Forgiven but never forgotten.

People often say that money is the root of all evil, and perhaps it is true that even our relatives might make poor decisions because to it.

Everything is drastically different when it comes to talking about money, including one's outlook, behavior, and self-perception, as well as one's willingness to act badly despite knowing that doing so will hurt other people's feelings.

Because of what our relatives did, we felt so much heartaches and anger. We don't even know what we did wrong for them to treat us this way; we don't know why they did it for all these years. It's difficult to forgive them for what they did since it's heartbreaking and makes me cry.

So last June, Lolo Ambling came to our house to talk about the passageway to our house. He is quite a distant relative of ours because my great grandmother and her mother are siblings, so he is like my distant grandfather. Their house is also close to us, about 2 minutes away.

He informed us that he intended to sell us the passageway and that he would widen it by 2 meters to allow space for my grandfather's trike to pass. We questioned why he would sell the road given that it is our "right of way" and that my grandmother has a claim to it because my great-grandmother and his mother are related.

As you can see from the map of the road that leads to us that there is only one pathway that we can use to get to the main road and to get through. This pathway is only broad enough for motorcycles and people to pass through; a car or tricycle would not be able to fit through it because it is barely 1.5 meters wide.

He is selling the road to us for 60,000 pesos or $1000 since he wants to widen it by 2 meters, making it 3.5 meters wide and allowing my grandfather's tricycle to pass through. He claimed that he would not permit us to purchase just 1.5 meters because, had we done so, he would have had to close the road.

Our family and our neighbors have already discussed how we will share the cost and whether we will actually buy the pathway. We are one of three of our neighbors who do not want to buy since it is our "right of way," and Lolo Ambling previously assured us that we may pass through here because my grandmother have payed the surveyor to survey our lot and this pathway and Lolo Ambling is aware of it.

And now, the pathway is closed. The passageway where I've been walking for 23 years, this is the way that connects us as relatives but now it's closed and what they did is very painful.

They did something that has left our family, as well as our neighbors, feeling quite hurt and disappointed.

Due to the previous promises made by Lolo Ambling, which we believed, our family and our neighbors opted not to purchase the road. Another thing is that we have a legal claim to this route as well, and we hope he would reconsider.

But now it's closed and there's nothing we can do, we don't want to complain to the Barangay because we have nothing against their family because they have ties to the Barangay Captain. We also found out that Lolo Ambling's children incited him to do this to us.

While we were sobbing from the pain they caused us, they still held a family meeting after closing the pathway. They appeared to be pleased with what they had done. The way we see their family has truly changed. They were once seen as good individuals, but after what they did, I no longer share that opinion.

I do believe in karma and I don't hold grudges against their family, but what they did to my family left a wound in my heart. As a result of what they did, they began to treat us somewhat differently, making us feel like outcasts. Despite the fact that I have forgiven them, I will never forget what they did to us.

We created a temporary route today that will allow us to access the main road; it will require some detours, but it is much better than going through the closed road.

Thank you for dropping by!

All images are mine.

Lead image is made from Canva.

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