Balay ni Bambit

A week from now it will be another year, at the end of which this series of photos will have a new addition. It’s amazing how this would have been a lot more difficult to do in my time, where pictures needed both wherewithal and patience before they can be viewed. On the other hand, the third segment of this collage was taken only a few minutes before this collage was assembled.

There are a lot of things my daughter will not see in her lifetime — the 45 rpm records, the 8-track tape decks, black and white tv, rotary dial telephones. But living in this country and having relatives down south will allow her days of “dirty” ice cream, vacations in the province with goats, cows and trees in the fields. Not a bad exchange, I should think.

In these days prior to the New Year most of us step back (lay back, whatever position you’re comfortable in) and take stock of the year that has been and list our hopes for the year ahead.

I am thankful for my family, this family that has stuck together despite the difficult times, bound by love and a belief that difficult times are but glitches in this wonderful life. I am thankful for my eldest son Athelstan, who is now grown and working and living his own life, having found his own path to manhood and responsibility. I am thankful for my second son Xavier, so intelligent yet unassuming, quiet and intense but who laughs uncontrollably at the corniest Visayan and computer jokes. I am thankful for my husband Cris (whom you all know as Sam) who has endured in this relationship far more than he would like to admit. I am thankful for our little girl Himaya, who has given us the best reason to celebrate Valentine’s Day. I am thankful for my father Oscar and my sister Purita, who’s care and concern reach out all the way from Cebu, and my Auntie Tita in Seattle who is by all intents and purposes, my mother.

I am thankful for Ate Lalay and Ate Bebing, both of whom left their families in Iligan City to become part of our small one. Without Lalay and Bebing our household would be in utter chaos; they keep it running in tip top shape, make sure we never run out of supplies, that we always have something yummy at the table at mealtimes. It is with them that my daughter spends most of her waking hours, and I marvel at their patience and perseverance in dealing with that little prima donna.

I am thankful that I am gainfully employed (although sometimes I may, as any working class jane, dispute the word gainfully). I am thankful for my boss Blair, who has kept faith in my abilities and my worth to the company. I am thankful for my office family/barkada/kachika — Mareng Arlene, Mareng Chu and Abi. There is my assistant web developer Mark, who in a few months has taken note of my quirks and utter weirdness at work and has learned to work with and around it.

Though some may call it complacency, I find an incomparable comfort in my life, home, and work.

I hope for more of the same next year.

Happy New Year, everyone!

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