Manila's Pop Virtuoso, Reuben Laurente

Wow, my grade school best friend is now tagged as the "Manila's Pop Virtuoso". I'm so proud of him, just when i saw him on TV that he had grown so tall and with a good sex appeal huh!

We were best friends for 3 years since grade IV in Eulogio Rodriguez Elementary School, Mandaluyong City. He was such a sweet, thoughtful, funny, kind, friendly and very intelligent guy. No wonder he reached the peak of his success and captured hearts of the people. He has this so called "fighting spirit" and "positive thinking" that he knew he can reach his dreams through his hardwork and prayers, and through the support of his family. He belongs to a good family. His father, Mang Dominador, a photographer, is also a friendly person who treated Reuben's friends as his family. Aling Gilda, his mother is a quiet person but she is so kind and supportive to us.

Reminiscing our grade school days, this guy was so "makulit" that he really captured the attention and the hearts of his classmates and teachers. He was very active in school, in contests and programs. As i remembered, he is always the leader whenever we have our class groupings, as well as always the class president and school clubs' president. See how popular he is? He is also very patient in teaching and guiding his group mates when there are projects or class presentations.

We were all sad when we graduated because we knew that we will have our own path to take. We planned to go to the same school in high school but it was too far from our house, but he pushed through. Before i forgot, he always ranked First Honor since he started elementary and graduated as our "Valedictorian" during our batch.

When i was in college (Polytechnic University of the Phils.), i met his high school friends/classmates, Myrna and Evelyn which became my college classmates, and i learned from them that they knew Reuben Laurente. We exchange stories about him and i was so happy that i still had heard some news about my bestfriend. His being makulit didnt shocked me at all, neither he's being sweet, active, intelligent, talkative and cute. I knew him for 3 long years, and still, im so proud of him.

It was about 25 years and we never see each other again. When i saw him on tv with the group (The Company), i never wonder because i knew that was his dream, to become popular. He is actually a great dreamer who pursued his dreams with hardwork,prayers, guts and courage, the attitudes you will really see in him. I wished and hoped for so many years to meet him again, share life stories with him, ask about his family and his love life stories (he is still single, i think). God is really great and good, know what? after so many years, now i had a contact with him. Since i worked very hard, then i became a full time housewife and mom for 3 long years, i didnt have the time to go to the internet cafe to chat, search or browse. My day starts with my household chores and ends with my chores. Now, since i worked far from my family in cavite, i find time to search, browse, and chat...hehehe... and free from huge household chores. I got this big chance on searching from my friends and found his profile on the other community site and got his email address, then i immediately emailed him. I was so happy when he replied and gave me his celfone number. I promise to myself to call him or text him and email him more often.

I feel very honored to be remembered by my popular best friend! I do hope to meet him someday and have some chat with him. To Reuben, please stay humble and kind, i will always pray for you, for your success, love life and for your family... I'm so proud of you , pls always keep your feet on the ground...

A SIMPLE SPECIAL GIRL . . .

It's been quite a long time since my last blog...this is not about me but i dedicate this blog to my special friend whom I just recently met. She's just like a daughter to me 'cause of our age gap. She's 19 years old, she's always smiling, happy, bubbly and full of life. She has a crush,who also work with us. Every time her crush will pass by, she will run to me just to tell me she saw him. One time i saw how surprised she was when she didn't know that her crush was on her back, for a while I feel young and I recall those younger years when I also had a crush. You know the good old days, but to see her happy seeing her crush is just a simple reward for her. Her dad had a stroke and she needs to work for her family. I know in her thought she also dream of having a simple typical teenage life because I remember at her age I was studying and enjoying my life but her she got a very big responsibility. If I am her mom, I'll be proud of her...I can see her work and how dedicated she is on her job. She really works hard...you know who you are...I just hope that once in a while you enjoy life the way you wanted it 'cause you deserve to be happy. Always take care and I am here to be a friend, a mom, a sister or whatever...I 'm proud to have you as a friend 'cause you thought me that life is full of sacrifice, whatever your age is...you are a very strong girl...God bless you always....

BAD DECISIONS GONE GOOD

Our decisions in the past good and bad brought us to where we are now in the present. However, bad judgment, bad decisions, wrong moves do not necessarily bring about a miserable present or future. The outcome of our decisions do not evaluate our past judgment.

Looking back, I've made "bad" decisions after bad decisions on significant choices that makes or breaks a typical life. I chose to go out with barkada over my studies in High School, I chose to enroll only on subjects I enjoyed in College and eventually dropped out, I chose to live away from my family to join a band, I chose to elope and marry than to finish my studies, I chose to stay and see my first born than to sail on the Floating University, I chose to stay and see my third child than to work in Chicago, I chose to go back and stay in the Philippines than to stay for good in Boston.

These were just some of the pretty bad choices I made but looking at them then and seeing where and what I am today makes me wonder if I would have chosen differently given another chance.

I wonder what makes me feel better about my life than those who made better choices and yet miserable with their lives. Here are some of my thoughts:

• None of those choices were "bad" -- from my perspective, I decided with my own conviction and with all my heart and mind. The key is "all" ergo no doubt, no second-thoughts. Bad as they may seem my heart felt otherwise. Bad moves are those made in bad faith.
• Never said "cooshoo" (chould-have, should-have)-- good or bad, when I've made my move it's good all the way. I do what I do because I wanted to and I had to. I may decide to reciprocate the outcome of my actions but that would be another decision altogether (As I did when I decided to finish college eventually). Sorry doesn't change anything, move forward.
• Never lost the heart of my decision -- I've always kept the heart of my decisions in mind. The "WHY" I decided the way I did. When the outcome does not come out as expected and I start feeling sorry, I call to mind the "WHY", assess the situation, make another decision and move forward.

All things happen for a reason because "...all things work together for good to those who love God" (rom 8:28). And they do. If you believe this verse, you won't spend too much time feeling sorry for what you have done. Find the heart and reason why you did what you did and move forward. If you believe you made a "booboo" for making a move in what you honestly think is in bad faith, repent and move forward.

In Memory of a Bug

I was driving yesterday and suddenly a bug hit my windshield. A little ticked off , I quickly turned on the windshield's cleaning mechanism. Water sprayed as the wipers wipe - cleaned my windshield. Did it twice as the first attempt didnt yield the clean state that I've wanted. Let the wipers on for a liitle longer to dry away the wet spots and to eliminate any residue, as I shifted my full attention again to my driving.

Later that day, I've decided to clean my car. As I was cleaning it, I thought about the tiny bug that hit my windshield. Honestly, I dont care about that bug because its just a tiny bug which had no purpose for me, and its post existence will not be missed by any intelligent lifeform.
Then I realized that .. for a moment, when I was caught up on the elimination of the splatter caused by that tiny bug , all of my attention was on that annoying spot.. that the tiny little bug turned into, after hitting my windshield. For a few seconds then, I didnt care about the traffic, where I'm headed and even safety. All I care was to remove the gluey mucus like stuff, which was not even hampering my driving view.
In our life, we sometimes get stuck on some things which are irrelevant to our goals and dreams, and we sometimes lose focus on the things that are important and dear to us ... to our family.
There are aslo times, that all we can see or think of people that hurt us or did a bad thing are their offenses or faults. We channel our thoughts at the wrong things that they've done, and forget all of the good things when everything was still sunny and zippy.
When a problem or failure in our life and relationship happens, we tend to see only the ugliness of things, instead of seeing a silver lining and the beauty of the world around us.
About the bug that hit my windshield, it might seem irrelevant. Nevertheless, it still served a purpose and only intelligent lifeforms like us, can make its existence of any importance. So, I've decided to compose a short poem.. in memory of that tiny little bug hahaha! that made a splatter on my windshield. Have a nice day!

A Bug hit my windshield

A bug hit my windshield,

It can't think it must yield...

Splattered on the glass pane!

Like Morpheus who doesnt wane.

The Wipers and water in harmony,

Big things out of focus for the tiny.

Making miniscule the annoying spot.

Insignificant bug on the top slot!
---erp

"An unexamined life is not worth living"

---Socrates