Let’s Drink To That

The more they stay the same..or so the saying goes..

I was feeling quite introspective today as I was pondering over the goings-on in our family. What came to mind was how very true the simple teachings we were taught when we were still young. Among those, we were taught that whenever we did something wrong, we were taught early on that we had to say “I’m sorry…” Even to the point of mimicking our parents, we were taught that whenever we were at fault, we had to apologize.

During those times, there was no such thing as pride. If you were at fault, you had to apologize. It was as simple as that.

As we got older, and as our eyes were slowly opened to the realities of life, and when we sometimes feel as though we can stand on our own, we sometimes become guilty of this thing they call “pride”. Even though we are at fault, sometimes we find it hard to extend an apologizing hand first.

Sometimes I wish you could see through my eyes. I wanna take you back to the time not so long ago. When they would not allow as much as a fly to land on your skin. When they did all that they could do just so no harm would come to you.

Before you start pointing fingers, we must ask ourselves, have we taken a look at the mirror lately?

Another belated post. LoL. I’ve been meaning to post about my musings as the year got underway but was just too damn lazy to do so.

First of all, I was feeling melancholic at the start of the year. This was mainly due to the reason of me not making it to the sendoff of my brother Ray. He had been arranging his work papers to Dubai during the 2nd half of last year and before the year was over, he got word that he’d be leaving early in 2009. He will be there for a 2-year work contract. When he got word that his final travel date would be January 7, he immediately texted me asking me when I’d be home. My base off from work would not be until the 10th so I asked him to delay his departure so that we’d still see each other before he leaves. There was no way I could escape from my work schedule and I was in Kidapawan that time.

Emotionally, I didn’t know how to describe how it felt thinking that he’d be leaving soon. Growing up separated by just 2 years (I am older, but I could easily pass off as younger than him..LoL), there was the usual sibling rivalry. It even is funny now that I think of the memories. My brother and I used to sleep in 1 bed together when we were still little. He was malikot when he slept, often kicking and turning about throughout the night, and I’d be awakened by this trait of his. At times, I’d punch him when this happened. Naturally, he would be at the losing end since I was awake, while he wasn’t..LoL. We weren’t that close growing up as I think I sort of looked at him as competition. Even in sports, we both were very competitive. I was even closer to my friends and classmates than I was with him. Oftentimes, we couldn’t converse without one eventually raising his voice. This did not get by without our parents noticing and numerous times, they even brought this to our attention. Blood was thicker than water, they told me.

As far as I remember, the turning point came when we were separated from each other for a long time, when he decided to work in Manila as a callcenter agent. When he came back after that, things were different. I couldn’t quite describe how, but it was just that. We were more gentle with each other. Another thing that brought us closer to each other was the game of badminton. We became partners and on a number of occasions, we went out of town to on road trips to join badminton tournaments. Yes, the usual conflicts between us were still there, but somehow, we were already communicating and it was easier to talk things over, unlike our situation before. When I was assigned in Bacolod, he’d text me whatever was happening back home, sometimes also to blow off some steam. I guess our bonding developed at that point. It came at a later part in our lives, but I think what was important was it did.

..1st runner up during our first tournament..

The whole family went to Cebu to send him off at Mactan International Airport last January 7..while I had to be contented with being passed around and talking to everybody on the mobile phone while they were at the pre-departure area. My brother is now an OFW.

Blood indeed is thicker than water.

Ingat always dinha brod!

I was quite…well..what would be the best term to describe it..ummm..astounded(?) when after dinner today, an officemate of mine told me, “In 20 years time, mark my words, Andrew will be the richest among your brood..”

He was referring to my brother Andrew whom he got to meet during the course of the summer wherein they spent the most part of their summer vacation here in Bacolod. True, he said that Andrew lacks the maturity and behaves quite like a child most of the times (an example of which is that he could easily be bribed by the promise of food..lol), but that officemate of mine saw in Andrew a trait which he saw in my father. From his words, he told me that he had just gotten to know us for a short time, but he saw in Andrew a trait which only he possessed, which he got from our dad. He told me, only Andrew got up early in the morning to get busy with whatever things needed to be done. Meaning, that he was industrious, which unlike us, would be content on spending the time on bed early in the morning, especially if there weren’t any things that immediately needed attending to.

As I pondered on this thought, I smiled. Perhaps, this was the Johari window at work. I have never quite thought of it that way, but knowing how perceptive that particular officemate of mine was, I guess he did have a reason to be able to come up with that inference.

I hope he is right though. All in all, I am hoping that all of us siblings would be successful in whatever endeavor we choose to undertake.

That is the beauty of being in a family. I love my family. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world.