On cold, liquid salt, vaporub and more

I woke up at 3:00am for the bathroom, but couldn’t find sleep since then for a very good reason.

Upon returning to our room I found out that due to bad cold Christian, my younger nephew, breathes through his mouth causing him to breathe louder than our AC. This set me out for a “Salinase” hunting mission. I knew I gave him the 30ml Sodium Chloride bottle when he went to his grandparents on his mother’s side, but still I had to ransack my medicine cabinet or else I’d find no peace. Unluckily, only the yellow and green box complete with the needed instructions presented itself, yet failed to serve its purpose.  Life can be like that small box sometimes – stuffed with guidelines or even choices which we could not  follow because of certain circumstances.

Going back to my mission, I scooped out a pea-size of Vicks Vaporub instead and rubbed some under Christian’s nose and on his chest.  Afterwards, I added an extra pillow under his head to keep it elevated.  These should help him, too, although the Salinase would have been a faster solution.  Then a thought came again – life branches out to different directions, a few of which instantly lead to our goals; others are punched with puddles that slow us down.

Meanwhile, after doing what I could do best for my nephew I already had an option to go back to sleep.  But the hissing sound still echoes in our room shouting at the mother in me so I went down to get a cup of coffee instead of throwing myself to bed. Then I sat beside my brother’s little boy and wondered if he would even know I stayed awake for him at all.

A few sips and a half full cup later, Christian’s breathing smoothed out already and words came joggling inside my head so I sat down to write.  More than an hour of waiting and a sleepless Monday morning proved worth my time.  The mommy in me felt relieved and happy for a job done with patience and love while the writer in me jumbled excitement and joy with hope for a greater find.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

I dreamed a dream

Did the title remind you of something? I bet it did!  It’s one of the songs in Les Miserables, a very meaningful song which has already touched so many.  But if you think its magic has put only those who have seen the musical in a trance you’re wrong, because I dreamed a dream has awakened many more souls through a rendition by Susan Boyle. Find out why and how.  Here’s the song with its newest sensational singer:

There was a time when men were kind,
And their voices were soft,
And their words inviting.
There was a time when love was blind,
And the world was a song,
And the song was exciting.
There was a time when it all went wrong…

Please click on the link for a Youtube video of the song by Susan Boyle:

I dreamed a dream in time gone by,
When hope was high and life, worth living.
I dreamed that love would never die,
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.
Then I was young and unafraid,
And dreams were made and used and wasted.
There was no ransom to be paid,
No song unsung, no wine, untasted.

But the tigers come at night,
With their voices soft as thunder,
As they tear your hope apart,
And they turn your dream to shame.

He slept a summer by my side,
He filled my days with endless wonder…
He took my childhood in his stride,
But he was gone when autumn came!

And still I dream he’ll come to me,
That we will live the years together,
But there are dreams that cannot be,
And there are storms we cannot weather!

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I’m living,
So different now from what it seemed…
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed…

Earth DAY 2009

After the Earth HOUR, which prompted millions to help save the planet by turning off lights comes Earth DAY 2009, April 22, which marks the start of a bigger and wider campaign for what I call “Bringing Earth’s Green Back”.  The great call states the following principles:

As shown by the massive response to Earth Hour, it seems safe to conclude that our world unites in an aim to re-habilitate our ailing planet.  As such, together with my household, I call on everyone who reads this blog to contribute a part in support of Earth Day Movement.  To show ours, here are the simple things we do for a cleaner, greener and better Earth:

• Turn off and unplug all the appliances when not in use.
• Minimize the kids’ use of television and DVD by substituting watching with book/magazine reading, engaging into indoor sports, dancing and the arts.
• Let your tot put on shorts at daytime when he’s just inside the house to lessen the number of soiled disposable diapers.  The reason behind this is explained by the following facts taken from Wikipedia:

Cloth diaper-wearing children go through about 6,000 diaper changes. If thrown into a landfill, cotton diapers decompose within six months. Since disposable diapers are discarded after a single use, usage of disposable diapers increases the burden on landfill sites, and increased environmental awareness has led to a growth in campaigns for parents to use reusable alternatives such as cloth or hybrid diapers. An estimated 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used each year in the US, resulting in a possible 3.4 million tons of used diapers adding to landfills each year.

• Reuse papers and plastic bags.
• Plant trees.  As my mom puts it, “if one individual who has lived to be 80 years old made a habit of planting a tree  on his birthday, he would have planted 80 trees in his lifetime“.  What if each of us follow the same?  Could you imagine the number of trees we could plant together; and the multitude of benefits that come with each of them?

These are just five of the many other ways of putting Earth’s life back to normal. What’s your part? Share it so we could learn from you, too!

Each of us has ONE life to live. Make each moment count. In the same way, each of us has ONE Earth to live in, make it clean and green!

Four things you can’t recover

I believe that things don’t just happen but are designed to happen in ways that only God understands.

A month ago, one of my uncles on my mother’s side informed us that Lolo Doro, one of my grandfather’s brothers was already weakened by his illness, inability to walk (he got an amputated leg), and perhaps old age. In an instant, Mados went to visit his uncle who asked for “Tinola”, a chicken dish.

Meanwhile, knowing Lolo Doro as a cry-baby, I hesitated to come along. Instead I planned to visit at a later date so that I could introduce Arvid Matthew, his great grandson to him.  I knew Lolo would be so happy to meet my little tot as he loves and appreciates every one who drops by to see him.  In my mind, the plan included asking a few of my cousins to come with me so we could take turns visiting our grandfather. That never happened.

One night upon coming home from his wake, I received an email from Mom Sandy that talks about the four things we can’t recover. The email did come on a right time!  It was sent to me for a reason.  Be with me as I read it again.

These reminders, especially the last two came down on me like bombs, exploding slowly but with a blast, one after the other. 

The occasion, after it’s missed…Lolo lived only a few minutes from us, but I never had time to visit nor greet him on any of his birthdays.  It’s only when he died that I found out he was born on April 01.  What good did knowing his birthday do?  Nothing.

The time, after it’s gone…Lolo lived to be 87 years old, yet I couldn’t say I’ve spent a whole month of it talking to him, sharing laughter and jokes.  I did spend more than that when we lived with him when I was still studying, but not when I lived somewhere else.  Yes, he’s not my immediate grandpa, but I still felt I owed him more than just remembering him.  As it happened, he didn’t even know I have been thinking of him a lot because he, in his simple ways, had been a part of who I am now.   I could write so many good things I learned from him, but he would never read them anymore.  Truly, actions speak louder than words so we ought to SHOW our dear ones how we love them every moment we’re with them.

God knows we love our families, our parents, siblings, husbands, wives or children; but it’s not enough that we THINK of that love.  Let’s SHOW it, and what better way to start that than by TELLING them “I love you!”

If you think it’s a hard thing to do, just think how harder it would be not to be able to do it at all.

God bless us all!

Happy Birthday, Tito Andrei!

When I was still a very little baby, my Tito Andrei used to take care of me. I appreciate that, of course, that’s why I practiced a lot to surprise my loving uncle on his birthday.

Guess what I did? I asked Mame Arlene to call Tito Andrei early in the morning so I could personally greet him a happy, healthy and blessed birthday! My surprise was my ability to pronounce his name “Adyey”!

I really hoped Tito liked it! We love you, Tito Adyey!  Thank you for being kind, loving, funny and full of life.  I miss you, po!  Mame misses you, too…truly, your helping hand meant a lot and was appreciated more than you ever knew.

Happy, happy, happy birthday to you!

Love and prayers,
Arvid Matthew