Can't Wait

When my nephew left for Guam in October 2012, I felt like I lost a limb. He was so much a part of our daily lives, that not having him around felt like I had been transported to an alternate universe filled with nothing but eerie silence. Gone was the tiny voice asking if it could have McDonald's chicken nuggets for dinner. There were no more tiny hands, tugging at my mother's blouse, coaxing her to buy a "medium-sized" Lego. His absence hit all of us hard. Especially my father. My nephew was his favorite person. He could do no wrong in my father's eyes. He missed his kakulitan, his watching the same movies over and over, his singing the same songs over and over, and eating the same food over and over. I cannot really speak for my brother, for he knows how to hide his pain. But I know he would move heaven and earth to get him back, if that's what's best for him.

Recently, thanks to Viber, my nephew has been calling us a lot. Now we know he's okay, so we're all happy with that. When it comes to children, adults have to put everything on the back burner - our pride, anger, resentment, and everything else that weighs us down. It's the children that matter. Their happiness, safety, and well-being.

In August we will all travel to Guam to see my nephew. I wish the clock would tick a bit faster. We love and miss you, Yeshua. See you very soon.

More Than Money

Photo taken from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Nail_Clippers.jpg

There are many things in life that I treasure. I love eating good food, hanging out with my friends, going to the movies with my husband, and traveling with my family. A guilty pleasure would be looking at pictures of expensive bags on Facebook and Instagram, drooling over things I could never afford, and perhaps, things I wouldn't buy even if I could afford them.

Who doesn't like having nice stuff? Who doesn't want to be filthy rich? We need money - that's a fact of life. But we only need it up to a certain point.

My husband and I watched Man of Steel a few days ago, and one of the scenes that touched me the most is the one where Clark's mother, after her house has been destroyed, gathers all the pictures she can find. She tells Clark that everything else can be replaced.

All material things can be replaced. But memories are sometimes more precious than gold.

A few months ago, my family and I went to the US to visit my uncle who has cancer. When we were there, my mother cooked for him and washed his clothes, since he could no longer do it himself. I remember us picking oranges from the tree in the backyard, and squeezing them so he'd have fresh orange juice. But the thing that I will never forget about that trip is when he asked me to clip his nails. I was happy to be able to do it for him, and thinking about it now chokes me up a little.

I know that we all know money isn't everything. I just feel like sometimes we tend to forget.