IngliseraKuno

I was asked once by my closest friends, 'how do you do it? survive each day, thinking of all these things, ('excess baggages', she meant), yet still focus on work the way you do?'. I replied, 'it is exactly my work that keeps me sane and grounded, so that comes first.' The rest follows when I think about how I do help in small ways, to better other people's lives, even just through a mere signature, a decision made firmly when confronted with an issue, a simple 'yes' or 'no' to a request, the sharing of one joke with a colleague, a speech made from my heart in small gatherings of our farmers. This is cliche, but laughter from them makes me feel good about myself, proud to have been given the privilege to serve, and still get paid for it. That's a bonus, really, doing something you love, with all the stress and tension that goes with the territory, and making that your way of life. I started this journey when I was 19 years old. I wanted t...

I got a call last night from someone dearest to my heart. It was an awkward 'hello' that greeted him, as the number appeared unknown to my phone, I had the idea the call was from abroad. He said, 'Christianne, it's me. I am about to go under, they have to check some internal bleeding. I may not wake up from it, so I called to say I love you and take care.' He was on the verge of crying, I could hear his voice crack. This, from a man I had a stupid row with, on line, and emails, for whom I held this heavy burden in my heart for quite a while. I said, 'I love you, too. All will be fine. And call me as soon as you wake up, ok? You promise.' He just said, 'Take care, Christianne.' Then a text message followed, from him, asking me to 'reconnect' with those I 'blocked' from my life. 'That's all I ask. I cannot stand all these hurt going around.' I replied not with something that would give him false hope. He deserved my honesty ...

I have always respected the privacy of my kids. Even at their early age, I did not snoop on their stuff. I did not also read letters addressed to them, even if I know these are from the banks which they have savings account with. When text messaging became the 'in thing', I did not read their messages. I did not take calls, when they are unable to answer,  even when their phones continued to 'sing' over and over their favorite song at that point in time. It is funny now that I am 48 years old, I allowed myself to succumb to the temptation of reading text messages of someone else. I needed to know some answers, which I am not given. It is not that I did not try talking about this need of mine. I tried, to no avail. It is always met by a stoic face, at times taken as a joke, or replied to with a sarcastic one-liner like I ask the most stupid questions on the face of the earth. So stupid me read stuff which I should not have. And got the answers I needed. It probably showe...

After twelve hours of 'butt-wrenching' land travel to Aurora, we reached Baler with my new girl, this voice prompting the Google Maps. She has not let us down so far. Amazing. One of these days, we need to be properly introduced. Anyway, she directed to our host, and then to the place our host reserved for two nights, the Megi Beach House, Buton St., Barangay Sabang. The place looks relatively new. It is neat, but not cozy. The rooms are standard in design, each room good for four persons on the average, a bed and a double-deck bed beside it. A one-square-meter space was devoted to a washroom in each room, where you will be utterly disoriented if you are claustrophobic. The airconditioning is fit for a booth of a gas station cashier, or a toll gate attendant. So it would take about eight hours of continuous high-cool airconditioning to finally make one comfortable. We requested for an electric fan. The place was all we could afford, so there.  Dinner was at Yellow Fin, on...