids prior to the octuplets. Which makes her official kid count to 14!!! She doesn’t have a husband. She’s just living off social welfare benefits. She’s still living with her parents. She doesn’t even have the capacity to support a kid, let alone 14 kids! What was she thinking???

Having multiples is being debated whether it is a form of child abuse. That’s why so many people hate the TLC show Jon & Kate Plus 8. Jon and Kate Gosselin is a couple who has twins first before having sextuplets. Eight kids are driving them crazy and this is being chronicled in their reality show. Watching their show, you would know right away that having multiples is no joke. But is it child abuse?

What do you think about this?

Students cry in graduation. That’s because they are saying goodbye to their classmates, to the familiar environment they’ve been in for the past four years or so of their lives, to teachers who have been their pillar of strength, and to a carefree life. When I graduated in fourth year high school, I didn’t cry. I was so excited to start college. It’s something new! I love new things and new environments. But on the first day of college, I was nervous, anxious and wishing I could go back to the safe haven that was my high school.

When I graduated in college, a hard life was far from my mind. All I was thinking then was “no more books, projects, research papers, terror professors, prelims, midterms and finals”. I didn’t know I was leaving behind an easier life.

We feel this way almost all the time. We all feel nervous about a change. We hate leaving familiar ground. We hate taking on something new, a new life, a new task because that would probably mean a harder life for us.

I have cousins who are graduating in both high school and college this month and the next. I am praying that life after school would be something they will enjoy even more. And I do hope that they find work which they will learn to love in the long run.

My dad asked me to buy new outdoor cushions for the chairs so we can stay at the porch in the evening, after dinner. It’s good to stay outdoor these days because it’s summer. It will be a change from our usual evening fare. We normally watch tv after dinner. But since it’s toasty warm outside, we can stay at the porch and talk about things there. And also enjoy the night breeze.

I have been seeing this meme of sorts in various blogs so I thought why not do it as well. But instead of it being about me, I thought I’d list down 25 Random Things About My Family.

1. We are a large family. My parents with 6 kids.
2. We live in a house that my dad inherited from an old neighbor who passed away and had no relatives to speak of. My dad and my mom took care of him when he was sick and dying.
3. Two members passed away already. My brother died of leukemia when he was 15 in 1998. My mom died in 2005 from a kidney disease.
4. I am the eldest, then two sisters followed after, then my brother who died of leukemia, another sister and the youngest, a boy.
5. There are two accountants in the family, two teachers. Three are licensed and one has yet to pass the board.
6. We have lived in the same place since my parents were kids.
7. We are a loud family. We love to laugh out loud, discuss things loudly, and unfortunately, argue loudly as well.
8. Eating out versus eating at home? We prefer the latter. But we also love eating out, preferring to eat at a restaurant we trust and we are comfortable at. Read more… »

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 be jobless. He went abroad once, but after a few months, 3 months if I am not mistaken, he went home and never held a job since then. The reason why he went home? He was not sending money home but would gamble all his salary! And he didn’t want to work if he could get away with it. He did!

Then came the kids, let’s call them D and DD. D, the eldest, is a spoiled brat. Woe spoiled him rotten! He would ask his mom to fetch every little thing for him. Water, utensils, socks, pencils and so on. DD, on the other hand, is just a little less spoiled than her brother. Both can be very sweet to their mom so I guess Woe gets something back out of spoiling them (?). Both kids can be vicious, though. They would raise their voices at her when she didn’t get them what they want right away. Even in front of other people.

When I see her, I just feel this overwhelming need to shake some sense into her! She does EVERY THING for the family! She takes care of the family finances even if she doesn’t have a steady income. Even does some unscrupulous deeds just to give something to her family. She just gave her son, D, a birthday party recently, even while looking for a way to pay his college tuition fee. Imagine, Woe’s husband even asked her to buy more fried chicken and birthday noodles for D’s friends! Meanwhile, DD, who is barely a tween, is busy entertaining suitors left and right and asking for new clothes whenever possible.

All of these she did to herself. Read more… »

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 me tell you this. I am NOT a fan of the Cyruses. But I can see that the father and daughter are obviously close. They work together. Miley still lives with her parents since she’s still underage. They travel together with the mom and the other Cyrus kids, I’ve read. So it is natural that Miley will be really close not only to her dad but to her mom as well.

The photo above shows that Miley is comfortable with her dad, without any malice in it. Not all daughters feel this way towards their fathers. Like me for example, I am close to my dad in a way that I can talk to him freely but never anything about love and intimacy. My dad is not the affectionate father and there are times when I feel like it would have been great if he is. Billy Ray is obviously an affectionate father. Miley and her siblings are lucky to have one.

Again, the photo above is not in any way malicious! Read more… »

Note: This is NOT a paid post.

I am sure you all have heard or read about the Michael Phelps bong issue or scandal, as some would call it. He was photographed smoking what appeared to be marijuana using a bong. In all honesty, I couldn’t care any less if he killed himself smoking bong every day for the rest of his life. That is his life anyway, not mine.

But what I care about is the impact it will have on kids who are looking up to him as an inspiration. He is a celebrity. Whether he likes it or not, he is an inspiration to kids who saw him being the great athlete that he is today despite the ADHD he is suffering from. Imagine those kids seeing/hearing about this bong issue, seeing his photo (included in this post)…

Kids are impressionable. Yes, they are not stupid enough to just go take a bong and copy Phelps’ stupid act. But then again, some of these kids would think… “hey, he’s an athlete, he’s world famous, he’s got everything, and he smokes marijuana… cool!” Believe me, some of the kids will be thinking he’s the king of cool with this act. It will be also giving a wrong message that it’s okay to smoke marijuana or that you can get away with everything unless you get snapped at.

In other words, since he is a celebrity, the impact of this act is humongous! And a record-holder Olympian at that! He is supposed to be disciplined and all that, right?

And then there’s the reaction from an equally stupid celebrity like him… Read more… »