'twas an inspiring lunch

i had an accidental lunch with Junie earlier. we had been officemates since i started here in lowe and i never really had an opportunity to talk with him na matagal. we had short chit chats in the hallways or sa elevator but never a long sit down talk.

i have admired him from afar because he is a quiet person who seems happy with his life and this is despite the fact that he lost his only son 2 years back. we got to talk about the loss he had and how despite that, he is happy that his son lived a full life in 17 years. he said that what his son had accomplished in 17 years, he has not done in his lifetime yet (this part i got teary eyed!).

more than what he said, he was very inspiring in the way he talked about it. how accepting he was and how at peace he seems to be. i cannot imagine the difficulty of losing a child because it is not in the natural order of things. however, this was not so with Junie. so i thought, what fighting spirit this man has!

then i learned that he was also from Cavite City and hey i am from there too!!! kaya naman pala he is very matapang despite everything, Caviteño pala! the street where he grew up is a couple of streets away from where we live, sobrang fateful! so we got to talk about the things we love about our hometown and that he knew our long standing store, Shanghai Bazaar :) how we eat tamales, pipita and kumpitis na i'm pretty sure kami lang may alam kung ano yun haha!

all in all it was a great lunch. masarap ang feeling that despite the dog eat dog world we live in, there are people like him who refuse to get affected. they remain who they want to be and not get affected with who people expect them to be. he got me shaken talaga with his spirit and faith.

thank God there are still people like you dear Junie :)

my lola's clutch

when i was in 3rd year high school, my lola gave me a gold clutch with $1 inside. she said it was her graduation gift to me in case she is no longer alive the following year. lola made it to my graduation in high school and in college :) it's funny how she thought she will not make it the following year and yet she is still here 10 years after.

i have used the clutch to many debuts then weddings and then baptisms. so many milestones and lola is still here. she is 99 now and just had a stroke. i can't talk with her anymore and we are just waiting for her time to go. we all believe that 99 years here is really a big bonus for lola already and she can rest whenever she wants to. we are all fine after all and i am so glad that when she was still able to say it, she already left me a legacy.

it was not an expensive or lavish pamana but it does mean the world to me that a part of her will always be with me. my lola may go but her she will always be with me, just like the clutch she gave me 10 years ago.