i have a camera. i can take photos. i could have used my phone’s camera or the nikon dslr i bring around. but for some greater, unknown, subconscious reason i didnt really take photos during my trip to mindanao this year. there were some photos, yes, but very few and far between.

i have been in mindanao since june 14. id be away from work for a month by the time i get back to manila next week. i have planned to do some paperwork and work out obligations but more importantly i came here to nestle with my parents and allow myself more family time.  i realized i needed to invest more time with mundane but real live moments with my mother and father especially in their winter years.  ordinary lunches, taking out the trash for my mom, accompanying my dad for a daytrip to iligan, merienda at chowking and desserts at candy’s with my sisters, watching documentaries with my dad and carlo on my flat screen tv that i only get to use when im in mindanao.  all those sorts. they are important to me.

work is important as well. i am aware enough of the need to earn but for whom?  what is life but a series of events you choose to live through. at the end of this life, you check what youve done.  and at the end of my life, i would want to say that more than work, designing and earning money, the more important aspect is the people i love and to enjoy life with them, literally.

the past few weeks ive spent time with my sister and brother-in-law at the beach, buying at the wet market and at save more with my mother, taking a stroll with my dad along velez st and eating bananacue, staying home with my sister watching movies or taking a walking tour with carlo around the city and making pit stops along the way.  ive gained 5 lbs from all the food, celebrated my birthday playing wii with cousins and ive taken no photos to document all this small events. nothing to post on facebook or twitter. well, maybe except for one.

i wish my parents good health, my sisters fulfilled lives, my brother-in-law security and more music, my nieces self-sufficiency, my nephew a focused life and carlo a flourishing career as a painter.  i wish me a productive life so i can celebrate more life moments with my family. so help me God.  cheers and may the good Lord bless y’all!