@MesesMylen

Mount Banahaw and My Experiences on It Our country is known for its beautiful mountains and volcanoes. In fact, Mayon Volcano which is located in Albay, Bicol is known and famous for its perfectly coned- shape and for its being very active. Another one is the Taal Volcano, said to be the smallest active volcano in the Philippines who erupted recently and caused many destructions and casualties in Batangas and nearby provinces. Talking about mountains and volcanoes, I am very much familiar with Mount Banahaw, an active volcano on Luzon in the Philippines. The three -peaked volcano complex is located at the boundary of Laguna and Quezon Provinces. It is the highest mountain in both provinces and CALABARZON Region, dominating the landscape for miles around. Its elevation is 2,170 m and its prominence is 1,919 m (SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA). When I was a kid, around 4-5 years old, my father goes uphill there oftentimes because he had many animals there like horses, carabaos, goats, and chickens. He also planted sweet potatoes there. At times, my older sister and I go with him uphill. We rode on a horse. He had a horse who is very intelligent. That horse can go uphill and downhill without any guide from my father, he knew the right direction and path maybe because he always goes there. Going uphill, we brought some foods like biscuits, noodles, rice, and sardines, and of course drinking water. We place it inside the bakid, a rattan made huge basket that is placed on both sides of the horse that serves as a carrier. It’s never on the peak of the said mountain, it’s just on its foot, but climbing there is very difficult because it’s so far halfway there, there is a lagoon which is the source of water needed for cooking and washing things and also for bathing. We brought empty containers so that when we reach the place, we got water. One thing that I cannot forget in going there is that on the both sides of the trial, there is a running water which is crystal clear, we always drink water using taro leaves and the funny thing is we do always bring a certain candy which is snowbear, a menthol candy that when you sip it and then drink some water, it gives a very cold feeling inside your mouth. During my teenage years, I sometimes go there to accompany my father, because his religion is K-A-L-K, Kapatirang ang Litaw na Katalinuhan, they had their temple there. I can’t explain anything about this matter because I really don’t know about it. Though my father’s religion is that, never in my life that he lets me know or he never introduced it on us, his children, he lets us decide on our own, it’s never been an issue to our family, as what I remembered, the last time that I went there is when I was 18 years old, I’m 43 now, so its 25 years ago. I go along with my father because they had a gathering. And my reason in going with him is that I want to meet my ninang whom I never see since my baptismal. I was so very excited to meet her. At last, after 18 years, we had an acquaintance. I was very happy then, but you know, that was the first and last time that we saw each other, until now, I never saw her again. The gathering gives so much joy to everyone because there are many people around who came from different places, they had mini show, talks, and some spiritual activities. There’s a small store provided by a local but it’s so expensive because it’s very difficult to bring those stuffs uphill. During the event, happened an unexpected incident. There’s a man who fainted, I don’t know what was the reason why. I saw that some men got a blanket and put a wood on its edge that it looked like a hammock. They put the man there and goes downhill so they can bring him to the hospital. I don’t hear any news about him after that incident. The night was young and the activities goes on. There are some people who introduced by my father to me. I met a lot and I’m happy to see my father’s acquaintances though I never really knew them well. As far as I remember, it last until midnight, what I forgot is where we stayed after the event, I don’t know if we slept or not. When the dawn is breaking, everyone is ready and prepared to go downhill and go home to their respective places. Those experiences still remembered and Mount Banahaw has always a special place in my heart.

Struggle is Real For the nth time, Rizal Province was subjected into lockdown (MECQ, modified enhanced community quarantine) again. Many don’ts is to be considered again for following safety protocols. There’s no ‘ayuda’ or help or support from LGU’s and other NGO’s that’s why many people is struggling right here and there. In my case, I have no work now because my boss, who is an owner of a small garment factory can not go to Manila to buy materials for the product. From day 1 of lockdown, my co-workers and I are hoping that this lockdown will finish as soon as possible. Why? Because we don’t have source of income and all of us are struggling where to get money to buy our basic necessities. The least way to get some is to ask our relatives and friends and even our wealthy neighbors to borrow some amount of money to buy food. Another thing is to have some credits on the store owners here in our place. Yes, we survived in our everyday living by this means, but for how long? And another thing is the question that lingers in my mind every single day, “ how can I pay all my debts? If the time cones that the lockdown is lifted, we will have work again but our salary is exact only for everyday consumptions, so where can I find some to pay our debts? I want to make money by selling something like ‘meryenda or kakanin’ but the problem is my neighbors has no money to buy those stuff, all they want to buy is rice and simple ulam. Every day and night, I was always thinking, what will really happen to us if this lockdown happens again and again. We have no resources, how can we provide for our living? I find ways on how to make money just like what I’m doing now, writing an article to publish on read.cash hoping that I can earn reasonably so that I can put food on our table. It is very difficult because our article being published in this platform has no assurance if it will gain payment from the bot or at least from upvotes. Anyway, even the bot pays my article or not, I will try my best on having time to write and read other’s article because I love reading and writing so much. It helps sharpen my mind and learned a lot of things that I don’t know. Bot’s payment and upvotes are such a big blessing. No matter how big or small the payment is, the most important thing for me is that I never stop finding ways on how to survive. At least I earned a little rather than nothing at all. Every cent counts especially during this hard time. I just hope and pray that this situation ends as soon as possible. Thru this platform, I want to appeal to those people who are not following safety protocols that can cause widespread of the virus. One’s negligence can cause harm to many so please be responsible enough for our actions. Please bear in mind that all of us wanted to go back to the normal life. Adjustments are very difficult, but if we think wisely, all of us will benefit if this virus turned down to zero. We can go anywhere we want to go without wearing mask and shields, we can do everything we want like going to the beach for family vacation without any papers to be filled up in. we can go back to the very normal life like we used to have. Oh, how I wish to live on that same old times.

Love tragedy, Unusual but True A sweet love story that started in a long time of courtship. Many years ago, their family who lived in Batangas, City moved to Quezon, Province for some reasons. There, they started their new life. It was a family of 10, father, mother, and the 8 siblings. First three are all girls, who’s named after Mother Mary as their first names. They are all gorgeous. They had many suitors and the eldest fell in love with a good man. After having a less than three years of relationship of being girlfriend-boyfriend, they decided to get married. They had a happy family. They had 4 kids by God’s grace. A boy as an eldest and a three girls. They lived happily. The husband is a farmer of palay and other crops such as onions, spinach, and pechay, while wife is taking care of the kids and the house. When the kids grew up, the eldest one had his job as a food packer in an airplane abroad, the next one worked in Taiwan as a factory worker, the third one is a regular employee in an electronics company here in our country and the youngest fid finished her college with the help of her siblings, she is now an accountant but not yet licensed because after college graduation, she found a job with a reasonable salary that’s why she didn’t had the chance to take licensure exam. After some time, the first three had their own family and the youngest is still single up to this time. Until one day, their mother had a weak body, she’s confined to the hospital almost every month, while father is in good health. On mother’s last confinement, father had a bad feeling, since it’s pandemic, he was not brought to the hospital by his daughter, instead, they called the hospital staff and had an scheduled check-up and confinement, according to the staff, the hospital can’t accommodate many patients for following the safety protocols, that’s why they scheduled father as number 6 patient after discharging some confined patients. While he is at home, he always asks where is his wife, again and again, the daughter answered that she’s in the hospital. On the fifth day of mother’s confinement, father had a very bad feeling so she rushed him to the hospital, not in the one he had an appointment for check up and confinement, it was late in the evening, eldest daughter accompanied him to the hospital while the third one and the youngest are the watches of the mother. On that very night, unexpectedly, father died. Daughter informed her two siblings who watched over mother thru chat saying father passed away already. When both of them received the message, their mother is awake that’s why they didn’t speak they don’t want to let mother know what’s happening, their body shaking in shock and pain. They look at each other but can’t cry in front of mother so they left the room one by one crying outside, “nanlamig buo naming katawan, ‘di kami makaiyak sa harap ni Mommy, nanginig kami.” “Ang ginawa ko, lumabas ako ng kwarto, doon ako umiyak sa labas, tapos bumalik ako, si Baby naman ang lumabas at umiyak, tapos pagbalik nya ako uli, paulit-ulit namin ginawa ‘yun.” “Hini namin masabi sa kanya na wala na si tatay, kasi baka lalo lumala amg sitwasyon n’ya, napagkasunduan na wag ipagtapat sa kanya ang nangyari hanggang gumaling sya.” “On the fifth day of death, we decided for father’s burial, but the night before, mother got in comatose condition. The doctor said, “talk to her, she will hear you”. That’s the time na hinawakan naming ang kanyang kamay at sinabi naming “ Mommy, kung naririnig mo kami, pisilin moa ng aming mga kamay” at pinisil nga nya ang kamay naming magkakapatid, dun naming ipinagtapat na wala na si tatay at sinabi namin na sige, kung nahihirapan ka na, kung napapagod kana, pinapayagan ka na naming sumuko, tatanggapin naming kahit napakasakit. Kung gusto mo na sumama kay tatay maluwag naming tinatanggap, ‘wag kayo mag alala sa aming magkakapatid, magmamahalan kami, at pinisil nya ang aming mga palad at tumulo ang kanyang luha, pinunas naming ‘yon ngunit tumulo uli at pagkatapos, nangyari na an gaming inaasahan.” “we felt so much pain. Hindi na muna naming ipinalibing si tatay, ibinurol sila na magkatabi at pagkalipas ng ilang araw ay sabay naming silang ipinalibing.” “Kuya, our eldest who is in abroad didn’t had the chance to come, he always video call on us, we pitied him for he wanted to go home but he can’t because of the pandemic. BTW, they are both born in the month of December and both died on the month of July. We all call it ‘FOREVER’.

To COVID-19 Vaccine: Fierce or Fears? These past few months, COVID-19 vaccines from many manufacturers from different countries are delivered here in our country, Philippines. Many Filipinos got vaccinated especially those who are front liners, they are the ones who is prioritized by our government to get vaccinated because they are prone to the said corona virus. Those medical staff and practitioners, medical front liners, essential workers and others who are said to be front liners, elderly people and government employees all got vaccinated. Since vaccine supply is bulk, early registration is happening, some are thru online and some are thru government and medical employees, like here in our barangay, the medical staff in one certain hospital had the responsibility of the registration. Though there is a master list from the provincial government, everyone had the chance of being registered. Some who is in the master list got the opportunity to get vaccinated but some are not. Having my own opinion, I can’t really decide whether to get that vaccine or not. But for now, I am not ready to get vaccinated because it makes me think of many how’s and but’s. though in the news, it is said that those vaccines had their clinical trials of three times to be to be said that it has full efficacy rate, I can’t imagine how does it affects man’s health and body after a year, or two years, or five years? Unlike those vaccines that we used to get when we are a baby, like polio vaccine, rubella vaccine, measles vaccine, and many other more, we know that it’s effective, proven and tested. I got bothered of the news that spread all over, some said it was the reason of deaths of some individuals, others said it can cause severe body pain. I really don’t know what is the truth about this vaccine. My husband and I is undecided yet if we are going to accept the vaccine, he is a lineman and always doing his work in the field, he is always exposed in crowd. Their company offers the vaccination, but until now, we are not decided of what to do. And we cannot decide if our children must accept the vaccine too. They are all students and I know that time will come that education system will be back to the normal phase which is face-to-face. And I’m afraid the time to come that vaccine will be given mandatorily. If the government said that mandatory vaccination is required, then we have no option but to get vaccinated. Maybe time will come that those who are not vaccinated are the ones who are not allowed to go out and go to some other places. Another issue for me is which of the available vaccines is the most accurate and effective? We really don’t know if it will give us 100% protection against the virus. In social media, you will see many news that I don’t know if it is true or not, some videos told that accepting the said vaccine has many bad effects, and the worst thing is it can cause death. I saw one video having a graph of number of deaths in a certain country after receiving to complete doses, but of course, I really don’t know if it is true or not but I’m sure that it gives so much bother to others and I’m one of them. We should think of all the advantages and disadvantages of making decision regarding to this matter. Do I need to be fierce to accept this vaccine or do I have to fear it?

Great Love for Animals Animals , like humans , have life and we should love them equally. Though I am not an animal lover, and my hubby too, our eldest has this great love for animals. When he was just a kid he always told us that he want to take up veterinary course. Fine for me because if it is really his passion, so be it, we will support him all the way. As years goes by, he reached his Senior high school class, he then graduated and finally decided to take up computer engineering. I asked him why because I thought that it would be veterinary and he answered that he love and so much interested in modern living with the use of gadgets. He’s into it,he started developing some apps, and the reason he said for not taking veterinary is that eventhough he is not a veterinarian, he can do some tasks of taking care of some animals. In fact,he took care of some bird breeds such as African love birds, parakeets, black naped oriole, crested mynah or martines , house sparrow or maya and yellow vented bulbul or pirok pirok in our place. Those birds are all handfeed when he got them. Some are bought from trusted breeders and some are brought by the kids here in our place. African love birds namely Kulit and Digit are trained and know how to basketball, turn around, fetch things, went through a tunnel, loop around the finger and they know how to get back in their cage if they are moved out from it. Parakeets namely Oreo and Black are more obedient than the African love birds. Black naped oriole named Sun and 2G, Sun , because its color yellow is as bright as the sun and 2G because my son saw random names of animals from the internet. Rara,the crested mynah is such a funny bird, when he saw kids around he said ”pangit, pangit” and he humms in the tune of “if you’re happy and you know it”,he knew if there is a threat around, he shouted “akkk, akkk” if there is a cat near his cage. There are three mayas namely Wala,coz he is always not around, when he left early in the morning, he will go back late in the afternoon, another one is Down, sibling of Lock, named after lockdown during ECQ but lock died due to cold temperature. The next one is GG, she is the most favorite maya because every morning , she went home and ask for food. She perched on me or whoever she saw in our terrace , if you will not give her food, she will peck you a lot, I love this bird so much. Bulbul birds namely Coke, Sprite and Dogie. Coke and Sprite because my son sell those softdrinks brands for extra income, and Dogie for funny purposes, a bird who has a name for a dog, lol. Maya and pirok pirok are are not in cage, they fly freely as much as they wanted to and it really prove that if you done good things to others even on animals, they will love you back. It’s true that those birds goes back in our house every single day. Some of them have their partners,we see it, they got food and flew away to give their partner some, and maybe they have their offsprings. Our best favorite after GG the maya is Rara the crested mynah because he can talk and he is almost two years in our care. If he is outside the cage and he saw a money, he will get a bill by his beak and then flew away but my son know how to get him back, he will just give him food and he will fly to him and perched on his shoulder, if my son told him “uwi na”, Rara will get inside his cage. They are our happy pills, our stress reliever. Though they are birds , they give us back the love we gave them.

Internet Hotspot Distribution Business For a long time, our place has no source of internet connection. I remembered when my eldest son went on high school, he badly needed to have cellphone or laptop and of course internet connection source due to k-12 program, printing of activities is needed and Google or YouTube are needed to search for their assignments. My son used to go to other barangays where computer shop is available. We live in an isle, and our barangay is surrounded by mountain that is why internet signal is very poor. Even to those who have their own pocket Wi-Fi, they always complain about poor signal. When my son is in his senior high school, PISO NET was born. It’s our neighbor’s business, their house is beside ours so it’s just few steps away. It made us happy that after four years, he will not go to the other barangay for internet connection. At first, the owner produced tickets with control number and password so that you can only use it once. The prices goes like this: Php 10 = 1 hour Php 50 = 1 hours Php 20 = 3 hours Php 100 = 24 hours Php 30 = 5 hours Php 500 = 1 week For those students and other customers who have their relatives abroad, this is such a big help. Until one day, another neighbor installed new Wi-Fi hotspot. It’s about 5- minute walk from our house and the price of their ticket is half the price of the first one, so, many of the customers went there. Having low earnings, the owner of the first Wi-Fi hotspot decided to change their ticket price, they set their ticket price like that of the new one. Some customers went back to them. After a year, the first hotspot owner decided to level up their business. Instead of tickets, they bought Wi-Fi vendo machine. It’s more comfortable to use, they just placed it near their main door, they just put grills in it for security and the customers just need to insert the coin to register on it. The owner can make all the things they wanted to do without delay unlike before that when someone go and ask to give them a ticket, they have no choice but to stop whatever they’re doing and give ticket to their customers. According to them, their profit on it gives much to their way of living. All of their expenses came from their earnings on that particular business. Before, the husband is a bamboo set maker and the wife is just helping him doing it. They suffered much for financial incapacity. But today, they saved a lot, in fact, they had their house renovations. They made their floor tiled, their kitchen had stainless steel cabinets with glass doors, and they bought solar panel for them to save electrical consumption, they bought fish nets for fish cage business since it’s one of the most popular source of income here in our barangay. And since our water source is deep well, they are planning to have water tank when they save the amount needed for it. Wife has a glaucoma, she diagnosed to had it recently and her maintenance for it is expensive and also the doctor’s fee and laboratories are expensive too, all those expenses are coming from their business. And not to mention, they have another vendo on the other side of our barangay, they put it in the store of her cousin, they gave a certain amount for the electric consumption and all the gadgets of the said store owner are all freely connected to the Wi-Fi source with unlimited time. I can say that this kind of business is better, though the starting capital can be considered big for an average living family, the income and profit is so reasonable. They are lucky to have this business.

Love for the Second Time My neighbor, who is a dear friend of mine had a very inspirational story. She had her husband for 18 years, they are blessed with two children, both boys. Her husband is kind, family oriented, and a good provider. He had all the positive traits except for being a jealous guy. He worked hard for his family but at times, he was with his friends drinking liquor. And that triggered his jealousy. Whenever he’s drunk, he always suspected his wife of having a lover, which according to my friend is not true because she loves her husband unconditionally, she is a stick-to-one person, if she loves somebody, she will love him to the rest of her life. For 18 years of being together, they had the same drama all the time when husband is drunk. It happened again and again. But the time come that the wife finally realized that being jealous of her husband is only front of him because he is the one who’s cheating to the wife, he had a mistress. The wife discovered it when she once got husband’s phone and checked it, though she knew that what she did was wrong, she doesn’t care at all because of what she discovered. They talked and tried to fix their relationship but it failed. The husband decided to leave his wife and the kids. Upon leaving, he never had given any single cent to support the children. Mother worked hard as a sewer to raise her kids well. They’ve been apart for more than ten years. The guy had many relationships with other girls, she knew it because of the social media, but she said that she doesn’t care anymore coz she moved on with her life, she is happy being with her two kids. The two boys both graduated in high school. They never been in to college since mother has no resources so the eldest seek a job to help with their living. He is now a regular employee in an electronics company while the younger one had his own family, they have two kids now. Mother is living alone in their house, she had, any suitors but for the longest time, she never falls in love with any other guy. There’s this one guy who is very patient in courting her, for three years, he often goes to her house bringing some gifts, foods, snacks, and many other things. At first, she said she never liked him until one time, she got sick. The guy is the one who took care of her, gave all her needs while she is sick, accompanied her to the hospital and did everything to her until she recovered. The girl then realized that she needed a man in her life, a person who she can lean on in times of need, a person who she can share all her happy thoughts and worries, a person who loves her and she will love in return. She told me that she is happy now, yeah, they live together now making new beautiful memories. The new guy loved the children of her, and also, they love the grandchildren. They both have their own houses, sometimes they stay in my friend’s house here in our barangay and they went to the guy’s house once or twice a week, it is located in the next barangay. No matter what happened in her past relationship, the most important is her life now is going well together her new found love. Our age, no matter how old we are, we surely can still find someone who will love us and we will love back. And our experiences and hardships in life always leave us a learning or two. Live freely, love freely.

Eye Operation Our eyes belong to our five senses, if deprivation on it happened, it may cause a lot of stress and devastation on a person who will experience it. Years ago, my brother had his job in a food factory. There, they had basketball event happened annually. Because of his love to that sports, he had his team competed and in some reasons, he felt he lost his sight on his right eye. It is painful according to him. He said he cannot tolerate the pain so we rushed him to the eye clinic. The eye doctor attended him so well, made some laboratory tests and after a while, he said that the retina of my brother’s right eye was torn. He said that he urgently needed an eye operation. We don’t have enough money for the said operation that’s why I pledged my ATM card on my workmate’s Aunt for Php 10,000. Every payday, 15th and 30th of the month, I went to their house to get my salary instead if withdrawing in an ATM booth. The principal amount of money that I got from them plus the profit was deducted from the salary for six long months. Since that amount is not enough for the operation in the hospital near us, the doctor suggested to my mother to go to Philippine General Hospital (PGH), he said that there are good doctors that are expert to such eye operations, and big thing is it’s free of charge, all you spend is the bus fare, food and allowance. My mother and my brother both didn’t know where that hospital is located and how to get there. They asked some people to give them the sketch of the said hospital and what are the mode of transportation. As soon as they get all the necessary information, they decided to go there. That was the first time they went to that place so when they rode on a jeepney or bus, they asked and tell the driver and conductor to stop them in the said place. When they reached the hospital, there are many patients to attend to, and because my brother badly in need of operation, they waited patiently until their turn. When the doctor checked my brother’s eye, he scheduled his operation urgently. My brother said that it is very painful that he shouted a lot during the operation. After a while, the operation was successfully done. He stayed in the hospital for a week for further evaluation. Then they went home to our province after that week. One month later, my brother said that he sees things okay but he felt that there is something in his eyes that he felt so uncomfortable, he went again on an eye doctor to see what it is. It is seen in the test that there is a piece of thread in his eye, he then undergone another operation but it is not like the one that he used to do, it is thru eye laser operation. It was successfully done and thanks God, his right eye is back into it’s normal condition. He had his new job now. He is a warehouse man now, doing his duties well, and he also have his own family, has two children. It is such a big blessing that his sense of sight didn’t deprived. Closing thoughts If deprivation of any senses came, it will affect much in our everyday life so we should be careful in everything we do. We should value all the things that God has given to us. It’s a huge blessing and we should be thankful for it.

A Good Person The most diligent and kind person I have ever known in my life is my sister. She is just a typical woman. She had her own family. Had two kids, a thirteen-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy. Her husband is a very hardworking man. He has no stable job but he makes money every day by selling towels in different areas. Though this kind of work is not sure if he would sell all of his items every day, the good thing is that he never gets home without any earnings. My sister, like her husband has no stable job too, but, she is very efficient in making things that can be the source of their income. She cooks kakanin such as biko, puto, kutsinta, palitaw and butchi every day, she sells it online and some are sold in their neighborhood. She also sells ice cream, gulaman, and French fries. She is also into sewing. She sews some blouses, jeans, shorts, and pajamas, she sells it also online and in neighborhood. She had so many ways in gaining profit. For me, one of her best achievements is when she tried to cook and sell peanut butter, she labelled it as PEANUT ni KUMARS, the name itself gave so much interest to the customers, it caught so much attention, and well, the taste is so delicious. If you try to buy and taste it, you will love to buy and eat it again and again. She has many resellers of this product, she earned much money in it. For now, she wanted to buy a lot and she already made the down payment. She wanted to have their own house since they just rent an apartment. They both work hard to save money for their goal. Despite of their struggles, they always lend their hand to the needy. When the father of my brother-in-law had a cataract, they gave them some amount of money for the eye operation. When our mother is sick, they also sent money for her check up. If we, brothers and sisters are in need, they are always there for a helping hand. I admired them both for they have pure heart especially to those who are in need. My sister always say that when they give something to others, they never expect anything in return, how selfless she is. Though their life is not easy, they always try to give their best to help other people. It’s because, according to her, they experienced a lot of hardships before. They always have no money to buy, they have lot of debt to their neighbors, friends and relatives. They spent years before they paid it all. That’s why if somebody went to them to ask for help, they are not hesitant to do so because they exactly knows how it feels to have nothing. My sister is a very kind hearted one, she had a neighbor, next to her door in their apartment, who had an ovarian cancer, they are neighbors for about ten years, she took care of her without pay, she cooks food for her, she took her a bath, she cleaned the house, because the daughter had her work, my sister took the responsibility of taking care of her. And because of the expensive treatment, my sister together with their neighbors made solicitation in their barangay to have fund for her hospitalization, but due to her severe condition, she passed away recently. The daughter and relatives thanked her so much for taking care of her friend. I’m so proud of my sister, she was an inspiration to me and also to others. And I love her so much.

Husband's Sentiments My husband asked me yesterday, "do you have a topic to write for your article?", i replied, "wala nga akong maisip eh", he said, "isulat mo kwento ng buhay ko". So this is it. He grew up in a family of seven, his parents and he has four siblings, all of them are boys, he is the oldest among them. He is a kind person, though he had a lot of sufferings and sacrifices, he loved his siblingsand he is so responsible for them. they had a not so good parents. Why should i say? His parents fight almost everyday, every second, avery minute, every hour, everyday of their lives, they always fight. they are both jealous guys. they always fight for nothing, they mouthed bad words, they yell with each other, they bang and slam the doors, they throw and drop things, how horrible they are! Since he was a kid, their parents are like that, there's no peace in thier home. he had one story that he cannot forget, when he was in high school, his classmates werein thier house, his mother bid him to cook rice, he did, but when his mother saw that he did not clean the pot where there is a leftover rice, she shouted at him and mouthed him bad words in front of his classmates, he felt humiliated. Since then, he lost his confidence and he never go along with others. one time when he opened the door after he woke up, a neighbor told him, "yung nanay at tatay mo, nag-aaway na naman kagabi," he was embarassed and pitied himself. he thought, what kind of life is this? why my parents are like this? When he was in high school, he never experienced having new bag, or shoes, or even uniform. Their parents never bought them those things, they just ask some to their cousins and neighbors, " yung pinaglumaan ng iba, yun nalang ang hinihingi at ginagamit namin ng mga kapatid ko". And because he wanted to have a pair of shoes, he saved some amount of money, ha made coals and he helped neighbors in making bamboo center table. he then bale to buy the shoes he always wanted, that KAYPEE shoes that was popular on 1990's. He was a Cadet Army Training (CAT) Officer, but his parents never bother to buy him a uniform so he just asked his cousin to borrow the CAT uniform, and take note, the cousin is a girl, so he used a girl's uniform, well, he had no choice but to use it. That is why soon after he graduated high school, he decided to leave. He went to Laguna (they live in Rizal) and look for a job. He bacame a gasoline boy but he resigned after some time because the food his boss gave him was spoiled and he lived in a very small place that he cannot move freely. He applied for another job. He was hired in a canned food factory, he had a reasonablesalary so he went to school and got a six month practical electrical course, he made it and got his diploma, he again got another six-month course and got his diploma for the second time, he let him self go to school on his own, he enver asked for his parent's help. He had so many bitterness in life. He said he never experienced happy moments during is kid and teenage life, he never had happy moments with his parents, all he had is traumatic experiences. He don't want to see and hear poeple who fight because he had through a lot since then. Now that he have his own family, he don't want us to fught. he don't want to hear an argument. maybe this is the reason why he is very good to me and to our children. he love us a lot. He once told me, "buti nga at hindi ako naging basagulero", i know i have to let him feel that he wasloved by me and our kids bacause he is longing for the love and care ofhis parents.

What I Love the Most in Living in Our Province Born in Quezon province, raised and grow there. Childhood and teenage experiences were great. But the most wanted and loved in my hometown is the food we eat. You can find many delicacies there, from main course to sweets. Pinangat. Top in my list. This is my all time favourite ulam, hindi nakakasawa, and this is my father's favorite too. He cooked it oftentimes, it is made up of taro leaves, puyying stuff inside like grated ginger and pork giniling then cook in coconut milk. It's very savory that you can eat more rice. Second is Pinais na Hipon This is our neighbor's specialty, since we are nearly living in an ilog or river, we can catch shrimps there. The way of cooking it is: you wrap the shrimps in wilted banana leaves together with the grated young coconut, we called it "alangan" then put the necessary ingridients like salt and black pepper then boil it with coconut water. When the shrimps are cooked, you drain it from broth and let it dry, then you have to put it in live charcoal which we called "ibangi" or ihawin and let the banana leaves partially burned. Third on my list is Pancit Habhab I know how to cook it, just sauté onions, garlic, add soy sauce, and vegetables such as cabbage, carrots and sayote, put the required mount of water, then add salt and pepper to taste, and put some toppings like pork liver and lechon kawali. Fourth in my list is Longganisang Lucban It is a filipino pork sausage, what is different in here is it's very garlicky in taste amd it uses oregano when made, i love to eat this dipped in chili vinegar combined with fried rice and eggs. Fifth and last on my list is the sweets *Tikoy- a mouth watering tikoy is brown in color, made up of glutinous rice flour, coconut milk, cheese, condensed milk, egg, sugar, and salt. It is very sticky and very delicious, you can see plenty of tikoy during Christmas season. *Budin- a very popular kakanin in Tayabas also known as cassava cake. It is sweet and delicious, made from grated cassava, condensed milk, sugar and cheese. *Nilupak- yummy kakanin made up of boiled cassava, sugar, margarine or butter, condensed milk, and with grated cheese as toppings. *Broas- a type of bread also known as lady fingers. It is crunchy and puffy, and it melts in your mouth. It's very sweet and delicious. Those food in our province is very well known because of it's delicious taste. Tourists that went to our place never go back to their own place without trying our delicacies and they bought some for their pasalubong. I, as a native local of our place loved that foods so much. Now that i'm not living there anymore, once that i have time to visit there, i always see to it that i will eat those foods that i really miss a lot. Our province is rich in culinary cultures, and people who lived there are known as food lovers. Now i wish the pandemic to stop so that i can go there anytime i want and eat all the food

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We Go Out on a Date What is an ideal date for you? Fine dining in a luxurious restaurant? Walking in a beautiful park? Watching a movie in a mall, or going to church to attend the mass? Well, all that I mentioned are ways of dating. Husband and I been together for 24 long years. I can say that I’m so lucky to have him in my life. He is a very kind-hearted person, knows how to control his temper so much, a diligent one, loving, caring, a good husband to me and father to our 3 children. He is always busy with his work as a lineman, he stays in Laguna. He goes home twice a month here in our place in Rizal. We never had enough time to bond, but he always finds quality time for the two of us. When our offsprings are still kids, we save money little by little, if we reached the desired amount, we go out to the mall and we eat lunch and snacks in some fast food chains, this is our way of treating them, it’s our kind of family date. we oftentimes do that before. But now that they are grownups, they had their own circle of friends. They cannot go along with us at times. Husband said, “totoo nga talaga na darating ang araw na tayong dalawa nalang uli ang magkasama.” He got home yesterday, because Saturday is his off in his work, we talked a lot, asking how’s and what’s of our everyday life, and suddenly he asked me to go out on a date, not a date that we used to do on the past months or years. A simple one. We just walk in the street, bought kwek kwek and palamig then we went uphill in the overlooking view of Laguna de Bay. We breathe the fresh, clean air, we look at the formation of clouds, we saw the boats in the lake, and witnessed the fabulous sunset. How beautiful it was! photo is mine. There, we just talked and talked, we took pictures, we listened to the sweet mellow music in our cellphone. We laughed and laughed as we remembered the old time memories. We looked back at the first time we’ve met each other, the courtship stage and how we fell in love. It was full of fun. We enjoyed that quality time together. We went uphill at 4:30 pm and we went down to go home at around 7:00 pm. It was a 2 hours and a half of happy and funny conversation. I felt so refreshed and relaxed. We called it a date, though we never leave our barangay, we spent less money, we don’t go somewhere else, we just walked, no transportation fare, but we had a very wonderful time together. I felt that we catched up all the lost time that passed. Yeah, we never missed a day without calling in our cellphones, we chat we text, but maybe yes, it’s not enough. It’s a very big thing if you can hold each other’s hand, you hug each other, you talk personally, have coffee with him, those pretty little things mean so much to me. Upon writing this article, he’s maybe in Laguna, he left again this morning for he has his work duties later this afternoon. Maybe when he goes home on the second Saturday of next month, we will again go there for a date. I may say that each one of us has his own point of view about a thing and for me dating is not an extravagant one that you should spend much money and effort. It’s something that can be simple but remarkable and be added to good memories that you earned from the past. No matter how simple or pompous it was, the best part of it is that you love and you feel loved.

My Teenage Years YOLO, You Only Live Once, this is according to this generation of millennials, so you must live your life to the fullest. Yeah, their right coz if you skip any chapter in your life, you cannot bring back the time anymore. I’m very thankful for having a not so strict parents, they allowed us anywhere and everywhere we want to go to except for the times that we asked their permission to have a sleepover on someone’s house even in my best friend’s house. According to my father, it’s not proper to sleep in other’s house especially if you’re a girl. Well, I understand such thing, I know that he is just concerned with my welfare. I had a coolest parent’s ever. At the age of 13, they allowed me in going to discos. In our province, there is a disco house called “TONGHO” I don’t know what it means but every Saturday night, many youths go there to dance and enjoy the party, from what I remembered, I’m always present together with my friends. When there is a fiesta in some rural areas, Hermanos and Hermanas (officers) of the events invites the single ladies and young men to attend their “SAYAWAN”, they had jeepneys with free fare as the service, and yeah, I often go there. My friends and I used to go to night swimming. There is a resort in our place that has running water in the pool, they say that water is from Mount Banahaw so it’s cold as ice and it’s clean. I also tried to go the farm to get some pako, it’s a native fern which we eat in our place, it’s very delicious when you cook it with egg, like omelet, or sautéed, and kilawin, just add onions, calamansi, salt and pepper, that’s it! At night, we contributed a certain amount then we cook pako soup or champorado and even lugaw, those simple things made us happy. My parents allowed us to attend to some school activities like educational tour or field trip, also in some barangay activities such as clean and green program, tree planting and sometimes we had paripa and the proceeds will go to the barangay for “kabataan valentine party and Christmas party”, I also joined religions activity, I’m active in participating in Muntin Sambayanang Kristiyano (MSK) there, we have meetings every Sunday afternoon, we had prayers and sharing life lessons and life experiences based on a bible verses. I do joined in some youth in trekking to Laguna’s Majayjay falls also known as Imelda Falls, we walked for about 3 hours in a muddy track since it rained the night before we went there, it’s very difficult because the mud is very slippery, we had to hold in vines and trunk of trees, it’s tiring, but woah! When you get there, all the sacrifices and hardships will be washed away by the beautiful sceneries and cold temperature that embraced you, and the sound of swift falling water will ease all your worries. It’s fresh, it’s cool, it’s clean. This is one of the most unforgettable place I’ve ever go in my whole life. We did our trek so early in the morning, we had our pack lunch and snacks and of course, water too. We swam the whole day and enjoyed the cold water. It’s an experience full of fun and adventures. It’s a remarkable one. I thanked my parents so much for letting me free, and letting me enjoy my teenage life. It means so much to me. I had wonderful experiences that I shared with my children. Mow that I’m also a parent, I let my children experience what I experienced. I never refused to grant their request of having permission to go to their activities. I want them to also love their life to the fullest. I just always tell them to be wiser in choosing friends and persons to go along with. To take care of their selves and choose the good ones.

My Father and the Love of His Life My father is the best man I ever knew. He was 31 when he met my mother who is 17 that time. They fell in love despite of the fact that they had an age gap of 14 years. After a year of relationship, they decided to finally get married. They had six children, and I, being the second child witnessed all the journey of them being together. Growing up, I noticed that he was the one who cooks our food. On Saturdays, market day in our province, he is the one who mostly go to market to buy our supplies though sometimes, my mother went to do so. Father loves to cook pork adobo in big cuts then he’ll place it in a glass jar, if you want to eat adobo, you can get some in that jar, it lasts for a week or two. Another one of his favorites are ginataang laing with kuhol, ginataang langka with sardines, and the best is his native chicken adobo sa gata with green papaya and sili leaves. I love those foods, they are my father’s trademark in our neighborhood. Even when there is an occasion, he is the one who cooks the food. I remember that during New Year’s Eve, he always cook sotanghon guisado coz he doesn’t want to eat spaghetti. I asked him why and he just answered it’s kinda sour. He is a very responsible person. He faced so many hardships in life. He has no stable job, but he grabbed any opportunity of having money and earn for his family. He is sometimes a handicraft man, he sometimes transports coco lumber from far place to the main road, he sells ready to wear dresses and many other things he does for the sake of earnings. He is a very good man. He finds time in helping my mother with the laundry, he is very fond of taking care of my little siblings. He loved his family so much. We are the love of his life. But another thing that gives satisfaction and contentment to him is his another love, planting. He is so much into planting, he love to plant eggplants, sweet potato, peanuts and cassava. It gave so much happiness to him. The best part of it is it helped us in our living. He had a big space to plant. I just want to share to you that during my elementary days, I woke up early to pick some eggplants and sell it to the neighborhood for my allowance. We frequently cook eggplants for our viand. Pritong talong, tortang talong, ginisang talong, adobong talong, lahat na yata ng pwedeng gawin sa talong natikman ko na hehe. Likewise, when my father harvested his other crops, I used to go to my neighbors to ask if they are going to buy. I went to their house one by one taking their orders of how many kilos of each crop, the I delivers it and get their payment. The payment that we received is used in buying rice and other necessities in the house. We often had our snacks of boiled sweet potato, camote que, sweetened camote with tapioca pearls, sweet cassava, and boiled peanuts. By the way, the place where my father is planting is near a river, he gets water there for the plants and when he allowed us to go there with him, we ask our friends to go with us and swim on that river. We brought rice and cooked it there then we’ll get camote tops for the viand. We had so much joy, we swim and swim while father plant his crops. He loves it and we let him do the things he loves to do.

Lack in Potassium, a Serious One Potassium is a mineral that your body needs to work properly. It is a type of electrolyte. It helps your nerves to function and muscles to contract. It helps your heartbeat stay regular. It also helps move nutrients into cells and waste products out of cells. https://medlineplus.gov It is a chemical element with a symbol K and atomic number 19. It is a silvery- white metal that is soft enough to be cut with knife with a little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to form flaky white potassium peroxide in only seconds of exposure. Source: WIKIPEDIA Last year, when we are in Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) we have nothing to do except of course for our daily activities in the house, I mean, no job to attend to coz it’s strictly prohibited to go out in our house. We stayed home. Every single day that pass is so boring. You have to just sit, and lay down, and eat, that’s the life cycle. What an unproductive day to everyone. My husband encouraged me to walk along in our barangay. At first, having Zumba, exercising, walking, and jogging in the barrio is not prohibited, just wear facemask, and observe social distancing, so we decided to have some walking every morning. In our place, there is an uphill where you can see the overlooking view of the whole barangay and there you can breathe fresh air and catch the morning sunshine while looking at the Laguna Lake. We run, we jog, we did Zumba and exercise to sweat. One day husband told me that his body aches, that he was like falling, when he is seated, he was not able to stand alone, he needed help from me or from our two sons. We are puzzled why such thing happened to him. Until that afternoon came, he was seating in a chair, he said “please give me a glass of water, I’m thirsty” so I gave it to him, he drunk it and after, I saw his eyes rolled, he cannot breathe, he collapsed, I cried for help, neighbors came to our house, some massaged his arms and legs. After a few minutes, his consciousness came back, he is wondering why there are so many people in our house then he vomits a lot, I said we will bring him to the hospital, but he refused to, but I insisted so much, so he agreed. Our barangay captain got his motorboat, and we rode on it. When we reached the pier, he called the ambulance that brought us to the hospital. He had laboratory tests. When the results came, the doctor said it’s Hypokalemia, a condition when blood’s potassium are too low. According to the doctor, common symptoms are weakness and fatigue, muscle cramps and pain, constipation, and palpitations. And maybe the reason why his potassium lowered is because of much sweating. He’s confined for a day. The doctor said if you feel the same again, eat banana right away because banana is rich in potassium. It is a serious case because it can affect the kidney and can cause cardiac arrest. Before we go home, I asked the doctor what the treatment for this is, she answered to have dietary changes and take potassium supplements as prescribed. Just to add, I searched for some food that are rich in potassium and here are some: Bananas, oranges, cantaloupe, honeydew, apricots, grapefruits, some dried foods, such as prunes, raisins, and days, cooked spinach, cooked broccoli, potatoes, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, peas, and cucumbers. From that day onwards, my husband feels good, but he didn’t let a day pass without eating a banana. Glory to God for another life of my husband.

Modules, My Daughter and I As we live in a world of pandemic today, many adjustments happened. One of this is the education system. We have no choice but to accept the fact that having face-to-face education system is impossible right now. We should rather take the Modular an Blended Learning than never had study at all. When in fact, this kind of scheme is much difficult than the way education is used to be. This method of teaching and learning causes so much stress not only to the students but also to parents. Why did i say so? Because not all parents have the ability to teach their children. Some parents are busy with their jobs everyday for the consumption, some are elementary graduates, and some are gigh school graduates that they can't answer their child if they threw them a question. In my case, i'm thankful that i attended at least second year in college, i may know what to do in some parts but the difficult ones? My daughter and I struggled a lot in answering her pile of modules. At some point, I can help her answering easy questions but when it comes to Mathematics, Analytic Geometry and Trigonometry, ugh! Certainly, i can't help her in that matter. As much as i wanted to help her, I sometimes felt irritable when I see those difficult things in her module, I want to help but how? I cannot coz I don't know how to answer those. The feeling of disappointment attack s me when she said, "mommy, please read this and help me find the answer", and when i look at the questions and I didn't understand what to do, I really feel bad because I know she also really doesn't know and understand what to do, it stressed us so much. She jave to search on Google and YouTube channels. Well, they can get answers there but I think it's not good because they answered things without understanding. I saw many students rely on those channels in answering their modules. Just copying without understanding. Do you think they gain knowledge and learnings on that way? My answer is this, maybe those easy go lucky students may learn nothing because if they just copy answers on the said channel and didn't try to have initiative in analyzing it, they earn nothing, but to yhose students who perseveres in their studies, i may say yes, they can learn at least a thing because they watch tutorials, they tried their very best in finding ways to understand the topic that wad tackled in their modules, but the problem is, students are not all the same. When into face to face classes, teachers explains everything on the students, if the stident doesn't understand a thing, he or she can ask the teacher to explain again until he understand. I asked my daughter what are the advantages of having face to face classes, she answered me like this, "you will learn a lot more, you can interact with your classmates and other students, you can join in school activities." That's what every students wants to experience now. Many students, or should i say, all students are facing hard times in their studies nowadays. Being stuck in your homes for morw than a year having a pile of modules to answer is not satisfying anymore. Vut how can we go back to normal when everyday in the news is full of negativity? When this situation of our education lasts for more years, how can we say that our graduates will be as good as what they should be if they took the face to face class. I think it will cause another problem if the students will not have the capability of going to school. I strongly stand that having facr to face classes is more efficient than what we have today. Let me cute an example, if a nirsing student feom a modular, blended learning and online class and no practical classes to attend to, do you belive she can stick the needle carefully and rightfully into your vein? Well, i may think twice if i'm the patient, lol. Things hapoen accordingly. May God's perfect timing come nearly. May this pandemic stops in a blink of an eye. We just hope and pray that our world be back to normal in the soonest possible time.

Dealing with Typhoon Ondoy Typhoon Ketsana, known in the Philippines as tropical storm Ondoy, was the second most devastating tropical cyclone of 2009 Pacific typhoon season, causing $1.15 billion in damages and 921 facilities, only behind Morakot earlier in the season, which caused 798 deaths and damages worth $6.2 billion. Source: WIKIPEDIA Happened last September 26, 2009, Metro Manila and other provinces hit by this typhoon. Widespread flooding across the land occurred. There are many casualties. There are many damages in agricultural branch and infrastructures. Here in our place, since we live in an isle, we experienced high level of water from the lake. Houses near the shore drowned for at least waist level, for about three months. People made wood bridge in going in and out their houses. Local Government Unit (LGU) sent food packs for the barangay. It consists of rice, noodle packs, canned goods, biscuits, and bottled water. Some houses destroyed by the typhoon. The roofs were removed. As I remember, there is one house that is newly built which got destroyed and wrecked out due to heavy rainfall and strong winds. The owner cried a lot because of the money they spent in building the house was loaned from micro-lending business and they will pay it in installment for about two years, and now it’s gone. I pitied much in her. Because of that instance, LGU had made a cash-for-work project. It’s main objective is to help the locals to move on with their lives. There are seminars and orientations about what to do before, during, and after typhoon. There is a 10-day cash-for-work program wherein one person per family is entitled to. Each day, that person should help in sweeping and cleaning the barangay then they will have 200 pesos in return. Well, it’s not enough for a daily basis consumption but it’s a big help for everyone. before we start on the said activity, we will meet up in front of the church then we will pray and the leader will have a short briefing, there is also an attendance checking. If you’re not present on that specific date, then of course you won’t be paid 200 pesos. On the tenth day, we had tree planting. It was such a wonderful activity. It is one of the reasons for us to have a good temperature and balance ecosystem. I felt proud when I planted a tree, this little initiative. I know it will be a big help when time comes. Three long months before water level went back to normal. Elderly told us that they lived here for a long time and that is the vey first time that thing happened. I don’t see any reason rather than it’s because of climate change and global warming (I just wrote and tackled the two in my previous articles). The roof of our barangay hall was moved off and some fishing boats was destroyed also by Ondoy. Barangay officials repaired the roof while owners of boat spent more in repairing their boats because it is necessary for their job. We didn’t have electric supply for about a week. The good thing is our neighbor had a generator and they allowed us in charging our cellphones so we can communicate with our family and relatives in other places to let them know that we are okay and safe. Seminars and orientations during that time let’s me know that there is a government sector that is responsible in informing people when there is a disaster, it is the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), which is formerly known as the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC). The NDRRMC plans and leads the guiding activities in the field of communication, warning signals, emergency, transportation, evacuation, rescue, engineering, health and rehabilitation, public education and auxiliary services such as firefighting and the police in the country. This is what I learned from the seminar: The Philippine Storm Warning Signals Public storm signals are raised to warm the public of incoming weather disturbances. Once a storm signal is raised, conditions are not yet necessarily felt in the given area. The following are the lead times for issuing a public storm signal. The weather disturbance is expected in 36 hours once Public Storm Warning Signal No. 1 is raised. The weather disturbance is expected in 24 hours once Public Storm Warning Signal No. 2 is raised. The weather disturbance is expected in 18 hours once Public Storm Warning Signal No. 3 is raised. The weather disturbance is expected in 12 hours once Public Storm Warning Signal No. 4 is raised. Lead the time shortens if a new weather bulletin is issued and the area’s Public Storm Signal Warning remains the same. As the weather disturbance moves through the Philippine are of Responsibility (PAR), public storm signal may be upgraded or downgraded. An area’s given signal number is based on the intensity, size of circulation and the forecast direction, and speed of the tropical storm or typhoon when the public storm signal is raised. Changes in intensity, size of circulation, or movement of the tropical cyclone also determines the change of the public storm warning signal in each area. Theses knowledgeable statements that I jot down on that said seminar 12 years ago was written on my notebook. I just shared it in the article for some purposes. I know that not all people know and understands such things and through this article of mine, it may be a help though we have many resources this time with just one click in our cellphone, or laptop, tablet, or computer, you can see as such, but one may not be interested in such topic but others who belong to this read.cash family, may find time in reading this article and I know I can impart a little knowledge. This can also be an awareness campaign for everyone who can read this article.

Spoiled Wife It’s my sister’s story, not mine. But because we grow together, I witnessed every single journey of her life. She was one year older than me that’s why we were so close since we were child. We are the playmates and friends but also, we are the enemies. Our childhood is very colorful, we are the best of friends. Since we’re almost of the same age, our interests seem to be almost like twins, same dress, same shoes, same ponytails, same toys, same everything. When she entered in school (Day Care), I also go to school with her, I just sit in behind her, when they have an activity, I also want to have my own so the teacher will give me some. Though I am just a nuisance student in their class, teacher lets me participate in some activities. We had program with dance and singing numbers, we had a play and I joined all of them as if I’m a student. When she entered the big school, I’ve left in the Day Care Center, it’s my right turn in schooling. The next year, I entered in the big school too. We were together again, we go along together in going to school and when it’s time to go home, we see each other in a certain place to meet and go home together. During high school, since she’s the one who entered first in the campus, she helped me in enrolment, she guided me for the how’s and where to go in achieving my enrolment. I thanked her, of course. Classes begin, she had her own circle of friends, I have mine, but she treated my friends as hers, and I treated hers as mine too, I called her friends Ate and Kuya. When we entered College, we took different courses, hers is BS in Agriculture while mine is BS Psychology (but it’s a sad story, we didn’t make it both, we just both finished our second year in our courses). We applied for a job, we’re both hired but in different companies and different place, I’m in Laguna while she is in Batangas. It’s quite far huh! She visits me in my place, and I sometimes go to her place and spent nights with her. We bonded together, we went to church to attend a mass, we went to the mall, we went on picnics. We both have our family now, they live in Quezon province and we are here in Rizal province, but we always keep in touch. During summer vacation, we always go there to spend days with them. It’s our way of letting our family and kids attached. It’s just an introduction, here’s the main content of my story, LOL. My brother-in-law is very kind. He gave my sister everything she wants. Actually, they have a good life, not rich but let’s say it’s fair enough. Her husband is a personal driver to his cousin who had chain of business. He has a good salary that can give them convenient living. All expenses paid and the salary handed them wholly. Before, my sister plain housewife, they have three kids, all boys. Her husband is very diligent, he knows how to do the household chores while my sister is a very lazy one, I know it for so long, haha. All she wanted to do id go out with her friends and colleagues. She never wanted to work. She went to some places like Ilocos, Baguio, Vigan, Bicol and everywhere else. Her husband let’s her do what she wanted to do. But the time came that she felt boredom in all the thing she did. She finally decided to work. Since she has three kids, she wants her work at home. Their neighbor had an ready to wear (RTW) business so she tried to ask her husband to have a hi-speed sewing machine, she told that she want to become a sewer, so the husband did bought her one. After a couple of months, she quitted. She sold her sewing machine. She asked husband to buy ice crusher and glass cooler container, she wanted to sell halo-halo, shakes and *palamig*, husband did buy her request again. After a while, she quitted again, it’s tiring according to her. He asked husband to buy new refrigerator for she wanted to resell chicken and eggs, husband did to, and after a short time, she quitted. Since our province in Quezon is known for locally made shorts and pair blouses-shorts and pajamas, I encouraged her to open her own RTW business. I said I will help her together with our younger sister to run the business, she agreed and to make the story short, it happened, husband bought again sewing and edging machine, but she again quitted. She asked again her husband to let her do find time to make money, she imported pork *chicharron* from Tarlac, City, coz our aunt had a *chicharron* business, my sister resell it to sari-sari stores and guess what? She quitted again after some time, how many packs of *chicharron* is wasted because it’s crispiness gone for she didn’t give much attention in reselling it so she had to stop. My brother-in-law told us that “my wife will never have a say to me”, he gave all what she wants in her life, but she doesn’t care. But the good thing is, finally, my sister decided to open up a big sari-sari store, almost like a grocery store, because during this time of pandemic, she cannot go everywhere, she let find herself making money and made her house stay useful. Thanks God! She finally did it. Her store lasts up to now, it opened last year on the time of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ).

Sweet Success Way back in high school, I have a classmate who is bullied by everyone. A girl who’s in fact is very witty, very good in mathematics, fluent in speaking English, and much active in joining to extra-curricular activities. We don’t belong in top section 1 we are in section 2, but take note, there are fifteen sections in our school. Good enough to be in the second section, right? She had a broken family. His father had his own new family, at that time she never speaks about her mother. She has two siblings, they were apart from each other, she lives with her grandmother who is a widower and always not in the house because of her work, so my classmate is almost left alone by everybody. Though her situation is like that, she always excels in school, she always participated in all activities but most of the time, she didn’t come to school. She’s absent for like once or twice a week. We are all puzzled but if we asked them she always said nothing to worry about, that she’s okay. Time flies so fast, we graduated in high school. We enrolled in different colleges that we never had enough time to keep in touch (cellphones are not that much available during our time). We seldom see each other and catch up for our activities until we didn’t see each other. Some graduated in college (but the sad part is I didn’t made it….. huhuhhu) Until our 25th years after high school graduation came. We had a grand silver reunion. She confirmed that she will go back in Philippines to attend the said gathering. Many of us attended and of course we chat and chat almost all day and all night. We are all happy in sharing our own life experiences and know what? This is the time where she revealed all the things that happened to her in past. We all listened to her story for it caught all our attention. The story goes like this. The family that made by her parent tore apart. His father built his new family. Her mother was into drugs, this is the reason why she never speaks up about her mother during our high school. Her two siblings lived with their uncle and aunt and she, with her grandmother. The reason why she sometimes did not go to school is she had no money to buy for her food and allowance coz her grandmother is most likely not in the house. She once told by a teacher that she smells bad because her pair of uniforms is only one that she can’t laundry because she had no money to buy soap. She did not ride on a tricycle in going to school, she has no money for the fare, at times when she is walking in the streets to be able to go in class, our classmates who is riding in a tricycle yells her name. She had no allowance for recess, had nothing for lunch. One time she stole biscuit in the canteen and a teacher saw what she did, the teacher approached her and said don’t do that it’s bad, If you’re hungry, just go to me and I’ll give you food or money to buy something for your recess. She did what the teacher said though sometimes she is ashamed to asked her for her food and snacks. It happened many times. And the other thing is there is a batchmate who had packed lunch everyday because she lived in far place, so she didn’t go home during lunchtime. When she knew that this classmate of mine is not having lunch sometimes, she offered her, and she had 2 packed lunch for the both of them. My classmates and I cried so much upon hearing her story. She said that I will not go back to the country where I lived now until I didn’t look for the two persons who gave me much when I’m in times of need, “I will go to them and will give my personal thank you message and of course some stuff to say how grateful I am for having them in my life.” She was graduated in college with the help of scholarship, and she is now a manager of a big company in other country, she had a dual citizenship and her own family raising one kid. She put her mother in a rehabilitation center and is now in her care. Her two siblings had their own family too and they all keep in touch with their father and his new family.

Working in an Electronics Company This journey is full of everything, hardships, perseverance, patience, diligence, and of course happiness. When I stopped schooling and reached my eighteenth year, I decided to apply and seek for a job. Together with my best friend, we went to Laguna and tried much in finding job. Since I didn’t graduate my college, I knew that I can never find a very good job. We went to an Industrial Park where someone told us to go because she said many companies there are looking for new employees. Since we live in Quezon province, we travel so early (2AM) to get there in time. When we reach the place, there are so many applicants walking around. We meet and greet others so that we have someone to go along with and ask for some things that my best friend and I didn’t know because we are both first timer in such thing and of course we didn’t know much the place we’re in to. While we are walking, we saw a company where there are plenty of jobseekers who are falling in line, we asked, what is that line for? Some answered it’s hiring here now so we will try. Hearing those lines, we also tried to fall in line hoping that we will be hired. After a long period of time standing there, our number were called. I entered in the said company just to pass the application papers. The staff gave a certain date of going back for interviews and examinations. Not bad, after a day of standing under the sun, no food, no water at least there’s a hope to find a job. Since it’s already afternoon, we never had enough time in trying to go to other companies, instead we decided to go to other companies, instead we decided to go home and wait for the date the staff has given us. When that time come, we travel again for the second time. We had briefing. They gave us items to review for the examinations and it did happen on that very day, and thanks God, we passed the examinations. We undergo in an initial and final interview which we passed to. They told us that we are scheduled on medical and dental check up on the given date. We went home again and for the third time, we went to Laguna for medical and dental exam. I was very happy and blessed for passing all those examinations, but the sad thing is that my best friend didn’t pass the medical exam, she is not fit to work for she has a heart condition. We both cried because for me, how can I go on without her? We applied together, struggled so much together then what? She didn’t pass. I’m all alone in that strange place. I think twice, do I have to go or what? And I decided not to go but my best friend encourage me that much to go for applying is too hard, she said don’t let this opportunity slip away. She can look for another job that will fit her, she said. So, I think again and yes, she’s right. We go on and she accompanied me in looking for a boarding house where I can live. After three days, the company staff called me saying I have to start in time. I packed my things and go to the boarding house alone. There, I met my board mates and make friends with them. Upon starting my job, we had an orientation. They showed us the product which is Flexible Printed Circuits (FPC), according to them, these products are used in hard disk drive, cars, cameras, and printers. It’s very particular and delicate. In fact, using of any cosmetics, powder, perfumes, and jewelries is prohibited inside the company. I was assigned as an inspector there. It’s difficult because I need to use microscope, and imagine, my schedule twelve hours a day. We had a schedule shifting there, you will be a month dayshift of twelve hours and then next month, nightshift of twelve hours too. Sometimes even rest days and holidays you need to be there to work because of the high shipment requirement of the product. Working there is not easy, every six months, you have to undergo on a certification exam. To show that you know what you are really doing. When other station needed some people as manpower, you cannot go there quickly, you need to pass the cross-training certification exam. You need to review all the criteria of the product. If you did not pass the exam, you would cross train again to another station, if you passed, then you’ll belong to that station rules and regulations are strictly enforced for the sake of the products. If you shipped the product, the company will then inspect those FPC’s and when they found rejects, they will ship it back to you so this means a loss for our company that’s why we need to perform our job very well. I stayed eight long years in that company. Though it’s hard, I stayed there so that I can help my family. Well, it’s not always hard, there are times of happiness too. There, I met new people and friends. We had company outings, Christmas Party, Company Anniversary, team buildings, and other activities. After eight years, I resigned because I gave birth to my youngest, and my husband and I decided that I have to take care of the kids. By the way, just to tell you, my best friend is hired in a certain fast food chain as a supervisor, she was a Commerse, major in Management graduate.

My Life as A Kid My life as a kid has never been easy. I belong to an average earner family. My father is a handicraft man, as I told you before, and my mother is a sewer. It’s a life full of hardships and struggles. I have fine siblings and I’m a second child. As my sister and I are the eldest, we are the ones who are responsible in helping our mother in household chores and taking care of our younger siblings. At a very early age of ten, I know how to cook rice using firewood (rice cookers and stoves are not so popular in our province that time) I help my mother in washing our clothes, I wash the dishes, sweep the floor and all other things needed to do. When I’m in grade four, I thought of a business which I can earn money. I want to help my parents in our earnings. When summer vacation came, I told my mother to give me Php 20.00 to be used as a capital for a small candy store. She gave me the money I asked for and I told her to come with me to the market to be able to buy candies that I’m going to sell. Together we walked along the streets and when we reach the destination, I choose and choose different kinds of candies until u pick out some of what I want. And would you believe? I got ten packs for that price of 20 pesos. Each pack costs 2 pesos and it consists of ten pieces, that means that you will sell it for an amount of 25 cents and you will have a profit of 50 cents per pack. Using simple mathematics, addition and multiplication, I will earn 5 pesos. When we got home, I’m very excited to sell that stuffs. I just put it in a small table and put it in front of our house. My playmates are my customers, after quite some time, I sold all my stuffs out. I was very happy and I wen again into the market. I bought candies again and it was even more because I added my 5 peso profit on my capital. I do that again and again and I also increase items on my “mini store”. I sell sinegwelas, mango, tapioca pearl with condensed milk which I put in a small cut of banana leaf and other more. Before summer vacation ends, my profit exceeds to 2000 pesos. Imagine that amount? Four a grade four student like me that time, It’s a very big amount of money. I bought my own notebooks, when there is no customer, I remove the spring and sew it with a yarn. I bought my new bag, pair of shoes, umbrella, ballpens, colored pens, papers and everything that is to be needed in school. I was so happy that time. I gave my excess money to my mother to be able to buy stuffs for my siblings and for the food. That was a great help for my family. I did the same way every summer vacation. I always want to help my family. When I was in high school, I sell chocolate crispers on our classroom. I also made yema and I cook peanuts and repack it to sell. I put much hard work to earn money. I didn’t ask for my allowance, only if my earnings is not enough, sometimes there are projects to buy, some miscellaneous expenses in school, that’s the only time I asked money from my parents. When there is and educational tour, I ask my parents, would you allow me to go with the tour? My father replied, we cannot give you money for that activity, you can go if you have your own, and my mother agreed. When my friends and classmates set an activity like swimming, hiking or anything that money is involved, my parents answer the same thing if I ask for their permission. So, I always make yema to sell to earn money for me to be able to go in such activities. My parents are not strict, they want us to enjoy our childhood, the problem is they have no capacity to do so because we have no money, so I make my own means to gain money, not just for my self but also for them. I enjoyed my life as a kid and at the same time I helped my family a lot.

Global Warming What is global warming? It is the gradual heating of Earth’s surface, ocean, and atmosphere, is caused by human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels that pump carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Source: https//www.livescience.com Personally, I would say that humans are the most contributor of the occurrence of global warming. Why? Because humans are the ones who burn fossil fuels for the use in cars, buildings, factories, power plants and the like. They are farming livestock, they cut more trees in the forests. These activities add large amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. To name a few the main causes of global warming is the industrial activity where some factories didn’t throw their garbage and harmful materials properly, some throw it on bodies of water. And you see those thick black smoke came from their chimneys? It’s very harmful in people’s health and in our environment. Another one is the agricultural activity where livestock farming is abundantly produced. By simply eating meat a person can be a cause of global warming, when we eat meat it means the production is much also .One thing is deforestation, it can also be a so much cause of global warming whereas if you cut trees flashfloods and soil erosions widespread in the areas. Humans can be the one to be blamed because when we use paper in writing or in any transaction or activity need a paper to be used it means to cut a tree for the paper production. What percentage of global warming is caused by humans? 100%,humans emissions and activities have cause around 100% of the warming observed since 1950, according to the Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change’s (IPPC) fifth assessment report,13 Dec 2017. Source: https//www.carbonbrief.org Is Global Warming Be Considered A Serious Threat? Definitely yes, because it can possibly result in climate change, reduced agricultural productivity, water supply shortage, health problems, flooding and erosions specially in coastal areas, rainforests will be largely cleared, we will have a shortage for food and habitation, and the worst is it can cause so much conflicts. Global warming is very harmful. When the temperature gets higher, types of disasters such as storms, floods, drought and heatwaves become worsen. Is There A Way To Solve problems As Such? Yes, of course, every problem has a solution. As humans, we are the one who should take full responsibility in solving global warming. Some ways to help is to power our home with renewable energy, we can use solar panels (which are much available nowadays) so that we can lessen the consuming of electricity. Invest in energy efficient appliances. Many of the appliances in the market today is said to be more efficient like refrigerators and air conditioners. And instead of using aircon just use the electric fan or you can turn the aircon for about four hours only then you have to turn it off. We should also try to buy better bulb ,Light Emitting Diode (LED) is available now every where.Pull the plug(s) of the appliance or gadget when not in use. These recommendations help a lot in in solving problem about global warming. If everyone is responsible in every little thing we will not experience this kind of problem. We should always be careful in everything we do. What we did today will have consequences for tomorrow. If we didn’t care take care of our earth now what will it be tomorrow? Give time and ask ourselves, what will be the life of our grandchildren and great grandchildren if we neglect our world? ?Do they have fresh air to breath? Clean water to drink? Fresh fruits and vegetables to eat? Or will they live in 42 degree Celsius temperature or maybe worse? Think also of tomorrow not only of today.

High School Life It said to be the happiest part of being a student. High school life, everybody who went to high school can relate, right? And yes, it’s true. No one can ever replace the happiest experience of a student during high school days. Though, there is more hard times to face, we accept all challenges with a smile on our face. We always look on the positive side of life. It’s not that complicated, all is well. It’s the phase where you begin to take seriously your studies though you struggled so much. More deadlines, more time to review, joining and attending in some school activities and extra curriculars. There is so much to do, so much hectic schedule, nevertheless, you always tried your very best to achieve and get through it. This is also the time where you were curious with in many things. You tried some silly things at some point in your high school life. You tried some cutting of classes, cheating on examinations and quizzes, don’t submit projects on time, join in brotherhood and other things you did out of curiosity. In addition, this is also the most enjoyable time where you started to feel that strange feelings called crush or puppy love. You were happy and inspired when you see your crush although he/she didn’t know that you like him/her. Your friends can’t stop teasing you around, again and again that made you all happy and gay. During foundation week, there are some activities that make students happier and enjoyment filled their hearts. Just to share, in the school where I went to, there’s so many activities within that week. There’s a marriage booth where two people got into mock marriage (most of them are couples, boyfriends/girlfriends),a jail booth, where there is a certain thing to asked for like for example is to catch the student who is wearing bracelet ,then if you locked in that booth ,you need to ask for help in other students to redeem you by paying fifty centavos, proceeds will go for the renovation of the school. There is also a welcoming ceremony for freshmen and transferees. Oratorical contests, debates, declamation contests, quiz bees of different subjects, sportsfest, darts, chess, spelling contests, slogan making and poster making contests happened all in that particular week. This serves as the relaxation week for all the students and staff of our school. For me, one of the highlights of being in high school is the Junior Senior Promenade or JS Prom. This is the night of dancing and chatting and choosing who’s the fairest of them all. School pageant happened also within the week. I just want to share that even though I am not the best student, I can say that I am proud of myself that I’m always belong to the honor students. Sometimes I’m an easy-go-lucky type but most of the time, I took my studies seriously. I experienced many sleep over with my classmates’ house just to finish our school group project and training and practicing activities such as dancing and acting or making diorama or having some experiments. We did a lot of group studies, term papers and group reviews. The jolly part is when we are done with our quarterly examinations, we went on swimming as a reward to ourselves. Another thing is when I joined the Cadet Army Training (CAT), I tried out and become an officer. Every Saturday is our training for the tactical. This is an unforgettable one. There are so many experiences in high school that I really cherished until now. I told it repeatedly to my children. I want them to picture how I spent my high school. It’s priceless. Elementary is probably the easiest because it’s the foundation of the education. It’s the phase where you started to learn many things while in college is the most difficult because it seems that you have to focus well on your studies. You should learn to fly on your own. You have to take it very seriously to graduate with flying colors. Well, I know that many of you, dear readers, agree with me that high school life is the best part of our life being a student.

Climate Change Who wants to live in paradise? Of course, everybody likes to. But how can we achieve it if we people are never taking good care of our environment? Literally, the world we lived in is a true paradise. And since people neglected so so much of being responsible in taking care of our mother earth, our environment become devastated. Climate change occurred. What is climate change? It is a significant and long lasting change in the Earth’s climate and weather patterns. // the half- tonne… turtles were thought to have died out 30,000 to 40,000 years ago because of climate change. -New Scientist // concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change are renewed among scientist and the public with every new report about the possibility of melting ice caps and rising temperatures. -Randy Showstack // drought is a paleontological fact in the American west, but the latest desiccations have a new signature, and my regions’ climatologists, hydrologists, foresters, and water managers are seeing how is climate change, the anthropogenic kind, a consequence of too much carbon dioxide (Co2) and other greenhouse gases. -kenneth brower (source: *Merriam Webster Dictionary*) Here’s some personal recommendation that might help in reducing climate change. *Planting trees/ tree planting- this will help much to lessen landslides and soil erosion because it’s roots hold the soil well. This also help in having fresh air and lessen air pollution. Trees also maintain the oxygen cycle wherein trees releases oxygen and we give off carbon dioxide. *Proper Segregation of Waste materials (5R’s) -Reuse -Reduce -Recycle -Repair -Recover *Avoid the use of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) because it can cause stratospheric ozone depletion. *Avoid burning of trash, it causes so much air pollution. *No kaingin system, it also causes so much air pollution. *Do not throw garbage everywhere especially on bodies of water, keep the trash and throw properly. *Avoid deforestation and illegal logging, it causes flash floods. *Avoid mining and quarrying, it also causes flash floods. If those things that I mentioned above will be exercised by each and everyone of us then surely, we will live in paradise. It’s one’s obligation to take good care of the world we lived in for the next generation will experience all the good things that we experienced during our times. I’m sure that many of the readers here experience swimming in a clean river, climb on trees, enjoyed the fresh air and greener environment. I want the next generations live the way we lived and enjoy the things we enjoyed. And who among you doesn’t want to? I know everybody want this too that’s why we should be united in maintaining the wellness of our nature. If each of us do good things in our very little own simple way, it can accumulate and will turn into a big impact. Our weather nowadays is very much unexpected, sometimes it’s very hot then it rains so much and happened repeatedly in a day. There’s a strong typhoon that happens every year which is unusual, there’s a formation of tornadoes, there’s a storm surge, earthquakes occur at times. Forest fires occur in some countries, sandstorms also happen. Super-hot temperature can cause skin cancer and heat stroke. These things probably are the effects of the said climate change. So, we must be aware of the things we do, we should try to make things right. We must act right now for us not to suffer consequences. We are the ones who will benefit in one’s act of kindness. No matter how big or small good thing you did and it will save our earth. Let’s do our part.

Lady Heroes Hero, a person admired for achievements and noble qualities. (MERRIAM WEBSTER) It’s month of May. Yes, known as month of flowers. And you know what? I consider my self as a beautiful flower and a true hero, and my mom of course. And all Mommies, Mama, Nanay, Inang, Mamu, Momma, Mudra, Mader, whatever you call your mother. It’s May 9, second Sunday of May and this is the day when we celebrate our day, Mother’s Day, the day of the true heroes. We, mothers are lady heroes. Long time ago, ladies are said to be “pambahay” means, we don’t need to work, we just need to take good care of our family. We do all the things in our home. The laundry, cooking, cleaning the house and taking care of our kids and husband. But nowadays, that thing changed a lot. We are not really meant to be “pambahay” because we all want to work to help in providing for our family’s welfare. We are the modern type, we’re not happy to just sit around doing the old times routine. We want to have our own career though we want to take care of our family at the same time. We believe in equality between men and women. Before, many jobs are specified to be men’s duty like driver, linemen, butler, machine operator, welder, plumber, and many others that we never tried before. Maybe because those jobs are totally hard to do. But today, there’s no job that men can do and women can’t. In fact, I watched a documentary of a lady who undergo a training in Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to be a butler, she applied for a job in Australia, and wow! The salary is too big. I never underestimate the father’s ability in providing the family needs, but I believe that women empowerment is such a big word. All moms are superheroes, we do everything, we are a multitasker, we did our job and at the same time we take good care of the family. Mothers want to give all the best things in life to their kids. Sharing my personal experience, I’m a sewer, I sell ice and coffee jelly on the side. I made tutorials in some students, sometimes I sell ready to wear (RTW) dresses, halo-halo, fish ball, yema, popcorn and all in the world that can give me some profit. And now, the latest is this, writing an article o be published in read.cash, it’s such a great opportunity being in read.cash family, though I’m not writing consistently, because I sometimes didn’t make it due to hectic schedule and some responsibilities, I make a way and find time to write as much as I can. I feel bad on the days that I cannot publish my articles and share my stories but that’s it, mommy duties. I just woke up at 4:00 in the morning and I got my pen and paper to write this article since I never publish an article for the past three days. I was inspired by the thought that it’s Mother’s Day. I just want to give credit to us who work harder for our family. And I want to also grab this opportunity to thank my mom and my sisters who are mothers now. Our family used to have hard times but they are always there for us. They are my true heroes. To all mothers out there, happy happy Mother’s Day. Let us all enjoy this day, sit back and relax. A stress-free day helps us to recharge for the next days to come. Personally, I have no plans right now on how my family and I will spend the rest of the day, but for me, I will really appreciate spending it with them simply by eating lunch together, chatting, sharing one’s experiences and perspective in life and future plans. Salute to all the mothers! Let us keep up the good work and be an inspiration to others. We truly are lady heroes.

Proud Parents Having a child is the greatest gift from above. Though raising them is such a big struggle and you’re going through difficulties. It also gives love and comfort. Upon conception, a mother began to have bad feelings like headache, she vomits a lot, she felt irritable and so many other negative feelings that she doesn’t understand why. But yes, it’s because she’s carrying a baby in her womb. A pregnant mom needs more understanding and patience because she’s sensitive, easy to get mad and easy to cry for nothing. Upon giving birth, though it is very difficult to deliver (I can never tell you how painful the laboring is because I get through it by caesarean section), it gave so much happiness and overwhelming feeling that you can’t find the right words to say how happy it was! All the hardships in carrying the baby in your womb for nine months fade away from the time you saw your newborn. You’ll start to make time for making milk formula (but I suggest breastfeeding, it’s the most important for the baby to be healthier and to have strong immune system), changing diapers, bathing, taking very good care of the baby and more including having sleepless nights, those are your obligations to shoulder all because you love your baby. I have three kids. Not to brag, just sharing, they are all very good when it comes to school. My first-born graduated valedictorian in elementary, with honors when he is in grade 10 and with high honors when he graduated in senior high school. He joined many quiz bees during his elementary days, he is the Senior Patrol Leader (SPL) of the Boy Scouts. In senior high school, he is a member of Supreme Student Government (SSG). And now, he is a freshman college student in Computer Engineering, he made it because when his grade was given during his first semester, he got 1.6 (second semester is not done yet). My second child graduated salutatorian in elementary. He is also the Senior Patrol Leader of Boy Scouts, he also joined many quiz bees, he joined pageant and many extra-curricular activities. He’s a shy type of guy that according to his teacher, he is not that active in oral recitation but when it comes to written activities, he’s so good. He had high honors during his junior high school and now that he is in grade 12, he shows good grades. He is a captain when he did his Cadet Army Training (CAT). My youngest graduated salutatorian also. She joined many quiz bees and got the champion award on a certain subject. She was also the SPL for girl scouts during her time, she joined some pageants also. She is now on her grade 9 and last school year when she’s in grade 8 she had honors. They all belong in Pilot Section having Special Science Curriculum (SSC). They are all very hardworking in their studies. They are all responsible in their schooling. They don’t want to come to school without their assignments and projects done. When there’s an examination or even short quiz, they see to it that they reviewed a lot for they get high scores. They also made extra time and effort in studying. I know and I can see it how hard they try to reach their goals in life. Maybe their motivation is the life that we have right now. We’re just a simple but happy family, with a simple way of living. We are parents so we are proud of them. P.S. Although they are very good in school, they know how to help us in house chores, they cook rice, they wash their own clothes, they sweep the floor, they fetch water from the deep well. We taught them to be more responsible in so many things. It will really help them when they settle their own family.

Little House Renovation We build our own family. But the thing is, we don’t have the capacity of providing our house on our own. So, we lived in my in- laws house for almost three months, until they suggested to divide their house for us to live on our own. Which is for me is much better for us to be more independent and responsible. We all agreed and we bought all the things to be needed in the said dividing of the house. We put a plywood in between (divided into half part) to serve as a divider, we don’t have much space because the house is not big as you expected, haha! There’s no room, even we don’t have comfort room of our own, too difficult, huh! We don’t have enough money to make this house more beautiful. We have three kids that went on schooling, we have to provide for our necessities for our everyday life. We earn enough money just to survive for everyday.. For us to be able to earn money to have our own comfort room, we invest on a fish cage, we bought a second hand fish cage and tried ten thousand piece of fish fry so that when it gets bigger we can sell it in good amount. When we harvested it, we buy another fish cage, a brand new one now, huh! We have two cages now, we put ten thousand fish fry again in both cages, when we harvested it, we are able to make our own comfort room. W invested again on buying fish fry and when we harvested, is not as good as previous harvests. The money we got is the money we used to pay for another investment on fish fry. We did not get any profit at all. Well, that’s business, we have to take all the risk. Since it’s pandemic now, we didn’t have face to face classes, it means that we will not give allowance to our kids for school, so I made a wise decision, I saved some amount from supposedly the allowance of my kids. I want to have a little extension of our house because you know, we are like sardines in can, LOL. There’s no enough space in our house. It’s very difficult to move around especially if we have visitors. Classmates and friends of my kids oftentimes go in our house for chatting (they observe physical distancing of course, so difficult for small space but they tried to.) I saved a certain amount that I know is enough for the said extension. We had a small terrace, but not yet done, it only have flooring but the roof is only a big tarpaulin, (I shared it already in one of my previous article), when it rains, we ran inside because it will make us all wet. So I decided to put my savings on having a roof. And that’s it, our little house renovation is done. We are so happy. There’s a place for my kids in making and answering their modules. We eat there, we chat there. It just a little achievement but for me it’s as big as the universe. It made me so happy and fulfilled. It made me more motivated to do such things. I’ll try to save again for another project. Hope that I can make it. Glory to God, may he shower us more and more blessings. So for those who wants to make something happen, but don’t have the means of it, just do your best to earn and save money to make it come true. God bless us all and take care!

An Inspiring Story This story that I’ll tell you is about our neighbor. So, I must credit it to them even I didn’t ask for permission to publish it. Well, let me not cite their names for some purposes. This is about how their family struggle for many difficulties upon letting their son go to school and finish his college. They were four in the family, father, mother, son (eldest), and the daughter (youngest). They lived simply. Their means of leaving is making bamboo set and fishing in Laguna de Bay. Ate (the mother), told me this story. In making set, they only profited Php 150.00, and know what? They made almost 5- 6 sets weekly, how much money did they earn? It’s only Php 750.00 to Php 900.00, and their children both went to school. How can they get trough it? She said their income is really not enough for everyday living. Kuya (the father), sometimes go on fishing, but the thing is it’s very difficult because they have no motor banca, only the “lunday” the one that needed a paddle to move. How difficult it was for him. There are many fishermen in our place since we’re living in an isle and of course, fishing is the main source of income. The saddest thing for ate is when it’s time for all the fishermen to go home, Kuya is always the last one to come, why? Simple because he paddle and paddle only until he reach our place. And he is also the lowest earner because of the very same reason. Eldest one is in college that time while the youngest in in high school. Every week, son needed five hundred pesos for his allowance, for that time is definitely having low cost of living, while now, what for is the five hundred pesos? So ate kept that money for their son. Can you imagine, ate said to me, I cannot buy a piece of panty and bra, my panty and bra both looks like bacon, I just pinned it or sometimes sew it my hands to make it okay again. My pair of slippers are stubby, there’s a hole in both sole part. We ate rice with no viand for many times, and I ask her, “e pa’no kayo kakain kung walang ulam?” she said, I always bought tira- tira (candy made up of sugar) on the store to give some taste to rice, and the store owner said to her, “ang hilig mo sa tira-tira” then she replied, uhm, it’s my husband’s favorite dessert. She didn’t said the whole truth because she was shy. “wala naman masama mag ulam ng tira- tura, kaya lang kung palaging gan’un parang nakakahiya din kaya ‘di ko naamin” ate said to me. Sometimes, she cook champorado for breakfast, but how can I say that it’s really champorado, if it’s not chocolate in color? ‘coz I only put one pack of cocoa powder and a bit of sugar to taste. When the pan de sal boy came in the morning, she cannot buy, she just smell the aroma in the air, she said to herself, when can I eat pan de sal? Her daughter asked for P.E uniform and they weren’t able to buy her one. The daughter cried and cried but they can do nothing to buy it. She cried herself that night for he pitied her daughter. Ate and Kuya talked that night, ate said, parang ‘di na natin kakayanin na pagtapusin ang anak natin, pag uwi nya ay kausapin na natin sya. When son cam home, ate said, our living is so tight, we can’t send you to school anymore. Son is speechless, but ate saw his tears. She felt pity for her son and also for her self. She want to give nothing but the best to their kids, but how? Until one day, a fellow folk who is a teacher said that “when your son was able to graduate in college, and you see him in uniform, you’ll feel proud and happy rather that you see him with a bolo on his waist to go to the forest getting bamboo shoots (since our place is rich in bamboos) you will cry in pain.” Those words encouraged her to let his son go on schooling. No matter how hard it is. They’re not able to pay for the boarding home rental with the total cost of five thousand pesos so she went to the landlord and promised to pay when she got her loan on a micro leading business. They even got loans from 5-6, I don’t know how can I explain it, all I know is it’s penalty is higher than the legal ones. I think it’s profit is 20% a month. The son goes on his schooling. Until the most awaited day finally comes. Graduation is really approaching. Ate and Kuya is so happy and nervous at the same time. They cannot explain how they feel. Then the moment of truth. When ate saw kuya and her son walking in the red carpet wearing toga, she goosebumps. She didn’t know how it feels, it’s a feeling she cannot really express in words. All she want to do is to cry so she let her self go in a place where there’s no people around and she cried and cired a lot saying thank you so much Lord, finally my son finished his studies. All the sacrifices they made paid off. Now his son has his own family, owned his business, trying to help her sister done her studies but she refused because she has her own family too. Ate and Kuya can now buy the things they wanted to especially the pan de sal. They can buy delicious viand, they lived abundantly this time. They sometimes buy tira-tira, for dessert, but it made her smile, remembering those times that it serves as their viand. All those things happened in the past is now the things that made them happy for they surpassed those difficulties. Upon hearing this story from ate, we both cried in tears. But after, we both smiled and yes, indeed, it’s a very inspiring story. I know it’s not unusual, many can relate and experienced the same but it can leave a good thing, never surrender for tomorrow is another day. Thank you for giving time to read. Hope you guys enjoyed my shared story. ‘till the next one!

Husband’s Operation It was June of 2009 when my husband had a severe stomachache. He cried in so much pain. We went to the hospital for check up. So many laboratory tests. Until finally gave us the results. It says there that he had a kidney stones. He went through some medications but unfortunately after several months when he undergo some tests again, the doctor said the he needs an operation. We then agreed and we constantly go to the hospital for him to be ready for the said operation. The doctor is conditioning his body so that he will fit to undergo operation. When the doctor scheduled the operation, we of course went to the hospital but the doctor was not in there, the secretary told us to go back for re-scheduling because the doctor is in board meeting which is very important. The next time we went there, the secretary again said postponement because the doctor needs to go to other country for some purposes. So again we wait for their further notice. For the third time of his operation schedule, it didn’t happen again because according to the hospital staff, apparatus needs to be repaired. Those instances made us think and ask why? Why those things happened? Maybe because it’s God’s will. For quite some time, my husband seems to be okay. We didn’t go to the hospital for the fourth time, instead we went to Kamay ni Hesus to attend a mass, a popular tourist destination Lucban, Quezon. The church is claimed as healing church, which means devotees believe that healing prayers come true. After that, my husband go back to his work. After nine years of being okay, he suddenly felt that same pain. We went again to the hospital and checked him. He undergo some laboratory tests again and again until finally the results came out. Yes, the doctor said he has kidney stones. We went to some clinics for other doctor’s opinion. And they recommended to have urgent operation. We went to the hospital for confinement and for him to be ready for the operation. It took three days of preparation before he was brought to the operating room. When he is placed in the stretcher, I was very scared for him. I felt shaking and so nervous. He is in the operating room when other patient arrived. She was a lady who happened to have lymphs in her breast, she needed the operation right away so my husband gave way for her. After that lady, the doctors started my husband’s operation. I was so afraid, but then, a man asked me, “who is your patient?” I told him my husband, sir. He said “don’t call me sir, call me father, I’m a priest”, then he held my hand and gave me an assurance that everything will be okay. He gave me some chocolates for it help me in calming down according to him. He asked me what for is that operation, and I said it’s to remove kidney stones. He said, don’t be afraid, it’s easy as 1-2-3, the doctors know very well how to do that. In fact, her mother, according to father, undergo that same operation and it’s done well. It will last for half an hour operation, he added, and I felt relieved. And know what? That priest happened to be the brother of that lady with lymphs. We had a very good conversation and when the days go by, we sometimes saw each other in hospital’s corridor and ask for our patient’s situation. After four days, the doctors sent them home. We stayed in the hospital for thirteen days. It’s very hard because I cannot sleep well, I cannot eat well but I need to be there for my husband. When I checked the hospital bill, I know that I cannot pay that on our own because we have only a little money left on our pocket. Someone in the hospital billing section told me that I can ask for help in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), he taught me on how to go there and what are the things to do. There, I met a lot of people who are asking for help in their medication, dialysis, hospital bill payment and others. I heard many stories of fighting to their sickness. Some of them are wearing wigs because of baldness due to cancer, we all came from different places that patiently fall in line to seek for some help. At last, my turn. They gave me a promisorry note that tells they will pay the amount of ten thousand pesos. This thing made me smile, I hurriedly went back to the hospital to settle all the accounts. And another good thing happened, my husband’s boss gave us Php 35,000.00 in cold cash telling it’s a help for his employee. We thanked him that much. After that storm, I can say that there’s always a rainbow after the rain. My husband is so so well and he’s into work right now. Glory to God for this blessings.

After Twenty- Five Years… After my high school graduation, it was in 1994, I went to college, but as I shared to you on my previous article, I didn’t finish college because I am not happy and satisfied with my course of Bachelor of Arts major in Psychology because what I want is to take up Mass Communications for I want to be a famous news caster but we cannot afford to pay tuition fee on private school and I went on public school which has no mass communications, so I ended up to be college undergraduate, I’ve just finished my second year on that. That was a long and sad story. Since I was already eighteen years old on that time, I’ve decided to find a job to help my family. I left our province and went to Laguna just to apply for work. Many told me that there are many industrial parks there and so many factories to apply for. Fortunately, I was hired in a garments factory, then I resigned due to low cost of salary. I then applied to a printing company which was then had an illegal closure, so I tried and to apply then I was hired in an electronics company. There, I stayed for eight long years. I was happy with my job and my schedule there is always six to six, I always have overtime, one month day shift and one month night shift alternately. So that means that I earned a lot more that I gave financial support to my family. I’m always busy there, that I went home to my town rarely. I never had the time to bonding with my old time friends and classmates. I just went home for one day and then go back to work, then I had my new sets of friends, all of them are my co- employees. I’ve never seen my former classmates for long long years. Believe it or not, I have no facebook account until now. I don’t want to. Because for me, just my opinion, it’s not necessary. Do you know that in writing these articles, my daughter is the one who typewritten and publish this. I just write this in a scratch paper then she’s the one who takes care of everything, thanks to her for being understanding to me. Not having facebook account may be one of the reasons why I never had constant communication with my dear classmates and friends. I settled my own family, some of them too, and I never had a chance celebrating with them our new journey, I go along with my husband in his place and there, we stayed. I just went home once a year only every summer vacation with my family. After twenty- five years of being away from my high school classmates, I heard that we will have our 25th reunion, that is when I got back home. I went to my best friend (which is also my classmate) and get connected with them. She told me everything about the plans, I want to go, I want to catch up with them. The reunion happened last April of 2019. Held in a famous resort in Quezon province. It was an all day and all night of happenings. Bonding, laughing, chatting, singing, dancing, joking reminiscing, and drinking (of different types such as beer, vodka, tequila). So many delicious food to eat. We had our batch t- shirt which was pledged by our classmate who’s working overseas. Foods, drinks and the venue rental was pledged also by our classmates who are very successful now. Some of them are nurses, engineers, teachers, there’s an accountant, business man, pharmacist, few didn’t finish college, just like me, but despite of that, they never treat me bad. Some who are oversea workers who are not able to attend tried to have videocalls. We look like we are on or teenage years when we were in high school, nothing changed except for we aged and matured. We done parlor games and raffles. What a beautiful experience it was. No matter how long we didn’t see each other but the good relationship we built still remain in our hearts. We planned to have more gatherings but unfortunately, this pandemic happened. Maybe some other time after we recover from this pandemic. Hopefully by God’s grace.