How was My Birthday Celebration with My Family?

Since my birthday was within school days so I just planned to go home after class and after I went to church for a mass. I never expected for foods for a celebration. All I'm expecting is a dinner like an ordinary day. My class finished at 7:30 p.m. I thought I can't go home since it was already late for a normal trip going to our place. Still, I tried going to terminal. Luckily, there's still rides going there. I was able to go home. Before I went home, I received text messages from my cousins if they are invited but I refuse since all I know is there's no food to offer for them. They replied saying they understand.

As I arrived home, there were motorcycles outside. I know it was uncle's. I know what's going on. It was one of the attitude of our family that even if there's no food prepared, we still go to the house of the birthday celebrant. They can't do nothing but prepare food. Hehehe. It is how we treated each other. I find it more fun. Whenever one of us had birthday, we gathered. I just smiled with what I thought. As I went inside our house, they welcome me with a greetings. Then,there I know that they were there because my parents invited them. The text messages I received was part of the plan. Foods were ready. I was just the one who is waited for dinner. Hmmmmp. We had fun during dinner. Laughs and tease were present. Looking at them, I can feel that I am soooooooooo LOVED.

Suddenly, I realized, it's not the food that matters during birthdays. It's what you have during that day. It's whom you have and whom you are with. It's not the prepared food that made me happy but the people who showed their love to me and make me feel like I am important to them as they are to me. I'm so thankful to God for what I have and whom I have. I have parents, relatives and friends who really love me and would never leave no matter what happen. I love them too. I would never be what I am now without them and they will be part as I build my future.

THANK YOU LORD. GOD bless us all!!!

My 21st Birthday

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that counts. It's the life in your years."
 - Abraham Licoln

Time runs fast. Another year had passed. Everybody is growing old. Whoaaaaaaa!!!


It was like yesterday when I celebrated my 20th birthday. This year, month ago, June 20, Wednesday, I consecrated my 21st birthday. Another year was added to my age. Hmmmmp. Just like last year, I celebrated it with friends, same venue, at Panny's Bakeshop but it was my another group of friends. They were my buddies in school. We think the same most of the time. I never thought of celebrating my birthday. Being alive and able to have this age is enough for me. I just planned to go to church and then went home so I would be with my family during that special dayof mine. It was myfriend who convinced me to celebrate my birthday in Panny's. She convinced me to buy cake, balloon and birthday hats and took pictures. She said it was just once in a year that I should make the most out of it. She said I should do what I want on my birthday. I was convinced. I agreed. She's right. Birthday comes once in a year and who knows I wouldn't be able to celebrate my 22nd anymore. KNOCK ON WOOD. Hehehe. So, I did what she said. We went to Panny's bakeshop, buy cake, have my name written on it, hats and candles. They were the one who bought balloons. And then, we took many pictures. As far as I remember , it was my first time to blow a candle on my birthday. In fact, I never tried children's party on my childhood years. But it's okay, I understand. My parents can't afford that kind of party. What I'm used to is only family dinner which I find fun and enjoyable. Family and relatives with me is enough to consider my celebration of birthday a complete one. With what we did, I find it more fun. Although I was shy with the other customers inside the bakeshop. They were looking at us. I'm acting like a kid as I wear a birthday hat. Hehehe. I just don't mind them. The important is I was able to do what I want to during my birthday. Even if I wasn't able to do all, at least, I did some of it.


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Week Before New Year

During Christmas, December 25, we had lunch at late grandparent's house(mother side) with families and friends. After that, we laughed and laughed until our stomach muscles were aching. We were talking about the funny moments we had with our relatives. My mama's sister were reminiscing their childhood days. later after we had some chats, one of our aunts asked me to teach them some dance steps for their dance presentation which is to be presented on the night for the Barangay Christmas party. I taught my aunt and her companions some simple steps since they were complaining if I taught them some little twist of steps. We practiced for few hours since they only had few hours to practice since it was that day they should present the dance. I had fun practicing them since looking at them executing the actions makes the mothers cute. Hehehe. After the practice, we went home to got ready for the party. upon arriving home. I lie down on my bed. That was the time I realized I'm tired. I planned to rest for a while and then got ready but, I fell asleep. My mother tried to awake me up but she failed so she just let me. Whoa!! I missed the party. I missed the presentation of my aunt with her companion which is me who taught them. UGH.

December 26, as I wake up, I felt pain on my legs and arm. I thought it was just a simple pain but it didn't. When I stand, it hurts especially when I walked that's why I had difficulties in walking that time. I was excempted with the chores because of that pain. I teased my aunt to pay me for it would not happen to me if I didn't taught them to dance. That was just a joke. My plans for that day was canceled which is to go to my grandparent's house to meet my cousins and watched movies there with them.

December 27, it was still aching.OUCH!!! What i did was watching television in our house and sleep.

December 28, thank God! Pain was gone. Our aunt asked me to go to grocery store to buy stuffs for the birthday celebration of my little cousin. I said YES immediately since this was what I wanted to do. I love buying groceries. After we bought groceries, we went home immediately and prepared the foods. Then, the celebration started. Happy Birthday!!! hehehehe.

December 29, I just stayed in our house. Nothing special happened.

December 30, my cousin pick me up from home to my grandparent's house. We watched movies and eat fried banana as our snacks. Afternoon came, with nothing else to do, we agreed to go to Maasin City Forest Park and have some fresh air. We roamed around the place while riding on a motor vehicle. I also practiced how to drive for about an hour. We stayed at the cottage while waiting for the closing time to come which is 5pm. We had some Chats. I had fun since we were talking about lovelife which were not we  usually do. Hehehe.

December 31, I didn't intend to wake up early but I did since I helped my father to slaughter the pig. Every year, we slaughter pig and sold it to our neighbors. I was the only one who helped my father doing that. I became his assistant. That was for the first time and I found it exciting. I helped me tied pig's legs so it wouldn't be difficult to slaughter it. I got my shirt dirty since it's raining. As my father put the knife on pig's neck, few drops of blood spread into my shirt and arms. I found it funny. I even laughed. We put hot boiled water over pig's body so the hair would be easy to wipe off. After that, time to cut the body of the pig into the desired weight the neighbor wants to buy. I felt proud since my father told my neighbor that I was his assistant. Hehehe. In the afternoon, my cousin and aunt arrived in our house since they were celebrating new year with us. We prepared food and I was the one who is assigned to make Spaghetti. Yummy. Ehemm.

 Then, we went to church to welcome new year. After mass, people were shouting  HAPPY NEW YEAR while the noise of the fireworks heard from outside.

December 30 is also Rizal Day!!!

God Bless!!

My Christmas Vacation

In this entry, I am going to tell you what I did during the Christmas vacation. And on how I spend it!

My entire vacation was just at our place, Brgy. Malapoc Norte! Below, I'm going to have a list of date with corresponding activity of mine.

December 17, this is when I packed my things up; my dirty and cleaned clothes which i have to brought back to our house since it's the start of the vacation. Before I went home, we went Metro Hi-Per, newest mall in Maasin City. We had some ice cream there after we stroll around the area. We shop for some stuffs (except for junk foods since my mother would be angry if I eat it) to bring home for my family. This is what we call pasalubong. It wasn't expensive yet comes from our heart. Me, I bought coffee and bread  for Papa, toasted cake for Mama and short jeans for my ate. After we stroll, we went to our bourding house and parted ways.

December 18, I went to mass at dawn with my family. After the mass, as we went on our way out of the Church, Dogs fight with each other that people were running away except me. One dog bumped against my leg. That's the time When I thought that I have to run to. I run back and hugged my father and cried. I was really afraid . I was shocked by what happened. On our way out to the church, people were asking why i cried. I was shy but it's just that I couldn't help but cry because I was really afraid. My heart beats faster and faster. Thank god that dog didn't bit me.

December 19-24, I attended mass again. Dec. 21, I walked with my sister on our way to church since our motor vehicle had no gasoline that is why we had to walk so we could attend the Mass! My parent's wasn't able to attend since my Mama's back is aching and my Papa had be with her. So, it was me and my sister alone to go to Church.And on our way, my sister kept on complaining that her biceps was hurt since I hold her tightly since I was afraid in the dark. There are few lights. We have flashlights with us but still I'm afraid. I'm afraid of what if we could see ghost or witch. Hehehe. My sister just laughed at me and whenever I loose holding her, she run then I act to cry to stop her.

December 23, evening, I received a message from LBC saying I have to claim package at their office.  After I read the message, I jumped with happiness.

December 24,  after lunchtime, I went to Maasin Proper with my sister and her friend to buy groceries for the Noche Buena. Before we went to Grocery store, we went to LBC station to get my package. Yahoooo. It was already in my hand. I'm so excited to be home to open and know what's inside. Thank you to Georg for the package!

It was my first time to buy groceries in which I am the one who will budget. I was so excited that time since that was I wanted to do to buy many groceries with many bags full of groceries with me upon going out of the store. During grocery time, I was happy since my crush called my name. I never expect him to call me but he did. Yahooooooooo. Hehehe. My sister lined up to the counter. It was a long wait since there were many people buying groceries and the lines are long in every counter. It was a very tiring day. As we arrived home (grandparent's house), we never rest. I opened the gift. I was happy with the inside since it was a small cute bear, towel which is colored by my favorite color which is blue and a lux soap. Soooo happy with it. We are the one who prepared the food with our aunt. Really tiring, I must say. Yet, enjoyable. After cooking, we went home and got ready for Mass. After mass, we ate dinner together and had some talks after. Love it.

This is how I spent my christmas vacation. You may say that there's nothing special but for me, I was satisfied by it.

Christmas Wish

Do you still remember when I said that there's a saying that if you completed the Simbang gabi (Misa de Gallo), your wishes will come true? Do you believe in that? Wanna know my wishes? Ok, I'll tell you.

For me, even if I didn't prove that wishes do come true if you completed the Misa de Gallo, I still believed in it. Many people I knew stated that there wishes did come true. Me, honestly, I'm not that into attending masses especially when it is during dawn since I hate to wake up at dawn. But last Misa de Gallo, I did my very best to wake up early in the morning just to attend the Simbang gabi, to complete it so I could make a wish. My family teases me about my wish. They teased me that it my crush who is my wish to be my boyfriend on 2012. With this, I laughed. If only they knew my wish. My wish is just simple. Simple for my family. I don't wish for any expensive material things. My wish is just for the happiness, good health and long lived parents. I wished that I could give happiness to my parents that I couldn't be a burden to them. For me, material things were just useless without my family. They are the most and precious thing I have now. I will let material things I have but not them. This is how much i love my family; my papa, mama and ate.

I'm not only wishing for my family but for the whole world. I'm wishing for a peaceful, safe and loving world since as what I have observed through news, our world is like a disaster. Calamities, wars and poverty are attacking us. I just wish devils won't win over the world. May the Lord blesses our world and guide us to good paths of life.

How I'm hoping for my wish come true. I do believe it will. May all your wishes come true too. God bless us all!!!

Christmas with Family

As what I'm always saying, Christmas is the time of family reunions where families gathers at their ancestral houses just to celebrate this special event with their loved ones. It is very important for the Filipinos to welc0ome the birthday of Jesus Christ. It's like Christmas will never be complete if we are away from them.

Last year (2010), I wasn't able to have Christmas with my family since I was in Manila that time. It was my aunts, uncles and cousins who are with me during the momentous event. I was there for a vacation. It was my first time to celebrate it there and away from my family. I would say, I really enjoyed being there during Christmas. It's just that I missed my family during that time. I'm not used to be away with my family especially during special occasions of ours. During that time, what I heard was only their voices talking to me over the phone which made my tears fall down from my eyes.  With that, I would say that I am happy that time but celebrating Christmas without them makes me feel that there's something missing. What I need was there presence at that moment.

That was  2010 Christmas. Celebrating 2011 Christmas with family was one of the happiest day of my life. I must say, it happened for the first time as far as I remember. I am celebrating Christmas with my family plus relatives. It's kinda weird that it was for the first time even if our houses are just few kilometers away from. I always mentioned that I love family gatherings that's why I was so happy during that time. I couldn't explain my happiness. Our celebration was just simple. We just had Noche Buena at my late grandfather's house (mother side) after we went to Mass together. Simple yet unforgettable, these two words are what I could describe my Christmas. God Bless us all!!!

Fiesta

I mentioned already before, Filipinos really really love fiesta. Every town or barangays here in Philippines had their saints their fiesta celebration is based on. Just like ours: our barangay just celebrated our fiesta as Sacred Heart of Jesus as our patron saint. People from other places gather in our barangay and visits houses they know to eat different foods the residence were preparing. Of course, lechon is always present. Almost all of the Filipinos love this food.

I can say that, as I witness our fiesta for many years, this recently fiesta we had was the best fiesta ever. It is because I had my loved ones with me. It was not all but at least few of them came. My uncle came home from abroad just to celebrate with us. Also, my best friends came. I was really happy. I went to church with them. I was bit disappointed since it is not pontifical mass since Bishop had many matters to do. That is why it was the monsignor who held the mass and it was called High Mass. I also went to disco with my friends. Disco is always present during night of our fiesta. People gathered at the barangay covered court to have a non-stop dancing with old and latest songs. Before, I never went to disco. I just stayed at our house and sleep. But with friends with me, I must go. I found it enjoyable especially in going there with my uncle.

Fiesta is so tiring yet worth it. We were very busy entertaining visitors and accomodate what they want. But, it was great since it felt like satisfying when many people came to your home. meaning, they like how you treated them. Some were I seen for the first time. Some were familiar to me since they were on our house during fiestas.

All I can say is our fiesta is unlimited enjoyable. It was an all out fun!

 Yahoooooo!

Looking forward for the next fiesta...hehehe...God bless! Sacrada Corazon De Jesus, pray for us!

Father's Day

One father is more than a hundred Schoolmasters

 "Any man can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a dad." -- Anne Geddes 

Like mothers, fathers also have special day, Father's Day that we celebrate in June. I have read a history of this special occasion for our fathers on this site: http://www.theholidayspot.com/fathersday/history.htm. It tells us how the father's day celebration came into existance. During this day, we are celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds and the most of all, honoring our father. We are honoring for their hardworks to provide us, their children, a shelter to live,  foods to eat, clothes to wear and everything we need. All what we have now is came from their sacrifices in going to farm, facing mountains of paperworks in office, waking up in dawn to catch fishes to sell and any works they can just to earn money to provide what their children need.

My father, Martin Alico, is one of those hardworking fathers the world has. I can see those sacrifices he has done to provide the basic needs of our family, also to earn money to send us to school to get our diplomas which he never had. He always told me and my older sister to study hard so we can achieve our dreams. "Dli ko gusto na mapareha mo nahu nga wa kahuman ug college". This is what our father always told us. This statement of his is simple yet so touching and inspiring. It inspires me to strive hard in my studies.

In my childhood, I remember many moments with my father than with my mother. Whenever I woke up, he was the person I looked for. And when I knew where he is, I went there. When my father went to our farm, I joined him. When he did the copras, I was with him. I did things I can that could help him like carrying woods, gathering water, and so on! Where ever he was, I was. Also, when I had a crush, he was the one to know it first than my mother. He never scold me when I confessed, instead, he reminded me that I'm too young for that matter. As I remember, I was 11 years old when I told him I already had a crush. Hehehe! I dream to be his Junior and until now, that dream of mine still exist. It makes me happy whenever I heard people say that I got my face from my father. I'm proud of it. When I got mad, he always did everything to make me smile. I am closer to my father than to my mother. Sometimes, I got my friends' envy since they are not close to their dad unlike me. He is one of the people who always there for me, one who has loved, cared and provided for me. He is one the two most important people in the world to me. Someone I love with all my heart. He is my guardian angel, my friend, my hero and most importantly, my Papa.

I  love my father very much. What I am or whatever I have now, all of these are what I owed from him and my mother. I've had a hard life, but my hardships are nothing against the hardships that my father went through in order to get me to where I started. I love you, Papa. If I will be given another life and God will ask me whom i like to be my father, I will still choose you. This is how much I love you. Happy father's Day to all fathers out there! God bless!

Mother's Day

Who fed me from her gentle breast
And hushed me in her arms to rest,
And on my cheek sweet kisses prest?
My Mother.

Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My mother.


Mother's day is annually celebrated by all countries in the world to honor our mother. But, here in the Philippines, it was celebrated during second Sunday of the month of May. It is an important occasion to pay tributes to the person who unlimitedly takes good care of us, the person who knows no boundaries in showing her love and a person who always does everything just to keep her children safe and happy. And I'm talking about no other than our mother.

Families have different ways in celebrating this important event in their lives. Some families treat their mother to a dinner out or shopping in the mall, spend time together in the park or have swimming in the beach. Some also treat their mother to a make-over like retouch, spa and body massage. some also just stayed at their home doing mother's daily routine like cleaning the house, wash the dishes and other things that is done by our mothers. They treat their mother as a Queen on that day.

Me,I didn't do all of that. I had my simple way of celebrating or thanking my mother for all the things she did to me. Being kind to her everyday and didn't give any problems to her is my way of showing my gratitude to her for taking good care of from the time I was still in her womb until now. I may not have have money to treat her anywhere or to buy her anything. All I can do is to be a good daughter to her as I can. She has no day off. She has no pay in taking good care for her family. But, we never heard any protest from her. I love my mother. What I am now, I owe it all to her. I can never be who I am now without her. There's nothing I can do to equate the things, the sacrifices you have done for us but to be a good child to you. This is all I can do. I can say that, even if we are not that rich, I am the luckiest for having a mother like mine.

Mother's day is our chance to show our love back to our mother. We should never miss this opportunity for us. One day is much enough for them since they never ask anything from us in caring and loving us. But the best way to show that we love them is to tell them every day that you love them. Be a good child to them. Let's not wait for a mother's day to come to show our love and care for our mother. Every day for me is a mother's day. and most importantly, let's pay tribute to the mother of all, The Blessed Virgin Mary. Happy mother's day Mama Mary! Happy mother's day to all mothers out there especially to my mother, Fe Alico! I love you, Mama!

1st Day in Manila

This is the story of my trip to Manila. If you want to read it from the beginning, click on the links here: Travel Part1 Travel Part2. The next part is here.

It was exactly 6:40 a.m. when we arrived in Manila. I stayed at the terminal waiting for my aunt and cousin to come and take me to their house since I didn't know or I forgot the way to their house. While waiting, I nourished my eyes with the beautiful views. Views which I've never seen in Maasin City!

At the terminal, I could see many baggages. Some people just arrived, like me, while others were waiting for the bus so they could go home to their provinces. I could also see people hugging each other for not seeing each other since long time. Maybe because they just missed each other. It was like family reunion. Ooooh, I remembered my parents! How I wanted to hug them at that moment!

At exactly 7:00 a.m., my aunt and my cousin came. While we were riding on the taxi, I looked outside. I could see buildings, subdivisions and many people pushing their carts. I could also see how the squatter area really looks like, that I have seen on television. I didn't feel any tiredness anymore since I enjoyed watching the views outside until I could see a familiar place, then my aunt told the taxi driver to stop. There we are! Finally, we arrived home.

House of my auntie

Now I felt tired and sleepy. I didn't care for the food in the table. I only wanted to go to bed and sleep and sleep and regain energy. When I layed in bed, I slept immediately. I woke up at 2pm, ate my lunch which was supposed to be my breakfast, and chatted with my cousins. We talked about things that happen in our province. I also met their kids. The last time I came here, they were single and now, they already have their own family. Many changes happened in four years. After chatting, my cousin asked me to go out and stroll around the place and i went with him. We walk around until we came to a familiar place. It was Makati Garden And Park. I could still remember that we went there already. We sat there at the bench and watched fish swimming in the pond. I also enjoyed watching the fountain. I could also see families, group of friends and lastl but not least, loving couples. Hehehe!

It was really a nice day for me because it was my first day here but I had already seen many beautiful views. How much more could I see if  I'll be staying here for many days or a month? I was looking forward into it. God Bless us all!

Merry Christmas

From http://allonzoinc.wordpress.com/

Adlaw Nga Natawhan Sa Akong Duha ka Ig-agaw

Cebuano: Duha ka buwan usa muabot ang adlaw nga natawhan sa akong duha ka ig-agaw nga sila si Renjie Acasio(Ek2x) ug Rico Acasio, Jr.(Epo), ang akong tiyo nga tua sa Armenia nagpabuhi nila papa ug baboy para lechon. Naandan na sa mga pilipino nga sa  mga dagkong selebrasyon, naa gayud lechon. Murag para namu, dili makompleto ang usa ka selebrasyon kung wala kini. Sa pagbuhi sa baboy, gasto tanan sa akong tiyo. Kami lang ang tigpakaon. Kada tan-aw sa baboy, naghinam-hinam na kami sa pag-abot sa adlaw. Hehehe. Nagsunod lang ang adlaw natawhan sa akong mga ig-agaw, mao nga gidungan lang ang pagssaulog niini. Nobyembre 27 ang adlaw sa maguwang ug 28 ang sa manghod. Kada tuig puli-pulihon sila ug adlaw. Niadtong unang tuig, sa adlaw sa maguwang gisaulog mao nga karun sa manghod napod. Getakda nga sa alas 4 sa hapon magsugod ang selebrasyon. Tungod ane, nakasimba pa gayud kami sa buntag. Sa among pag-abot ngadto sa ilang bay uban sa akong mga ante, ig-agaw, ug tiyo, naabtan namo nga nag-ampo pa. Niadtong pagkagamay sa akong mga ig-agaw, sakiton sila mao ng gipanaaran  nga kada tuig, siyam ka adlaw sa dilipa ang ilang adlaw nga natawhan, mag-ampo pahinungod ni San Vicente Ferrer kay siya man ang santo nga manambal. Naandan na kini namu nga tanang ig-agaw, sayd sa akong inahan, naa kami gedebosyunan nga usa ka santo. Sa nahuman na ang pag-ampo, oras na para mangaon. Hehehe. Daghan gayud kaayong bisita nga ilang mga silingan, bata man o tiguwang. Kaanindot tan-awon ang bata ug tiguwang nga nangaon. Nauwahe kami sa pagkaon kay nagkaguot na sa balay. Didto nalang kami gepakaon sa sala tungod sa kadaghan sa tawo. Espesyal gayud kami. Busog gayud kaming tanan. Pagkalami sa sud-an ilabina ang lechon. Hehehe. Human sa pagkaon, kinuhaay na ug balon. Ug siyempre, bilang usa sa mga ig-agaw, bisan dako na ko, wala ko nagpauwahe sa pagkuha sa balon. Naa gayud ko balon kada tuig. Sige lang kami pangatawa unya kuha ug litrato namong mga ig-agaw. Alegre gayud pag-ayo. Kanindot sa gibati nga nagkatigum kaming mga ig-agaw. Kami tanan nalipay. Nalingaw kami. Murag para nahu, ato nga mga orasa, mibalik ko sa pagkagamay. Ako nagtan-aw sa sunod pa nga selebrasyon sunod tuig puhon. Naghinam-hinam nako mukuha ug balon. Hahaha. Mahal naho akong mga ig-agaw. Tagaan unta sila kanunay ug kabaskog sa lawas. Ang Ginoo manalangin kanunay sa among pamilya.

English: Two months before the birthday of my two cousins, my uncle, who worked in Armenia, asked my father to raise a pig for a lechon. It was in Filipino tradition that there would be lechon during big celebration. For us, the celebration would not be complete without it. As the pig being raised, it was my uncle who expend all what it needs. All we have to do is to feed it. As we saw it, we're so excited for the celebration. Their birthdays is on consecutive days, Nov. 27 for the elder and Nov. 28 for the younger. The day of celebration is alternating every year. Last year, it was celebrated on the elder's birthday, that's why it was on the younger's this year. Celebration was set at 4pm, Sunday, after church. As we arrived at their house, there was a group of people who prayed there. When my cousins were still young, they are sickly so they promised that every year, nine days before their birthdays, they will pray dedicated to St. Vicente Ferrer because he is the saint that heals. It was on our family tradition, mother side, that all of us, my cousins, we are devoted to a Saint. After the prayer, it was eating time. Hehehe! There were many visitors, their neighbors, young and old. Good to see them while eating! Because of many people who attended the celebration, they just serve us at the living room. All of us were full. Dishes were delicious especially the lechon. Hehehe! After we eat, it was time to get balloons. And, of course, as one of the cousin, even if I'm already old enough for it, I still get my balloon. I had balloons every year. We do nothing but laugh and taking some pictures with our cousins. We really had fun. It's in feeling that we, cousins, are gathered again. All of us were happy. We really enjoyed it. For me, at that time, I went back being childish. I'm looking forward to the next celebration next year. I'm so excited to get my balloon. Hahaha! I love my cousins. May God give them good health! God Bless our family!

My Family

My family is just composed of four members (father, mother, sister, and me). My parents came both from an ordinary family. Before they got married, they only had a simple dream: to have simple and happy life and to be able to raise their children well in a way that they can send us to school and be able to finish a college degree. These are their dreams. And this is what they did when they got married. Even if we are not rich, my parents were able to give us what we need through their hard works. And I'm proud to have them as my parents.

In my 19 years of existence, I can't say that we are happy all the time. Of course, there were problematic times, especially financial matters, but my parents doubled their hard works to solve it. Through this, it inspired me to really finish my studies. Through my parents' small business which is tinagak (abaca product), copras, and 1 motorcycle called Habal-habal in our place, my parents were be able to provide our family needs.  The motorcycle is sometimes used by my father to transport passengers from  Brgy. Malapoc Norte to Maasin City. My parents kept all problems away from us: they did not let us to help them, and often did not tell us about problems. This seems unfair to me because we are family and we should solve problems together. Still, understanding them is what I can do to help them. I know all they want for us is to not worry about problems and just to focus on our studies.

My family is very close. We always eat together and talk about the matters in school, home and work. We also go to church together during Sundays. Sometimes, we watch television together or go to the beach. We have happy moments when being together, even though, as what I mentioned before, we were not all the time happy. There were misunderstanding and quarrels, but when having this, we wouldn't let the day pass without fixing this up. There were also times when it took days to fix it.

Let me tell you a short story about my family on why we became four. When my parents got married, they only planned to have just one kid so they can raise the child very well since they are not so well off. And by this, my older sister was born. As she grew up, she played alone during days. She didn't have any playmate since they lived in a place without neighbors that time. During nights, my sister always cried, asking my parents to buy a baby so she can have playmate. Because of this, my parents made me. And this is how we became four. Hehehe!

With all what happened in our family life, I can say that we became closer and stronger. I know trials, challenge and problems are inevitable. All we can do is to help each other. We can pass everything that matters. We will work hand in hand to solve those trials, challenges and problems that will come to our family. All I can say is even a single moment, never in my whole that I will regret for being in the family where I belong. I love my imperfect ordinary family. God Bless our families!