Wednesday, October 21, 2009

coming home soon!

The good news is that we are all finally coming home this weekend. My wife reported to me that the water have subsided in our area and is now passable. I can bring my car to and from school, yey!!!

As I am wont to do, I do not complain but try to find something good in everything that happens to me. What is it that I can find good in having to stay in another place for weekdays and get to see my family only during weekends?

How about staying in a mansion by your lonesome? I have a room which is almost as big as the entire second floor of my house. And since my school is just walking distance away, I do not have to contend with the terrible raffic at SLEX, plus the savings on gasoline and toll fees which when added up could be about almost three thousand a week. That's huge savings, isn't it?

With regard to my children, we have never bonded as much as the weekends we stayed in Antipolo. Why? Simple. There is no internet connection available. While we can use a wireless connection, we still have to go to the office and do computer work (play, in the case of my kids) which is kind of a trouble as we will have to ask the master of the house to open the offices and turn on the wireless network. While we can ask to work there during office hours, we don't as we will only get in the way, of course. There is no cable tv available in the area as well. While we do have dvd's, for some reason or another, we didn't watch anything at all. So with that set up, what else is there to do but play with the children. I play texas hold'em poker with my boys, my brother-in-law who is our host and his two boys. The girls are doing something else with their mom or their tita, but they are just nearby. Surprisingly, we end up at the wee hours of the morning just playing poker! Lately, my brother-in-law, as generous a host as he can be, had his darts, which he had for a long time but never set it up, put up on the patio and there, we play darts even with the girls. What fun was there to be had.

Lastly, I have learned that I have a lot of friends who are all willing to help me when I need it. What joy is there to know that there are people who are willing to sacrifice just so you do not suffer. While we were really not what we can consider as hapless victims considering the plight of others who really lost a lot, help came pouring in just the same even as far as Canada. Trudy, daughter of my good friend, Arlene who passed away on December 22, 2006 was frantic when she learned from the news about what was happening in Manila. Without hesitation, she wired money to us knowing that we were going to have to do some repairs to the house and whatever we would need to surpass this recent tragedy that befell the country. Consider it as a gift from mom, she said. That brought tears to our eyes as Arlene was a very generous friend and for her daughter to continue such act of kindness is overwhelming. Her brother, Stephe, too, asked what kind of assistance we would need. I assured him that we are okay.

Of course, the Brother President of my school has offered cash incentives to those who were affected by Ondoy. Allowing me access to the house of the Brothers is more than enough help I can get.

There are also those who would sacrifice some discomfort just to make my life easier. There is this teacher who volunteered to have her maid do my laundry. She adamantly asked for my clothes and so I ended up giving her my uniform. This is a lot of help as I will have to carry a lot of things in my bag to join my family on weekends. There's another teacher with whom I ride till Ugong where I can get a cab on my way to Antipolo. Big things and little things mean a lot when you are in distress. And these I got from this experience. We are truly blessed!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

'makes you not want to go back to your house anymore if you live in that humunguous house, isn't it.

I am glad to hear you are back though. There's no place like home after a while no matter how luxurious the temporary house has to offer.

Well, brace up for another season Tito Rolly. The Philippines never seem to be short of calamities.


Ting

Hailey's Beats and Bits said...

nice. there's no place like home!

Joseph D said...

One of the few things that I'm proud of being a Filipino is that even if we have our negative traits, we still have the the bayanihan spirit in one form or another.

Saka, napaka resilient natin - sobrang kunat natin mga Pilipino na nakakabangon pa rin tayo sa kahit anong sakuna.

I hope sir that you and your family can "normalize" back to the usual routine again ^^,

rolly said...

ting Nah. Living in a humongous house is not my cup of tea especially when I am all alone!

Hailey Sorry for the late reply. Welcome to my blog. Yup, there's no place like home.

Joseph D We're actually back to our normal routine. Thanks.

Julsitos said...

i could just imagine the stress and inconvenience wrought by ondoy...

bertN said...

You are lucky you are blessed with many wonderful and caring friends. Kayamanan din 'yan maituturing.

Unknown said...

jj Yes. Mahirap and what we have experienced was nothing compared to those who have lost a lot.

BertN So true.

Rocky Garcia said...

That's a good news for you bro!

rolly said...

jj really stressful, man!

bertN Oh yes. Real and online friends had been very supportive and helpful.

Rocky Yes, we're glad, too!