Dance With My Father Again

I was chatting with my cousin Riffa the other night. She's the daughter of my Uncle Louie who passed away recently. She misses her dad and felt terribly sad knowin' the fact that her dad will no longer be available to accompany her in the aisle on her wedding day, to hand her over to the man she love. Uncle Louie will never be here towitness the most significant day of her life. But it's not gonna happen yet, my cuz is enjoying her single status. She was thinking that the song "Butterfly Kisses" be played on her wedding march especially dedicated to her dad. I suddenly thought of the song "Dance With My Father Again". Same song was played on the wedding program of my officemate last Saturday to pay tribute to her dad who passed away when she was in college. My cousin hurriedly look for the song in YouTube and listened to it.

The song was composed by Luther Vandross, it was originally "Dance With My Mother Again". It's basically about love and lost. I love the version of Celine Dione, it's simply awesome.

Here's the lyrics:

Verse 1:
Back when I was a child
Before life removed all the innocence
My father would lift me high
And dance with my mother and me and then
Spend me around till I fell asleep
Then up the stairs he would carry me
And I knew for sure I was loved

Chorus:
If I could get another chance
Another walk, another dance with him
I'd play a song that would never ever end
How I'd love love love to dance with my father again

Verse 2:
When I and my mother would disagree
To get my way I would run from her to him
He'd make me laugh just to comfort me(yeah, yeah)
Then finally make me do just what my momma said
Later that night, when I was asleep
He left a dollar under my sheet
Never dreamed that he would be gone from me

Chorus:
If I could steal
One final glance
One final step
One final dance with him
I'd play a song that would never ever end
Cause I'd love love love to dance with my father again

Verse 3:
Sometimes I'd listen outside her door
I'd hear how my mother cried for him
(2x) I'd pray for her even more than me

I know I'm praying for much too much
But could you send back the only man she loved
I know you don't do it usually
But dear Lord she' s dying to dance with my father again

Every night I fall asleep
And this is all I ever dream

Friends

Last week, Josielyn informed me that our friend Michelle will be coming over on Saturday. Her main purpose is to head to SM Pampanga to buy stuff for his husband who will be arriving from Qatar first week of December. I decided to join them though I orginally planned to spend my day off with my little girl since I didn't bring her along when her brother and I joined the fieldtrip.

Michelle settled in Abra Province after our college graduation because they have a printing press there and since she is the eldest, she was task to manage the said business. She often go here in Angeles to acquire some printing materials but due to time constraints, she couldn't squeeze in her schedule to pay us a visit. This is why we took advantage of meeting her yesterday, if my memory serves me right, the last time I saw her was during the first birthday party of Josielyn's son in Mc Donald's Dau and that was nearly 5 years ago.

Chelle left Abra at 5 in the morning and arrive in Josielyn's place before 2 pm.We fetch Marilyn in a gasoline station near the expressway. Jo was driving their Delica van. Marilyn and I have misunderstanding for months now but that obliterate swiftly when she immediately approach and kiss me. Friends will always be friends. I can not afford to lose a friendship that I treasured and existed for years already.

We went to SM Pampanga, had our lunch in Pizzahut (oh I love their ceasar salad) and did some shopping. We enjoyed the day big time! We didn't waste our time discussing negative things, all we did was laugh and laugh harder.

We had dinner in TollHouse. It's been years the last time I ate in Tollhouse. This place is famous for it's creamy and delicious baked macaroni which I ordered one for take out and the girls did the same. Their price is affordable which explains why the resto is almost full that night. We ordered steak with gravy that's so mouth watering, appetizing crispy pata and a mongolian barbeque abundant with veggies.

We have scheduled a reunion when our friend Ampy will arrive in December and the bonding that took place yesterday was something unexpected and unplanned.

We look forward to our get together next month which certainly will turn out to be wackier and enjoyable.

Fieldtrip

The field trip yesterday was well organized. Meeting time was at 4am. We were at the meeting place few minutes after the call time 'coz CJ and I had to walk all the way from our house due to unavailability of tricycles. Their school is a few blocks away from where we live. Shortly, we saw 2 buses and a coaster. I immediately approached teacher Maritess to ask which bus we should ride, we were at bus number 2 which was almost filled, first come first serve rule. We have no choice but to occupy the middle row.

We were at expressway around 5:30am and reached Tagaytay Zoo before 9am. CJ was fascinated with different wild animals he saw. It's actually his second time but his gutsy now in approaching animals and have a picture taken with them. The zoo contain limited animals and the foul smell produced by their urine and feces is unbearable. CJ suppressed his breathing when he try get close in their cages.

After nearly 2 hours, we headed to Tagaytag Picnic Grove for our lunch. We then went to the famous Collette store to buy some pasalubong. I bought 2 buko pie for my parents and in laws plus espasol for Ate Nits, my kid's beloved nanny.

Part of the itinerary is a visit to the Nissin Monde Noodle factory, makers of skyflakes biscuits and Lucky Me Pancit Canton. Unfortunately, cameras are not allowed inside the factory. The kids enjoyed the 30 minute plant tour. They witnessed how their favorite lucky me pancit canton is being done. It's the machines deployed doing the job. The factory is huge and tidy, however, there's no enough aircondition especially in the room where preview of the proccess using modern projector was held.

Last destination was Enchanted Kingdom. We were at the famous carnival place at 3pm, good thing it was a gloomy day during the frieldtrip, so there's no heat of the sun to worry while we explore the prominent Enchanted Kingdom. CJ & I rode the roller coaster. When it started, I suppressed myself from screaming so my son won't be scared. After one round, I showed my son 2 thumbs up, congratulating him for overcoming his fear with rides. He continued riding choochoo train, carousel and stone eggs alone.

CJ had a blast with the field trip. He was elated and obviously enjoyed our bonding. His amazement and eagerness is truly my heart's bliss.

Teambuilding & Thanksgiving

We started the day with consistency meeting, afterwards, we had our teambuilding. Our big boss Dennis Salvador talked about the changes we can expect early next year. He also commended some members of the QA team for embracing changes by accepting new roles and job responsibilities within the queue and congratulated the rest of the team for their hard work and dedication, enabling them to meet the target productivity every time.

The team was divided per queue and played Scavenger's Hunt. Our group won!!! Right after the game, we headed to the canteen to relish the food prepared by Coach Honey's team. Each was given a styro with 3 slices of pizza, a couple slice of chicken fillet and spaghetti, plus silvanias dessert from Susie's.


My sweet friend Wheng gave me rellenong bangus which she made especially for me. I decided to bring it home. I shared some of my pizza with her, it was like an exchange gift we did today. I suddenly felt the Christmas spirit.


And the highlight of the day is THANKSGIVING. Every year, our concessionairre will serve us special meal. I super enjoyed our lunch. We had cream of pumpkin soup, mashed potato with gravy, roast turkey with cranberry sauce and grilled prawns with lemon butter sauce. It's not everyday you get to eat turkey and prawns, so I relished every bite and I don't have plans of having another meal tonight.

Thank God for a day full of blessings and graces.

Monthly Period

During the second and third day of my period, expect it to be a heavy flow. I could feel the sudden flush when I stand from my seat. Good thing there are night pads available nowadays. I use modess or sisters brand of sanitary pad. Yes, I use pads for night use during daytime, to prevent stains, it's embarrassing and grossed when you do. My period came in a right time because I will be joining my son in their field trip on Friday, so my period is gone by that time. I can move freely and enjoy some rides. I'll definitely write my posts here about our trip to Enchanted Kingdom. CJ and I are both quite excited about it. I'll be saving my energy for now, it's certainly going to be tiring but fun.

Reunion

I had a great time bonding with my friends Agnes & Elsa yesterday. I finally found a way to get in touch with Agnes through friendster and immediately thought of meeting her & Elsa on my day off which they gladly & excitedly agreed.

I invited them in my little home. I cooked spaghetti and chicken pandan I bought in SM hypermarket. They arrive a little past 2pm. We greeted each other and headed to the dining table afterwards. There was never ending talk, not even a second of dead air. We chatted about many things… husbands, batchmates, highschool & college days.

Agnes is the bubbly type of person. I can not recall a dull moment with this girl. She’ll definitely make you laugh. She has this talent of delivering her punchlines with perfect timing. She narrated to us the times when her husband had an affair and how she dealt with it with audacity. A lot of painful experiences happened to her in the course of time we haven’t communicated. Now, she live her life with happiness and contentment.

Elsa on the otherhand is a simple pretty mom & wife, not much changes physically, still beautiful as ever. We started our friendship in highschool. We belong to different section and Charlie who happen to be my classmate is pursuing Elsa at that time. I became their bridge. When they broke up, Charlie courted me and Agnes was our bridge. I was too young at that time to have a boyfriend so no relationship was formed.

In college, Agnes decided to transfer to another university. Elsa and I were saddened by her choice but we didn’t argue anymore. Elsa had her boyfriend whom I think is her first love. I enjoyed being their friend and chaperone. I would accompany them during valentines day and anniversaries. They surprisingly broke up a year before we finish college. The guy pursued a classmate who happens to be my friend too. That’s when my friendship with Elsa gradually put on halt. We were able to tackle this subject only yesterday after so many years.

I miss the friendship and I am just so glad for the opportunity to reunite with them. Since we have a lot of catching up to do, we decided to go to Didi’s pizza to continue the conversation after my brother fetch my kids. After nearly 2 hours, we decided to call it a night and headed toward our respective homes with smile on our faces.

We promised this won’t be the last. Talking with friends instantly destress me. I love to laugh with them.

So long...Uncle Louie

Today, my uncle Louie’s remains was laid to rest. He died of colon cancer. He’s passing is a bit sudden and has shocked many people close to him especially his siblings.

It all started with a non stop cough and noticeable drop in weight. He is my mother’s younger brother and my mom is his constant companion when going to doctors for consultation and laboratory tests. He was confined in AUF Medical Center in September for several days. A spot in his lungs was discovered, the medicine he was taking isn’t helping him, the unwanted cough continues. His doctor then recommended a bronchoscopy. I remembered accompanying him and my mom in the same hospital when uncle Louie was scheduled to undergo the said procedure. The result didn’t come out on the promised date. They required him urine test for accuracy purposes.

The findings based on the bronchoscopy test was lung cancer. Though my uncle has predicted it, still, it hit him big time. A cancer specialists suggested a chemo therapy to be done ASAP but my father suggested they should consider a second opinion. They immediately went to Lung Center in Manila to see an oncologist. The doctor advised my uncle to undergo series of test before a chemo theraphy to ensure that his cancer cells are not yet scattered in other vital parts of his system.

He had his first chemo last October 22. Two days after, his stomach swelled like a 4 month pregnant woman. He can not urinate & eliminate and his condition detoriorated. He was rushed to Makabali hospital in San Fernando. It was found out that he has cancer in colon not in the lungs and already a terminal stage. The cancer cells spread through in his lungs and liver. He undergone operation and was confined in ICU for a few days and died on Nov. 07.

Uncle Louie is a cooperative and submissive patient. He was willing to spend money and be transferred to better and bigger hospitals but it was too late. I know he’s not ready for his death.

My realization of his untimely death.., even if you have the money to spend for medication, even if you refuse lifelessness, if God wanted you to leave, His will be done. The church consistently reminds us not to fear death. It is both painful to leave your loved ones and let go of someone dear to you but who knows life is better after death.

If I was given the chance to deliver my eulogy for my uncle I would say three words. First, SORRY if at one point, some of his family and relatives we’re not there to comfort him especially during his remaining days. Secondly, THANK YOU for being an inspiration to relatives, friends & family. Truly, he is a father with big dreams for his children, yes, he has done wrong before and maybe hurted his children but nobody is perfect. Lastly, GOODBYE, I pray that God will continue to guide him as he start his journey to eternal life.