post valentine's day post

i've been busy lately and really tired. most of the time i spent at home is just for eating, sleeping, and doing school work (erm, like thesis). yes, believe it or not, my thesis finally has direction. i've been interviewing NGO workers already and they've been extremely helpful and really kind for accomodating me kind-heartedly. i figured being NICE is a pre-requisite to be an NGO worker. otherwise, the organization wouldn't want the person to bite heads off of stakeholders. i'm getting a kick out of the "miss independent" thing. i've been relying on myself to get to places (offices of these NGOs) which i haven't been to. so far i haven't gotten lost (God forbid) but the cab rides are costing me a huge hole in my wallet.

and a snippet from today's interview:

him: anong year mo na ba?
me: 4th year po.
him: ha? akala ko 12 years old ka palang!

ang sarap sana sabihin... "opo. 12 palang po ako. gifted child kaya 4th year college na." BUWAHAHAHA!

yesterday i was at the U.P. fair with friends. while waiting for van, apple, and pao at the isawan stand, i was in the car with my sister and her boyfriend plus amidala. she's so cute! HAHA! we saw this humongous Chow Chow who resembled a bear (a baby bear) and i was scared at first. but when ala peeked from the window to take a look at the humongous dog, she started barking her head off. the little puppy was so confident even when we brought her outside the car she started barking like mad, which she never does at home, mind you.

this is her barking at the huge dog. the dog is four times her size! or maybe larger!

UP fair was okay there were just too many people HAHA! and i'm not that much of a huge fan of heavy metal so alej and i just sat on the grass at the Sunken Garden under the moon. the silhouette of the leafless trees with the bright moon as its backdrop looked really eerie but beautiful just the same. we just talked and watched people as they passed by until we finaly left.

so how was your Valentine's Day? mine was a happy one considering that alej surprised me at home with a bouquet of the most beautiful flowers i have ever received in my entire life. no joke. it has lilies, different colors of daisies, baby's breath, chrysanthemums, and another flower which has a velvety texture. it's a huge bunch and smelled wonderful. seriously, it's really pretty. when it was time to transfer it to a vase, it was hearbreaking to take the wrappers off:

so yeah. i love surprises and the surprise visit and beautiful flowers definitely made my day. i'm not a Valentine's Day person especially when there's a mad rush of lovers going here and there. i figured we'd celebrate some other day instead but we did go to hear mass at St. Jude (which was the best thing we did on Valentine's Day) after school and then had dinner at Blue Wave with his family.

anyway, i wrote this on Valentine's Day (er, midnight hehe) but didn't get to post it online. so here it is:

Happy Valentines everyone! Spread the love!!!

I will never forget one Valentine's Day back when I still lived in Abu Dhabi. In our church there, the Saint Joseph Parish, Father Eugene was our parish priest. it was Valentine's Day then and his sermon for that mass was the one thing I cannot forget.

He said Valentine's Day has become overrated. Commericialized, even. Everywhere you go there are huge posters, bright red hearts everwhere, heart-shaped balloons, big discounts on chocolates, flowers, and love cards. The list goes on. When it comes to Valentine's Day, people think of it as a day for couples. a day of LURRRVE. a day for romance. But he asked, "Why can't people think of LOVE in a larger context such as WORLDLY love?".

Orphans need LOVE.
Homeless people without families need LOVE.
People living with HIV/AIDS need LOVE.
Marginalized people in society need LOVE.
Those who are discriminated need LOVE.

EVERYONE needs love. Valentine's Day is a day for LOVE and when we say LOVE, it does not mainly have to revolve around love between to people. try looking at LOVE in a larger perspective and realize that love is such strong a word that can build friendships, unite a broken nation, and make one (or even more) less lonely person/people in the world feel wanted.

and because it's Valentine's Day, i feel like sharing this heartfelt story Father Eugene shared (but this was not on Valentine's Day):

there was once an American soldier who fought in the Vietnam war. after the war, his mother received a phone call from home. it was from his son.

"I'm coming home," the son said to his mother, "and i am bringing a friend with me. you see, we fought in the war together and because of this, he's blind. his right ear was cut off and an arm and a leg were amputated. he does not have anywhere else to go now that the war is over. may i take him home with me so we can take care of him?"

The mother was apalled by the description of his son's friend. So she told his son, "Oh my! You can't bring him here! He's going to be a handful! I can't take care of him, not when I have a lot of things to do! He's going to be a burden to our family!"

The mother wasn't finished yet when suddenly the line went dead.

The next day, the mother was greeted with a doorbell. When she openned the door, there were two officers in their uniforms. The mother's knees went weak because she knew what officers in uniforms meant. Then the other one spoke:

"Are you the mother of [insert name here]?" The mother replied with a croak in her voice. "Yes, I am." Then the other officer in uniform said:

"We regret to inform you that we found a young soldier with an amputated leg and arm. He was missing an ear and he was apparently blind. We found him dead-- shot himself on the head. He was in a motel room not far from here. I believe he is your son."

The mother did not know what to do so all she did was cry for the death of her son.

_____________________________________________

So you see the point of the story? If the mother had known from the first phone call that the person her son was describing was in fact, HIMSELF... she would not have said those horrible things upon learning that her son was planning on bringing his friend home to care of. She would have willingly obliged because this person was her son. So the question is, Why do we feel different in treating people when they're not of any relation or importance to us? If the mother felt any love for someone she's not related to but is in dire need of affection and care, maybe she would have made a different decision.

Here's hoping we spread more love to people around us. The Beatles said, "ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE" and I say "Amen, to that."

God bless!