In My Mind

Christmas is just around the corner. And every year the essence of christmas has been commercialized all the more. What is indeed the true meaning of christmas? Hope this story would touch you as it had touch mine. I got this from a friend. =)

It was the night before Christmas, I
hurried to go to the supermarket to
buy the remaining gifts I didn't
manage to buy earlier. When I saw all
the people there, I started to
complain to myself: 'It is going to
take forever here and I still have so
many other places to go...'

'Chris tmas really is getting more and
more annoying every year. How I wish I
could just lie down, go to sleep and
only wake up after it...'

Noneth eless, I made my way to the toy
section, and there I started to curse
the prices, wondering if the kids
really play with such expensive toys.
While looking in the toy section, I
noticed a small boy of about 5 years
old, pressing a doll against his
chest. He kept on touching the hair of
the doll and looked so sad. I wondered
who this doll was for. Then the little
boy turned to the old woman next to
him: 'Granny, are you sure I don't
have enough money?'

The old lady replied: 'You know that
you don't have enough money to buy
this doll, my dear.'

Then she asked him to stay here for 5
minutes while she went to look around.
She left quickly.The little boy was
still holding the doll in his hand.
Finally, I started to walk toward him
and I asked him who he wanted to give
this doll to.

'It is the doll that my sister loved
most and wanted so much for this
Christmas. She was so sure that Santa
Claus would bring it to her.'

I replied to him that maybe Santa
Claus will bring it to her, after all,
and not to worry. But he replied to me
sadly. 'No, Santa Claus can not bring
it to her where she is now. I have to
give the doll to my mother so that she
can give it to her when she goes
there.'
<>His eyes were so sad while saying
this. 'My sister has gone to be with
God. Daddy says that Mommy will also
go to see God very soon, so I thought
that she could bring the doll with her
to give it to my sister'

My heart nearly stopped. The little
boy looked up at me and said: 'I told
daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I
asked him to wait until I come back
from the supermarket'

Then he showed me a very nice photo of
him where he was laughing. He then
told me: 'I also want mommy to take
this photo with her so that she will
not forget me.' I love my mommy and I
wish she doesn't have to leave me but
daddy says that she has to go to be
with my sister. Then he looked again
at the doll with sad eyes, very
quietly.

I quickly reached for my wallet and
took a few notes and said to the
boy. 'What if we checked again, just
in case you have enough money?' 'Ok'
he said. 'I hope that I have enough.'I
added some of my money to his without
him seeing and we started to count it.
There was enough for the doll, and
even some spare money.

The little boy said: Thank you God for
giving me enough money' Then he looked
at me and added: 'I asked yesterday
before I slept for God to make sure I
have enough money to buy this doll so
that mommy can give it to my sister.
He heard me' 'I also wanted to have
enough money to buy a white rose for
my mommy, but I didn't dare to ask God
for too much. But He gave me enough to
buy the doll and the white rose.' 'You
know, my mommy loves white roses'

A few minutes later, the old lady came
again and I left. I finished my
shopping in a totally different state
from when I started. I couldn't get
the little boy out of my mind.

Then I remembered a local newspaper
article 2 days ago, which mentioned a
drunk man in a truck who hit a car
where there was one young lady and a
little girl. The little girl died
right away, and the mother was left in
a critical state. The family had to
decide whether to pull the plug on the
life-assistin g machine, because the
young lady would not be able to come
out of the coma.

Was this the family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the
little boy, I read in the newspaper
that the young lady had passed away.

I couldn't stop myself and went to buy
a bunch of white roses and I went to
the mortuary where the body of the
young woman was for people to see and
make a last wish before burial.

She was there, in her coffin, holding
a beautiful white rose in her hand
with the photo of the little boy and
the doll placed over her chest.

I left the place crying, feeling that
my life had been changed forever.

The love that this little boy had for
his mother and his sister is still, to
this day, hard to imagine.

And in a fraction of a second, a
drunken driver had taken all this away
from him.

FRIENDS ARE LIKE ANGELS, WHO HELP US
FLY WHEN OUR WINGS HAVE FORGOTTEN HOW

Posted by jaren at 2:15 AM 0 comments  

Labels: christmas story

Almost all the countries in the world has its own share of superstitious beliefs. So does the Philippines. If you'll count them, the list would go endless. The Philippines had been colonized by the Spaniards for more than 300 years. Arabs,Chinese, Japanese, Americans are only some to mention who had contributed and made the Filipino culture rich and truly unique. Colonization, intermarriages, friendship,and business influenced our beliefs, customs and traditions over time. Superstitious belief or old wive's tale is an irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome. SUKOB is one of them.It is a superstition that two siblings should not be wed in the same year or a wedding must not be held after a death of a member of the family.

I really don't believe in superstitions. Especially in sukob.I don't know if this is a mere coincidence or what. A cousin of my husband got married last may of this year. Then about September his elder sister got married too. Prior to that, a grandmother of them passed away last january days after our wedding.So, indeed IT IS two siblings getting married in the same year and more.The elders in my husband side was saying it's sukob sa taon and it should not happen.

End of October this year, the eldest brother of the siblings who got married died. Two weeks after, a great grandmother died also. And a day after the great grandmother was buried, one of the cousins died of stroke. And it happened only yesterday. You can't imagine how anguish the family is. One after the other they fall like leaves falling on autumn. Until when this will end?It is eerie to think of.

Coincidence or not. That we'll never know. All I know is things happen for a reason. And He up there alone knows everything. All of us die. He never gives trial that we can't bear.

Prayers is our best weapon. Evils lurk everywhere and always in disguised to divert us away from God. With all that are happening in our lives...good or bad...we must put our complete trust in Him. And He will never let us hit the ground.

Posted by jaren at 1:42 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Sukob, superstitious belief

These are some of the thoughts in life sent by a friend and would like to share them to you to ponder about.

1. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

2. What other people think of you is none of your business.

3.Time heals almost anything. Give time.

4. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

5. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

Posted by jaren at 3:57 AM 0 comments  

Labels: words of wisdom

Yesterday, I was fortunate to be invited by a friend to have a complimentary massage at KASANAG WELL-BEING CENTRE.

Before the 90 minute massage would start, the owner gave us a brief summary of what to expect and the benefits that we would gain.

The treatment we received was not your usual swedish or shiatsu massage. It's a fusion of the traditional Filipino massage..."HILOT" and other related healing services as a means of body, mind and soul rejuvenation.

I didn't realized how badly stressed I was before the treatment. Our body is capable of healing itself but with the hustle and bustle of modern living combined with the food we eat, problem of day to day life, no wonder our body accumulate toxins. And the body cannot cope with the pressure. Illnesses, MPS (myofascial pain syndrome), body aches that suddenly occur out of the blue are only some of the causes of stress.

Healing and relaxation is what people look for ,thus ,the emergence of wellness centers.

HILOT, is something that a Filipino can claim its very own. Given a chance it could be at par with the world's standard with its unique style.

HILOT is an ancient traditional Filipino massage based on the Universal Law of Nature. It uses banana leaves to determine energy flow obstruction, hold changes in the temperature and prevents external factor like cold and wind from entering the body. Sometimes, virgin coconut oil or olive oil mixed with different scents is used for the massage.

The benefits of HILOT are psychological and physical. Touch, the most natural way to comfort people of all ages, offers the feeling of security. It has a natural way based on gut of easing pain and aches in the body. Most of all, it stimulates the body,aids digestion,neural communication,improved blood circulation, relaxes muscles and prevents it from stiffness and spasms. It speeds up skin exfoliation and promotes cell regeneration.

Different people has different preferences and hilot is only one of those. Whatever method is use, one thing is for sure, it recharges the energy back to our body. Can't wait for another massage session, and transport myself back in the air and feel like a new person again...=)

Posted by jaren at 4:03 AM 2 comments  

Labels: massage

Everybody has their so called comfort and eccentric favorite food especially when feeling down. I had a series of my own comfort food and eccentricity while growing up.

To date, I simply love my sister - in - law's "binakol", a mixture of chicken feet ( adidas ) and neck which she cooks with lots of chopped tomatoes,ginger,onion, et. and cover it with banana leaves. Simply picturing it out makes my mouth watery hehehe.

Also, there's this sea snake we call " puyoy" and i guess it can only be found in our hometown. You can either grill or fry it, sometimes cooking it adobo style is...yummy!I bet others will say, GROSS! Don't forget the FLYING FOX BAT too. Sooo, delicious. More so than the taste of chicken meat. But I had stopped eating it years ago, when I learned it's in the danger list of extinction.

On simpler and rainy days, i love eating instant pancit canton lucky me brand hehehe. There goes the all time favorite CHOCOLATES...never mind the brand, sometimes I DO hide them, eat slowly savoring every bite and cookies...like Oreos, you know, twist a little, separate, lick and bite.

Generally, there are days, I like eating using my bare hands and the food never tasted sooo good.

There are so many to mention and the list can go endless.So can you share and tell me yours? Thinking about it makes me hungry.

Posted by jaren at 7:29 PM 0 comments  

Labels: Food, Hobbies

I had an encounter with the NBI when I had my clearance renewed last July. The NBI clearance is one of my requirements for travel abroad. They gave me the clearance about a week after I applied for it. But when I received my copy I noticed I forgot to changed my previous address to my present one. So, a month after,there I go again to the NBI Regional Office in our area. They told me to return after a week since I got a lot of namesakes. The week had passed and to my dismay they informed me the system got off line and try to check from time to time. Imagine the time,effort and money wasted to get that clearance to no avail. Two weeks later i asked favor from my brother in law if he could get my clearance on my behalf. He was led to the office area and was informed that I ( of course it wasn't me!) has a pending warrant at the different branches in Quezon City Trial Court. My brother-in-law relayed to me that I have to go in their office in person because of the alleged woman bearing the same namesake is wanted and at large.

The following day, i went to the NBI regional Office in Iloilo. They led me to the investigator's office. Minutes later they led me to another room, where there's only me and the 3 NBI guy. At first, they were asking questions like, have you experienced working in Quezon City? Or if you ever experienced working in an educational institution? I answered No to both. Then they showed me the copy of the so called cases against my namesake. There are 20 something cases filed in different branches of Quezon City Trial Court. Qualified Theft is the case. When they handed me the paper I saw the name Rhea P. Samson. So Immediately I told them that Rhea P. Samson is not me. I showed them my I.d. but they won't look at it. My I.d. bears the name of Rhea D. Samson.Not quite the same,right?I'm even willing to provide other documents to prove my identity.They're saying I have to go to Manila and clear my name. I was adamant in saying I won't and is there any way they can suggest of how to clear my name without going to manila? They say, they don't.I'm already holding my emotions and temper. And this has been going on for more than 30 minutes already.I told them, YOU are the NBI you have all the power in the world to verify the middle name of that girl. They don't have access they say and that they ONLY RELY to what is being forwarded to them. I suggested further why, don't you contact the Quezon City Trial Court where that case was filed ask for assistance to contact the lawyer of the complainant and surely they know what that P stands for. They asked me one last question, if when will I need my clearance.I said ASAP. I added I wanted to talk to the Director and perhaps he can help me.They retorted that the Director will suggest the same thing also. I simply won't budged.I felt threatened and harassed at that time, and told them, I'll sue you for emotionally harassing me.They looked at each other and their expression and tone of voice changed as if we're suddenly friends. They said ..we're your allies here not your enemies, return tomorrow at 10 A.M.with an affidavit of denial and bring all documents pertaining to your identity.

After hearing them say those things I wanted to erupt. I asked for suggestions earlier and got nothing. And after saying a bluff of suing them, they provided me with an answer. What is their point? It made me think they're only aftering for the "lagay". (I just hoped I'm wrong!)

The following day, I secured the affidavit . I proceeded to the NBI and waited for more than two hours. Those guys never appeared.One of the investigator on duty at that time took pity on me and led me to see the head of the operatives. When he saw the affidavit and saw that indeed the Rhea P. Samson is different from Rhea D. Samson he gave me the clearance.

I regretted I didn't report them to their boss. I guess I was overwhelmed receiving my clearance.


NBI - National Bureau of Investigation. The name should speak for itself. Why can't they not know the the middle name of the alleged woman.Even a grade 3 pupil can distinguished the letter P from the letter D. I hope they'll serve the common people the best way they can and in the most speedy process . No wonder a lot of people is exasperated with the system.

You see, a relative of mine had the same experience under different circumstance.They in fact gave money to speed up the release of the clearance. They later found out that the clearance had been printed out two weeks before and it was only sitting in their office.

I'm just wondering, why some of the "guys" make it appear as if it's our "utang na loob" when they do something for us, when in fact IT IS THEIR DUTY to serve us. We pay them with our taxes. I don't generalize the people in the NBI. It's some of their men who do dirty tricks that tarnish the reputation of NBI and the government.

Let us be vigilant. Small action as this cause ripple effect, another form of GRAFT and CORRUPTION.

Posted by jaren at 12:32 AM 1 comments  

Labels: government agency