Happy Anniversary!

Thank you, Patty, for 13 years of togetherness. For all the laughter, all the joy. For all the shared trials and struggles. For all the successes and the many failures.

They say that after many years of married life, a couple soon become like each other, become just one. I beg to disagree.

What I am most grateful for is that although we've both tried early in our married life to correct whatwe then perceived to be the other's negative traits and weaknesses, we eventually learned to just accept each other's otherness.

And we've learned to not only accept but in fact embrace the other as other. An other who is made in the image and likeness of God and therefore worthy of all the love we can humanly muster.

Birthday Girl

Oh the comments and remarks we heard from family and friends after you were born exactly nine years ago, dear Bela.

"She looks just like you, Robbi... your mini me."

But comments like that would just as quickly be followed by a sigh and a rejoinder: "Ay, sayang. Sana kamuka na lang ni Patty."

Well, that's what you get for having a beautiful mom.

Many say that the two of us really share a lot of things in common: the wit, the humor, the bossiness. :)

Yet you are definitely an improvement: your charm, you friendliness and your social skills are of an upgraded version.

And you are certainly growing up to be a very pretty young lady. :)

Happy birthday, dear Bela. And as you grow older, please don't leave your original vintage version too far behind.

Love you!

His Own

And so now he has his own nook at the other end of the verandah. Far enough from his father's own space yet near enough so he doesn't disappear too often into his own world. Quickly arranged by his mother who knows all too well that all boys are protective of the spaces they've already marked as theirs. Once again, peace reigns in the household. :) 

My Space

He already borrows my shoes, he now wears my shirts and this morning he commandeers my favorite hangout spot at home. What's next?
#parentingtrials 

Mahalin mo na lang

Mahalin mo na lang.

That will always be the greatest advice, and greatest prayer, my father taught me.

Love them instead.

When you are mad, or frustrated, or irritated at someone, love them instead. Love them because.

For you will never fully understand an other. Just as you cannot expect an other to fully understand you. So why lose your temper and your peace over an other's perceived misgivings?

Love them instead. Love them because of it. And do it with a an honest smile. With genuine charity. And pray for them. Earnestly. And pray for yourself too. Because it is hard to do, pray for the strength and the humility. Trust in Him who truly knows and understands us all.

Thank you, Dad.

Kapuy

Sa haba ng lakad, porma'y di na tumalab.

Napagod, natulog, pati pagkain ay inisnab.

Birthday Boy

Happy birthday, my dear Gabi. I love it that you share my appetite. And I love it more that you (still) laugh at my jokes. :)

Have a wonderful 12th year. 

Hungry Chef

Caught Gabi in the kitchen twice this weekend, cooking his own merienda.

"It's great that you like to cook, Gabi. You really love to cook, don't you?"

"Hmm, not really. I think I love to eat more."