Visiting the Home for the Aged :)

The year 2012 has been a year of blessings, joy and abundance for me and my friends.. so much so that we decided to start the new year by sharing our good fortune to those who are in need. We first planned to go to RSCC - an orphanage for abandoned infants- but about a couple of days before going, we changed our minds and decided to go to the Home for the Aged instead. 

Wait.. let me correct that. We didn't just go to any regular home for the aged.. we went to the 

Immaculate Heart of Mary Home for the Sick, Abandoned and Dying Destitute.

Quite a name right?

L-R Bret and fiance Ailyn, Lyndon and I, Nancy and husband Dennis

Before going to the institution, we first stopped by G-Mall to buy some cookies, Milo, Milk and some other supplies that we packed into individual bags to distribute to the patients (the nuns call the lolos and lolas there patients and not residents). One of our friends, Ann, cooked pansit while Nancy brought some carbonara. With all these simple gifts in hand, we drove to Sarphil where the institution is located.

We were greeted by a Puerto Rican nun who readily introduced us to the Home's Mother Superior. They both instructed us what to and gave us some tips on how to communicate with the patients. The girls in our group were asked to go to the female ward while the boys went to the male ward where we would be serving the pansit and carbonara ourselves. The nun said it would be best that way so that we would feel exactly what we were doing and so that we could also mingle with the patients. 

When all the patients were done eating, we spent some time talking to them and even singing them some songs.. Lolos and lolas surely love to sing! there was this one lola who was totally blind because of cataracts who sang "sa araw ng pasko" as a thank you for the food we gave them. it was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.. :(

After an hour, the nuns told us that the patients need to rest so we already had to say goodbye. On our way out, the patients kept on shouting "babay sa inyo," "balik kayo ulet," and "daghang salamat" that even the boys we were with left with tears in their eyes. The Puerto Rican nun who first welcomed us walked us out and gave us small prayer cards, thanking us one by one for what we did for the patients that day. i was overwhelmed by her gratitude that i was not able to answer.. if i could go back to that day, i would have thanked her as well.. i would have thanked her for teaching me, teaching all of us, the value of gratitude, of compassion and of contentment.

The other girls in our group (L-R) Creze, ann, arriane, joyce and xandy

Heroes and Sons

You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes. ~ Walter M. Schirra, Sr.

Reiner and Baby Isaac

Lyndon and Baby Kyle

12 years and counting.. our family's getting bigger!

Real friends are hard to find, such a cliche right? but for me, that cliche is a reality. The photo below shows me and my 4 best friends 12 years ago..  i can clearly remember the first day we all met - twas the 1st year college orientation - we were  naive and baduy and oh so innocent. 

from L-R - barbie, ME, center - Esther, seated - Gelai, chingkay

for the next 4 years of college, we were inseparable. at lunch time, we would all eat together using the meal stubs the Jesuits would give out to the scholars, after class, we would all hang out at the Ateneo Roxas gate, have our usual snacks of saging ginanggang and buko juice, and wait for uso-uso Calinan jeep that would bring us all home (well, all except gelai who lived in Bajada then). and then.. graduation came, we all vowed to keep int ouch but after a couple of years, life got int he way and we kind of lost touch with each other.

as luck would have it, a few years ago, something terrible happened (i'll talk about that more in the future, hehe) and as there is no other way for people to get back together than through a tragedy, we found each other again and the rest they say (i know, a cliche once again!) is history.

here we are now.. 12 years older, 12 years wiser and 12 years happier :) 2 years ago, we had 2 additions to the family, Barbie's husband Reiner and their son Isaac. last year, Esther got married adding Tim (her husband) to the family. and this year, we are again expecting 2 more members to join our fold since both esther and barbie are pregnant! indeed, the Lord has truly blessed us in every way imaginable!

L- R - gelai, chingkay, ME, barbie and esther