2024 TOP TEN HIGHLIGHTS: Number 4

My daughter Eia accompanied me to the HOLD (Handmaids Of the Lord) International Conference in Cebu. But prior to that, we explored the beautiful spots in Bohol. Together with Sister Luming and her only son Jay, we stayed overnight in one of the beach resorts in Panglao. 

We had the weirdest experience in Panglao. We were in the Philippines but it seemed we were in a foreign land because we were the only Filipinos there! We felt like foreigners in our country. But you go anywhere in Tokyo and you will most likely bump into a fellow Filipino. It just feels like home.

All my fears about Eia attending the Conference were unfounded. She miraculously did not exhibit any mood swings and was in fact more behaved than the other Handmaids sisters. For 3 days she listened intently to the speakers without falling asleep, sang and danced during the PraiseFest, ate whatever food given to us, walked without qualms from our Hotel to the venue, whispered gently to my ears if she wanted to visit the Restroom, actively participated in the set activities. Eia has Down Syndrome with Bipolar Disorder but blended beautifully among my Handmaids sisters during the Conference!

To be continued . . .

Tribute To My First Love

 Today is the 67th birthday of my First Love. I am talking about a real person—not Coca-Cola, which I loosely refer to as my “First Love”.

I was 9 when I wrote in my diary that I would never marry anyone except this guy who gave me the reason to go to school every morning. We were in 3rd Grade when he transferred from Iloilo to our school.

You see I was bullied since Grade 1. By someone untouchable in our school—the son of our Principal. There were days when I would drag my feet to go to school when I already anticipated what will happen in class. It has always been the same troublesome scenario. This boy would tirelessly tease me to death that I begged my mother to enroll me in Judo-Karate so I could beat him mercilessly heheheh . . .

Everything changed when the boy from Iloilo joined our class. I would jump out of bed in excitement to see him. My attention was diverted to him and nothing else mattered anymore. He turned my world from dull grey to flaming red, sunny yellow, cool blue, refreshing green and huggable pink! Whenever he speaks and call my name, it was beautiful music to my ears.

To my First Love, thank you for adding spice and color to my young life. I thank God that we are still friends until now. I wish you good health, loving family, true friends, profitable business and personal peace. Enjoy your birthday celebration!

(For reactions/comments, you may email me at ndelr62@gmail.com.. Thanks for dropping by. Stay safe!)

2024 TOP TEN HIGHLIGHTS: Number 3

 My proudest moment: Finishing the Luneta to Tagaytay 60km Ultramarathon which garnered the biggest donation ever since I started my fund-raising advocacy for the Down Syndrome Assn. of the Phils. Inc. way back in 2008 when I joined a 5k race in celebration of my 50th birthday. It even surpassed my UP Diliman to UP Los Baños 80km Ultramarathon in 2018!

My generous friends probably thought that this was gonna be my last and final Ultra because I was already 66 when I attempted to run this for the third time. Or they most likely took pity on me because in 2023, we had to stop at km 47 and decided to go home. My Plantar Fasciitis was killing me then. But I vowed to redeem myself and I certainly did!

For the first time, I wasn’t the last to arrive at the FinishLine which was strategically located at the highest point of Palace in the Sky. 8 runners Did Not Start. 8 runners Did Not Finish. And drums roll please . . . 8 runners came after me! 

Never mind if my toenails met their untimely demise after being soaked in water for 9 hours. We had to endure the pouring rain from 4AM until 1PM causing the agonizing death of my toenails but I was simply ecstatic arriving earlier at the FinishLine that I did not feel any pain at all!

My running buddy Ann joined me at Km 47 where we previously gave up and provided me the much-needed support until the very end. I am extremely grateful to her.

To be continued . . .

Tribute to the Father of my Children

 Today is my EX Wedding Anniversary . . . Supposedly the 28th!

After everything that we went through, I still thank God that our paths crossed. I thank God for giving us the courage to tie the knot in 1997 against all odds. Without this Union, I wouldn’t have Gio and Eia. That, for me, would be the real tragedy of all time.

Thank you for coming into my life. Though our marriage didn’t last as planned, I have my 2 precious jewels whom I love more than life itself. I wouldn’t have experienced the true meaning of happiness without Gio and Eia.

I am delighted that we now talk as friends. No more hurts, no more bitterness, no more regrets. God is great! May He bless you abundantly, now and forever.

2024 TOP TEN HIGHLIGHTS: Number 2

 I finally fulfilled my promise to my favorite son his dream vacation in Japan. It took me 20 years to save for this Anime Package Tour which cost me an arm and leg (make that 2 arms and 2 legs heheheh . . .) but no amount of money could equal the happiness on my son’s face when he eventually experienced his long-time obsession.

The 9-day Tour was a learning experience for me. Though I was not familiar with Anime, seeing my son in Cloud 9 was all worth it. We were in a group from different nations but the composition was unexpected in this age and time. There were 3 couples, 1 family, 1 mother & daughter AND surprise of all surprises—there were 4 mother & son tandems! I was quite shocked that there still exists Mama’s boys from different parts of the globe . . .

To be continued . . .

2024 TOP TEN HIGHLIGHTS: Number 1

 Just with the blink of an eye, January 2025 is almost over! With all the fuzz and the buzz of the Christmas Season festivities, we did not even have the time to pause and reflect what transpired in 2024. What made us jubilant, what brought us down. What were the lessons learned?

Join me as we go back in time to feel once again the happy moments, the priceless memories, the painful experiences. If your life in 2024 were to be documented in a movie, what would it be like? Would it be hopelessly Romantic? Heart-pumping thriller? Feel-good comedy? Tear-jerking drama? Or would it be close to a Multi-awarded Variety show? Hoping it won’t be a gripping Suspense/Horror movie!

Close your eyes and bask in the silence of your heart. Reminisce as far as you can.

In a nutshell, my 2024 was explosive!

Top of my List is something I still could NOT believe I did: Riding the plane 17 times last year—13X with my son Gio and 4X with my daughter Eia.

To be continued . . 

Do It Anyway

Inspirational Lines from St. Teresa of Kolkata:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; FORGIVE them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives; be KIND anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies; SUCCEED anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be HONEST anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; BUILD anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; be HAPPY anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; DO GOOD anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; give the world the BEST you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, IT IS BETWEEN YOU AND GOD; it was never between you and them anyway.

The Wife is the Cause of her Husband’s Headache and the Husband is the Cause of His Wife’s Heartache

This is according to our guest priest in this morning’s mass, trying to put humor in his sermon. As expected, the congregation had a good laugh, forgetting for a moment the excruciating headaches and heartaches they were going through because of their respective spouses.

But me? I heaved a deep sigh of relief after painful memories kept flooding back. I silently murmured to myself—“thank God wala na akong asawa! (thank God I don’t have a husband anymore!)”

There is no perfect marriage. Somewhere along the way conflicts will come and go. There is no one-fits-all prescription when to let go and when to hold on. I strongly suggest you seek professional and/or spiritual help when you are physically or emotionally abused. You need to take care of yourself so you can take care of the precious people you dearly love.

Love yourself will you?

First Love Never Dies

 Why am I suddenly talking about First Love now, when it’s the Feast of the Epiphany?

Well, it is for the simple reason that my First Love reminded me that I have neglected writing in my blog for so long already.

Thank you, my friend. This 2025, I will try my very best to be less delinquent.

To all of you, my dear readers, hope you had a memorable Christmas celebration. If 2024 was a good year for you, then make 2025 better. If it was bad, learn from your mistakes and make 2025 a good one. There will always be things beyond your control. The perfect plan will sometimes fail. It is OK to cry when things go wrong. Let it all out. When in doubt, ask for guidance. There will always be people who will be against you even though you feel you are the kindest person on earth. And even if you’re weird and crazy at times, your true friends will always stand by you and love you for who you are. 

Let us all have an amazing 2025!