Let's Talk About Me Part 3
My teaching stint was about to be over after a couple of years, again with the prodding of my mentor, my friend, my ninang. This woman who taught me so much about life, with her brown, soulful, intense eyes. She always wore flowing skirts and pumps, I recall. She, the prayerful and faith-laden, told me when Papa went ahead, she can no longer comprehend what God wanted to make of my life. At the same breath shamelessly whispered to my ear when I got married, 'I love you'.
With her recommendation, I was accepted as a contractual employee in government. While she said she did not wish for me to leave my teaching job, she did not want me to pass on an opportunity to get higher pay, because my family needed the money. And so I went to take qualifying examinations at this agency, I passed, and worked there for two years. The pay was higher, so were the demands of my family and their needs. Uncle Paul and the rest of Papa's siblings did the best they could to help. Each month, they sent money from abroad, as they knew I could not handle everything on my own. They sent money, and more. The stuff that they did not really need, and the other stuff they could afford to buy for us, they sent in boxes. When the boxes arrived, it was a delightful time for us. There were clothes, shoes, and toys for our youngest sister.
Beks, the odd one, took a job after school, to make a little money. She worked selling appliances in one of my Mama's friend's shop. These friends of Papa and Mama are in several businesses, including a pawnshop. They were curious as to the owner of the jewelry collection being pawned to them at that time, (Mama's jewelry collection were the first to go when things got rough then) so they just had to meet Mama. That jumpstarted a relationship among them and my folks. That friendship was to be one of the most meaningful relationships my folks had with another couple. When Papa became ill, they helped in every way they could, including lending us a van to use while we were in the hospital in Quezon City.
I started to like my new job. That afforded me the opportunity to go to the barangays and meet the poor farmers, to see what we can do to help them better their lives. It was not something really new to me, seeing poverty, because I have been witness to that while my family served their elective posts. And my family was slowly diving into that pit, too. But with that job, I got to stare at poverty in the face. I guess at that time, I was being poked by God. It was as if He was telling me, 'you complain too much, look at them'.
I am an introverted, deep thinker. But when I started my job in government, I became more reflective, contemplative. Many would say then that I took my job seriously, that I felt too much, that I should just treat what I was doing at that time, simply a job. I could not. I was being awakened to the harsher realities of life, not only with the struggles we had as a family, but with the difficulties others have to deal with, day after day. I was torn. Do I think of my family first, or do I think of my farmers? From then on, I decided. If I were to be successful in government service, I must strike the balance between my self-interest and the welfare of those I am to serve. Easier said than done though. Little did I know that what was about to face me in the years to come was a throng of dimensions, in life, in love, in work. Oh, that phase of my life is so colorful, rainbows would be put to shame. Suffice it to say for now that I embraced each and every color, I hugged the whole rainbow even under the searing heat of the sun behind it. With the help of family. And beautiful human beings I call friends.
With her recommendation, I was accepted as a contractual employee in government. While she said she did not wish for me to leave my teaching job, she did not want me to pass on an opportunity to get higher pay, because my family needed the money. And so I went to take qualifying examinations at this agency, I passed, and worked there for two years. The pay was higher, so were the demands of my family and their needs. Uncle Paul and the rest of Papa's siblings did the best they could to help. Each month, they sent money from abroad, as they knew I could not handle everything on my own. They sent money, and more. The stuff that they did not really need, and the other stuff they could afford to buy for us, they sent in boxes. When the boxes arrived, it was a delightful time for us. There were clothes, shoes, and toys for our youngest sister.
Beks, the odd one, took a job after school, to make a little money. She worked selling appliances in one of my Mama's friend's shop. These friends of Papa and Mama are in several businesses, including a pawnshop. They were curious as to the owner of the jewelry collection being pawned to them at that time, (Mama's jewelry collection were the first to go when things got rough then) so they just had to meet Mama. That jumpstarted a relationship among them and my folks. That friendship was to be one of the most meaningful relationships my folks had with another couple. When Papa became ill, they helped in every way they could, including lending us a van to use while we were in the hospital in Quezon City.
I started to like my new job. That afforded me the opportunity to go to the barangays and meet the poor farmers, to see what we can do to help them better their lives. It was not something really new to me, seeing poverty, because I have been witness to that while my family served their elective posts. And my family was slowly diving into that pit, too. But with that job, I got to stare at poverty in the face. I guess at that time, I was being poked by God. It was as if He was telling me, 'you complain too much, look at them'.
I am an introverted, deep thinker. But when I started my job in government, I became more reflective, contemplative. Many would say then that I took my job seriously, that I felt too much, that I should just treat what I was doing at that time, simply a job. I could not. I was being awakened to the harsher realities of life, not only with the struggles we had as a family, but with the difficulties others have to deal with, day after day. I was torn. Do I think of my family first, or do I think of my farmers? From then on, I decided. If I were to be successful in government service, I must strike the balance between my self-interest and the welfare of those I am to serve. Easier said than done though. Little did I know that what was about to face me in the years to come was a throng of dimensions, in life, in love, in work. Oh, that phase of my life is so colorful, rainbows would be put to shame. Suffice it to say for now that I embraced each and every color, I hugged the whole rainbow even under the searing heat of the sun behind it. With the help of family. And beautiful human beings I call friends.
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