For A

I haven’t been sleeping well these last three months. It’s a long story, something for another day. I am in physical pain most days and I know I can’t be an easy person to be with on days when the pain is toughest. But I’d like to thank A for his patience and encouragement, his thoughtfulness and constant [...]

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Great Transformer Groupie

To A, with all my love. I miss you, honey.
If you’ve never seen grown men become feral over toys, ehr, collectible action figures, all you need to do is come on a Great Transformers Day mall tour.
On a day such as this, they come in surprising numbers. They wait in droves, squeezed in uncomfortably close quarters [...]

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Good Autism Practice

It’s plain and simple common sense. When you really look at how autism practices are set up, and these include diagnosis and various interventions, sometimes, all it takes is common sense to weed out the good from the bad. But do parents of individuals with autism care? Of course we do! Yet, like so many parents, we [...]

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Gut Reaction

This is a column posted for herword.com last January 27, 2009.
Alphonse, his nanny, my husband, and I were watching cable television early Saturday evening. “Kung Fu Hustle,” dubbed in Filipino, was on, and for lack of anything else interesting to watch in that time block, my channel-surfing fingers finally settled on that movie.
I love “Kung [...]

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An Early Christmas

When you find yourself on the receiving end of kindness and thoughtfulness by a loved one, the feeling of happiness is indescribable. Such feelings are common in my 17-year marriage with A, the person who showers me with his love and kindness, even after his wife has grown fat (then again, I’ve never ever been [...]

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A Downpour Of Love

It was early evening on the 13th, just another seemingly ordinary Thursday. I had just come from the bath when the car horn blared a few times to signal A’s coming. I heard Alphonse run as fast as his feet could carry him as he rushed to meet his dad in the garage. This was always Alphonse’s best time [...]

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(How I Found) The Ultimate Love Connection

September 20, 2008
This is for A, love of my life, who has given me 17 great years of The Ultimate Love Connection. Thank you for loving me even when I am mental, for bearing with me even when I am exasperating, and for sharing with me the best 27 years of my life. We made this [...]

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Lost-And-Found Daddy

This was written by my youngest sister Jasmine. I asked her permission to put it here in honor of our Dad’s 67th birthday today. I am not able to write about this as bravely as she has and so, I am borrowing her words today. Thank you, Jas.

Daddy and his first grandchild, Alexander
And to our dearest Daddy, the [...]

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A Fairy Tale Come True

I was officially released from my “husband-imposed quarantine” (sorry, hon) last Friday, when A, Alex and I took in the third-to-the-last show of Cinderella at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). By then, while I still couldn’t wear abrasive clothing (like jeans) which would scratch at my healing abdomen, I was well enough to [...]

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Just Because

A took these out from his pocket a few nights ago and handed them over to me without a word.

Four Hello Kitty pens, a pink nail clipper (now attached to my housekeys) and a small metal sliding-top box for medicines or trinkets
“What are these for, honey?” I asked him.
“Nothing, they’re just some things I thought you’d [...]

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