Hello and Goodbye...!
Goodbye...
to 2010 and to my dearest cousin Ate Maria who lost her battle to breast cancer last December 31. She was my first cousin (mother side)... a very kind, loving and soft-spoken person who lived a simple but happy life with Kuya Val and their two children Vincent and Maimai. At age 44, she is too young and too kind to die.
I have spent many fun and memorable start-of-summer holidays with her and the family in Bauang, La Union which used to be my usual holy week vacation destination. She and Kuya Val always made sure I was comfortable, always asking and giving me what I needed. Ate Maria was diagnosed with the big C in 2004 but despite the treatments went on to live her life the same way she did before the disease. They are poor - living only on Kuya Val's meager income as tricycle driver - so the past years have been a struggle for the whole family emotionally, physically and financially. The last time I saw Ate Maria was May 2007 (5 months before I left for the US) when I brought back her son Vincent after I treated him to a week-long vacation in Manila. She even gave me a bracelet with various religious figures just before i boarded the bus. I still have it with me...
I felt bad when we didn't get to visit them when we vacationed to the Philippines 2 years ago and just a couple of weeks ago we have booked our flights to Manila this February with a plan to see her a day after our arrival... but now it's too late :(
Rest in Peace Ate Maria. Thank you for showing me that happiness can be found in ordinary everyday things and that a person still has a lot to give even if he/she needs help the most.
Welcome 2011
Today is the 1st day of the 1st month of 2011 (1-1-11). It is that time of the year when we all look back and remember everything that happened to us the past year - be grateful for all the good and be thankful that we survived the bad - and welcome the new year with a positive attitude and a renewed hope for a better and brighter future. No day but today, no year but this year... so let's all go and claim it!
I watched it with Fil who was also celebrating his birthday and three of our die-hard-Metallica-veterans friends. I was literally gritting my teeth, clasping my hands together, on the edge of my seat peering down waiting for James, Kirk, Lars and hmmm Robert (the bass guitarist whose name i found out later...he's the newest member by the way) to come out of the opening below me. Everyone who has been sitting there and patiently waiting for an hour or so was enveloped with renewed enthusiasm. For a moment it felt surreal...like it wasn't really happening, that i wasn't really there. Then the crowd went wild, James and company ran to the stage and started the party. It was a really loud party, similar to being in a cockpit. The crowd sang to every song, threw a fist to every beat and yeah, banged their heads endlessly. I wasn't familiar with their latest album Death Magnetic but the feverish sensation enveloping the pavilion was too contagious for me and Fil to fight...and so we found ourselves also throwing fists in the air and banging our heads...so liberating! yeahhh...! It was the first time for me and Fil to see Metallica - we missed their concert last year 'coz we spent the holidays in the Philippines - so we proudly raised our hands when James scanned the crowd for Metallica virgins!
