Category: Friends

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Surviving Life 101

In any situation in life, there are at least 2 ways to respond: the POSITIVE/CONSTRUCTIVE way and the NEGATIVE/DESTRUCTIVE way.

I have been pondering this as I try to guide my children through what they encounter as challenges in life.

For example, M1 is so unlike his brother M2. When something happens in school that is not pleasant, M1 reacts by becoming moody; M2, on the other hand, comes to me with a broad impish grin and tells me, “Guess what, Mom! I got my first GREEN SLIP!” (notice from school that he had several minor slip-ups) and walks away as though nothing happened.

It tells me that M1 is a more sensitive child. He is actually the more compassionate child in the family and would readily help out where help is needed. He is also the one who never fails to play with our dogs as soon as he comes home. But being more sensitive than others, his peers’ opinion of him means the world to him and he easily feels down when things do not go “right” in his perception.

Teaching our children how to survive the travails of life is not easy. But somehow, we have to try so that when hard times come, they will know how to cope and survive. I have had my share of survivals. Continue reading “Surviving Life 101”

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…In Sickness and In Health…

As I write this post, I still do not know what will become of Raul, our dear friend in the States, who has been in a coma, brain dead, and fighting for dear life. A month after their family arrived in the States, happy to have Cynthia (Raul’s wife) start her new work assignment there, Raul had a major stroke (his second one — the first being here in the Philippines years ago).

Cynthia has managed to work, take care of their 2 sons, and still have to deal with day-to-day decisions and the up-and-down stressful events with Raul’s situation improving one day and deteriorating the next. But a few days ago, in an online chat, Cynthia told me that Raul’s recovery was nil and that their family had surrendered him to the Lord and had decided not to use artificial means to prolong his life. Continue reading “…In Sickness and In Health…”

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Perspectives of Suffering

Over the weekend, I was confined for severe pain arising from kidney stones. The pain was almost unbearable. I was writhing in pain at the hospital and no matter what position I was on the gurney at the ER, the pain remained. It was not something I would wish on my worst enemy.

Through the pain spasms though, I suddenly thought of my sister-in-law who passed away of breast cancer. On her last summer in this world, we had the privilege of being with her in the province. I personally had the chance to serve her in some way by taking turns caring for her every basic need during those weeks. And during the times she would suffer, we constantly talked to her about turning her suffering into use by offering it up for someone. That way, suffering did not end up useless but instead, gets transformed into a powerful tool for intercession.

Then my mind wandered to friends in the States. The wife was recently sent there on a work assignment by her company and was allowed to bring her whole family. Her husband had a stroke a few years back, paralyzing his entire left side. But over the years of therapy, he recovered enough to be mobile. A month into their arrival in the States, he again had a major stroke, this time paralyzing his right side. As of this posting, he is still in coma with no clear or positive signs of recovery. The wife, though devastated, has tried to cling to whatever faith and strength is within her.

So as I lay in the Emergency Room of the hospital, and as wave after wave of pain went through my body and groggy as I was from painkillers, I somehow managed to maintain one thought. I asked the Lord to use that pain to shower graces on my friends.

Looking at one’s suffering exclusively makes one wallow in self-pity. It is only when one sees it from the perspective of others’ sufferings that one’s own situation appears trivial or miniscule.

One more life lesson for me.

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A Bloggers Yoga Class is A-Brewing!

An exciting fitness event is coming up this Tuesday, June 19 in the Ortigas area — an unplanned, spur-of-the-moment yoga class to be attended by 4 bloggers!

Just through email and chats, 3 wonderful, daring bloggers (2 of whom are PMN mommies) plan to join me at Vinyasa Yoga Center this coming Tuesday, June 19, for the 11:00 AM class — Cathy, Dine and Jayvee.

Our goal? An hour and a half of great yoga and a simple bonding-over-lunch afterwards at Greenhills Christian Fellowship (just a stone’s throw away from the yoga center).

What truly amazes me is this — I still have to personally meet Cathy and Jayvee. Ang lalakas ng loob ng mga ito to trust me, sight unseen! Hahahaha….

In case any of you are free and wish to join us, invitations are open. Drop me a line at my newly-born yoga blog, The Yogini From Manila. You may also email me at <herestolife.jane@gmail.com>. Here are some more details:

* Venue is Vinyasa Yoga Center, 17/F, Strata 100 Bldg, Felix Ortigas Road (formerly Emerald Ave.), Ortigas Center. There are several open, pay parking areas in the vicinity. There is one right beside the building.

* Please be there before 11 AM. Classes start promptly and it is recommended that you do some warm-up exercises prior to actual class

* Attire: For tops — spandex top or loose tshirt. Bottoms: shorts or jogging pants. Bring a small towel to wipe off sweat.

* The Center has yoga mats for first-timers (bring your own if you have one). However to ensure there will be enough mats, anyone interested has to contact me prior to Tuesday.

* Preferably eat at least 2 hours before 11AM so your food has time to digest. Sufficient hydration (drinking water) prior to class is highly recommended but NO DRINKING OF WATER DURING THE CLASS PROPER.

* The center is still in the process of putting in a shower area so bring extra set of clothes.

* The trial session costs P400.

LET’S GET FIT!!!!

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The Pinoy Moms Network Mommy Lunch

The day all the PMN mommies were waiting for finally came. Last May 26, 2007, 12 mommies came together (many meeting each other for the first time) to attend the mommy lunch of the Pinoy Moms Network organized by co-founders Connie Veneracion and Noemi Dado. Venue was Swiss Deli & Bistro along Pioneer St., Mandaluyong.

I cannot describe the feeling when I finally came face to face with the mommies behind blogs I had been visiting. Instead of just a thumbnail picture, here they were in front of me (the likes of Noemi, Dine, Rach, Cess, Feng, Chats, Salen ). There were others who had no pictures in their blogs but as soon as they introduced themselves, we would instantly connect them with their blog alias “Ah, ikaw pala si (blog pseudonym)…!” (like Julie, Lisa, Lynn). What I found amazing was how a group of strangers bonded instantly like long lost friends — and all because blogging brought everyone together through PMN. From blog posts, most of us were delighted to see Nico and the other kids in person. Their faces were long familiar to us,

Right after lunch, I had to run home and finish packing for an overnight trip just outside MM (at Pililla, Rizal) where daughter and her Ateneo friends were spending the night. It was a hectic afternoon for me but I would not have missed that lunch for the world.

The success of this first-of-many (o ayan, nagpaparinig na kami…) lunches, dinners, outings, pow-wows — whatever you call girl friends’ excuses for coming together for more bonding — should be credited to none other than the 2 hardworking mommies behind PMN in the first place…Connie and Noemi. Thanks to you both, you are opening up further the world of blogging to us and showing us that this goes beyond just being an online diary.

To all my new mommy friends: it was so delightful to see all of you. It was well worth it! I am sure we are all looking forward to meeting all the other PMN members in future events.

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A Golden Jesuit Anniversary

50 years of anything is a golden achievement.

Reaching 50 years of age is more than half a lifetime for most.

Reaching 50 years of marriage is sheer Divine Grace. (I know someone who will jokingly quip, “You mean…sheer misery!!!”)

Tonight, we just came from a dinner that celebrated 50 years of service to the Lord and to the Jesuit community. One of the original elders of our community, Fr. Herb Schneider, S. J. has been a Jesuit priest for that long. Continue reading “A Golden Jesuit Anniversary”