Firsts: The Grandest Grin

We are told that our mind’s hard drive can store all the memories of our lives. Trouble is, we can’t retrieve them all, no matter how hard we try.

But the memories of our “firsts” can leap out of our subconscious at will. They’re bookmarked as our favorites, easily and quickly accessible. Here’s a short list—first airplane ride, first love, first cell phone, first award, first paycheck. I know your imagination is now on overdrive just thinking of all your other “firsts.”

I remember my first published book. The Lord gifted me with the grandest grin and I allowed nothing and no one to diminish it or take it away. That went on for days, or maybe weeks. And it can still go on when I hear of a new published author:

My friend and colleague, Yay.

Her book “Sorry to Burst Your Bubble (Life Leadership Lessons from the Greatest Dreamer)” will be launched on Friday, May 16 at Power Books, Greenbelt, 5 PM. Published by New Day, it is an inspirational book for the youth/yuppies.

Yay and I teach in the same university so we encounter young people often. We both feel their struggles and dilemmas. But it is Yay (she heads the school’s mentoring program) who decided to play a continuing role in their lives: be their mentor in a book that may help them make crucial decisions through crossroads and dead ends.

She has been typecast for this role. She speaks their language.

“Sorry to Burst Your Bubble” is anchored on the Word (the life of Joseph), and written in a bubbly and vibrant style, almost staccato, tailor-made for the target readers.

Yay gave me a signed copy fresh from the press over cappuccino this week!

I read it again when I got home. I say again because she made me read her first draft. I was convinced that the book could help the young people who may not have a map in looking for directions. (True enough, Yay has been invited to conduct a series of seminars on this book before it even went to press.)

To Yay, may God’s grace continue to shine upon you as you celebrate this first book! There will be many others, but the “first” will always give you the grandest grin.

Remembering Two Hands-off Moms

Although I have always believed that mothers should not be honored only today, Mother’s Day, I would like to pay tribute to two great moms whom we sorely miss.

At first blush, they were poles apart. Mama Chit (my mom) loved to talk and Amah Alice (Tony’s mom) loved to listen. Mama was pure Ilocana and Amah was pure Chinese. It was a big, wild wonder how they got along so well together, and held each other with affection and respect.

Mama lived in the province and Amah lived close to us in Las Pinas. So they never really saw each other often. But during the times my mom would visit my family, she would walk over to Amah’s house, every afternoon, and they would have a one-way chat.

But peering closely, one would see that they were very similar in the things that really mattered.

They both left my husband and me alone, respecting our decisions and never blaming us for our mistakes. They gave "hands-off" a new, wonderful dimension. Although they were always supportive of our plans and were there when we asked for help, they never imposed any rule; never obligated us to do anything we hadn’t planned on doing.

Mama had one strong advice for me though: “You may pick a fight with me, but never, ever with your mother-in-law!” This I heeded to the letter.

I suspect—and I have every reason to believe—that Amah had the same advice for Tony.

Two great moms, two great mothers-in-law. Now that they are both ‘beyond the sunset’ or on the other side of the pearly gates, I am sure they are conversing. Rather, one is talking and the other, listening.

Is there any other way to describe how they were to us but acts of grace?

Where is Adrian?

On baby Adrian’s last day with us (eighth day), I took tons of photographs. Since I am behind the camera, there is hardly any shot of me. But these photos bare all of our (Tony’s, JC’s, JR’s and mine) hearts—including those of Ate Vie and Jen (our doting househelps) and Sam, Tony’s driver.

The whole neighborhood asked the same question when I resumed my daily dawn walks after Adrian and his parents had left, “Where is Adrian?”

According to his mom’s text message, “We are back in Michigan. Adrian slept most of the way.”

Adrian is once again far, far away; but he has never left our hearts."Love me tender, love me sweet," croons Elvis' twin.
One last squeeze from Ate Vi and Jen while Elvis' twin looks on . . .
Thanks for the visit, Adrian.

Four Men and a Baby

In jest (or in dreams), I call our family the Chong Dynasty. It used to consist of one man and three boys who became men in a blink of an eye; and now, in a blink of another eye, there is a new baby boy.

I haven’t blogged in almost a week because we’ve been trying to cram so many activities in eight days—the only time in four years that the dynasty is complete, and with a new, tiny addition who can wrap every grown-up around his little finger.

You’ll be surprised at what you can do and enjoy in eight days:

A whole day drive to Laguna higlighted by a visit to the underground cemetery beneath a chapel in Nagcarlan (the meeting place of the early Filipino revolutionaries in the 1800's), an overnight stay in Canyon Woods, Tagaytay with stop-overs for lunch and coffee.

Every second is an adventure—including packing and unpacking. Taking down and putting up a play pen, a pram, a high chair, a car seat, not to mention the diapers, toys, and formula bottles, etc. etc. take one whole hour and one whole van.

I asked my daughter-in-law, Gianina (who was a true-blue corporate citizen before Adrian was born), “How do you do it so well?”

Indeed, how can one mom (with after-clinic-hours help from one fulltime-physician dad) do it?

“Just do what you have to do,” she said beaming.

Eight days may seem like a short time, but as we do what we have to do, we thank God for blessing us with family. Through His grace, we've been brought together these eight days to enjoy the gift of dynasty.

Sssssssh, Adrian is Asleep . . .

Our cup this week is filled to the brim with grace.

Our hours revolve around an 11-month-old baby—Adrian. The whole household is extra alert, extra happy, extra thrilled, extra careful, extra everything.

Adrian is with us while his parents are away on a much-needed vacation. What a blessing to have him!

He's a very happy baby, so adorable, and is always smiling but I couldn't capture it in photos, sigh. I should stop blaming my camera for my inadequacy as a photographer.

The people who are at Adrian’s beck and call are: Tony, who comes home extra early from the office; JC, whose first question when he comes home is, “How is Adrian?”; JR, who is taking time off from his bar review; and two househelps—Ate Vi, who cooks Adrian yummy home-cooked meals, and Jen, who does her housework at record speed so she could take care of Adrian.

And then there’s Sam, Tony’s driver, who has been assigned to drive our little guest anywhere or to Gymboree where Adrian attends classes or simply plays. And of course the people in the whole neighborhood, who now call Adrian by name when we stroll with him early mornings and late afternoons; and last but not least, his Amah (moi), who closed shop for Adrian's visit.

The downside is, I think we may already be spoiling him.

We tip-toe and don't breathe when he’s asleep. We race in trying to carry him—and now he doesn’t want to be in his stroller or playpen anymore. He whimpers and raises both hands to signal he wants to be carried. And then he points to the door to say he wants to go out. And we are all more than willing to oblige!

My prayer is that he goes back to his regular schedule when he flies home to Michigan. Otherwise his mommy, who has been doing a great job as a SAHM (left her job for Adrian) will have a difficult time juggling her schedule.

Who Are You?

Who are you? Adrian seemed to be asking when Tony—this man who is the older version of his father—carried him.

To Adrian, our first and only grandson, we are strangers. Since he was born almost one year ago in Michigan, USA, he had never seen us.

But we’ve seen a lot of him through the photos which his parents regularly send.

So when my son JB, and his wife Gianina, announced they were coming home to the Philippines for a two-week vacation, we were more than excited, we were euphoric. At last, an . . . eyeball!

They were scheduled to arrive at 12 midnight and so there we were—Tony, JC, JR and me—our eyes riveted on the video that monitored the movement of passengers.

As soon as we saw the image of two adults and one baby in a pram, we rushed to the arrival area. It was hot and humid and the crowd was like that of a night market on sale (a contrast to cold and peaceful Michigan at this time of the year).

Adrian looked bewildered and confused. Where on earth am I? He must have been thinking.

He was not aware that he and his parents have just completed the picture of a family set apart by space and time. It was a Kodak moment, yet my camera couldn't even begin to capture the depth and breath of joy and its synonyms.

But God’s grace made us record this moment in our hearts, forever.

Someday I will tell Adrian how it felt like when we saw and touched him that very first time.

Water Paradise (2)

On my second day at Water Paradise Resort, I decided to look for the missing water--outside the premises. See, the few times I was in Bohol, I had all the water I needed and wanted to enjoy.

At 5:30 at dawn, I donned my walking clothes and went past the resort gate. I asked the guard if it was safe to walk alone that early. He was half asleep but managed to nod.

A few meters from the gate, I was met by these dogs. They were earlier asleep on the road so I thought I could take their photo. The flash woke them up and they snarled at me. I shook in my rubber shoes.

The rustic scene had a few paths that led to somewhere. I took one and saw these:After one hour, still no water. I walked back to the resort with a resolve to try again tomorrow.

Tomorrow gave me great company. My friends in the National Advisory Council were also avid walkers --Sito, Pastor Bong, and Atty. Arni. Gary, the 5th member of our group didn't believe in the benefits of walking as much as he did in sleeping.A bit more adventurous with three bodyguards, I followed their lead.

We saw water! A sea of water! A few fishermen were enjoying their fresh catch for breakfast, reminders of God's abundant grace.This is the Bohol I know and love: a place abundant with water, a water paradise.