If I Can Turn Back Time

This article is dedicated to all my classmates, friends and mentors in CSR Batch 1986.

Twenty-five years had quickly swift by without seeing any one of my elementary and high school friends and classmates. We parted ways after graduation and set up to our different directions, some proceeded to the university and  to some who did not make it to college. Some married early as I am one of them 🙂 and have their own families, and for some they opted to be single maybe for life or still waiting for the right partner to be with and spend the rest of their lives. Well, that’s life…  but I believe that each one has his own life story to tell.

Who could ever thought that all these years without any contact, no addresses to locate and yet through the help of  modern technology, friends and classmates meet again through the social network – FACEBOOK!!!  Not only that, it makes the batch closer to each other once again, though far and near, chatting online, posting wall or private messages and showcasing photos and videos of special events, memoirs of high school life that pulled us all closer to one another once again. Any messages can be easily shared and disseminated to others.

When I was reading the morning BBC News online, I was so touched to the story of a boy who was kidnapped 3 years ago in China and he was found and returned to his family. His father made all efforts to find him through the social network and thanks to the country’s half a billion internet users, he was spotted in one of the provinces in China and finally restored and reunited to his family.

Wow!!! Who could have ever thought that the Colegio de Sta. Rita Batch 1986 is also reunited through the social network? And the most important thing is, it’s going to hold its 25th year Alumni Homecoming in March 2011. Tears of joy flowing from my eyes when I saw the photos of my batch mates posted by our classmate Bella during their recent get-together party. My special thanks to Leila, Ursali, Juliet, Bella and Christie for tagging photos for me from time to time. As I was quietly browsing all the photos one by one in their albums, seeing the sweet smiles of my old pals, I didn’t even noticed the tears flowing down my cheeks. I missed everyone, I missed high school days and I felt the pain of the missing part of myself. The part of my youth back in San Carlos City. I always knew that no matter what will I become now, in success and failures that I had in life, my life as a teenager together with my friends, classmates, teachers and everyone I knew had been playing a special part of who I am now. I may not be able to remember all their names but as I was reminiscing the past, bit by bit I started recalling them one by one. But of course, please don’t blame me for not remembering everyone’s names. It’s over 25 years now. 🙂 However, nothing much had changed in our looks, maybe just  slight changes, as some have grown taller and some have become chubbier. Isn’t it something to be thankful for? We all have grown up in sizes and ages as well but what has never changed is the friendship and camaraderie regardless of distance and time between each other. Let us not weary of our present status because as quoted by B.T. Washington,

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life but by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.”

Yes, it’s true, some of us may have gone as far as UK, Middle East  and some in Asia & Australia and while others stayed in San Carlos City but the fact is, we are still united as one, we belong to our CSR Family. Miles away, I may be miles away from the group but my heart remains a Ritarian. The stamp of my Alma Mater can never be erased within me.

The countdown to the big day, the 25th Alumni Homecoming Batch ’86 is about to begin. How I wish I could be there, to share the joys and laughter of my high school friends, classmates and mentors.  I am hoping that through this blog,  they hear me out for what I have to say, something that’s from within,  the last memories I have kept all these years, trying to think back all of those times we shared.  All of those days we were there together. If I could turn back time, I would have done it. But I still hope that someday, we can all still come and gather, share the memories of  the past once more, all the fun times together and continue the friendship we had to the present and in the days to come. I know we might find a way for another reunion!!! A reunion that I can be there for everyone.

To Leila, how grateful I am for all the efforts that you’ve made to gather everyone for this great event, for keeping us all posted and updated to whatever is going on. I am so proud to tell the world about you Lei, you always have proven to be the best of friends, a leader of all times. I am two thumbs-up to you my friend. 🙂

I may not be physically around but my heart is with you all. I am missing you all. May God bless everyone.

Best regards all the way from Bangkok, Thailand.

(Meriam Maravilla-Arpilleda)

 

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High School Life

My Justintime Turned Fourteen Today

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It was on a cold and chilly morning 14 years ago when I was between fear, pain and excitement to seeing a cute, strong and healthy baby boy. Thank God, it’s you…

It didn’t matter to me giving up my career to stay in bed for six long months to save the fetus in my womb, and I was sure I wasn’t wrong because I got you. You’re one of the best things that ever happened to me. You are my precious jewel, my son, I love you very much…

The years pass swiftly, today you’re turning into a handsome young man, full of dreams and hopes… I could not express the joy, a feeling of a mother looking at her boy she used to cuddle and sing lullabies, read stories and put him to sleep. As I looked at you as you sleep I couldn’t help but smile reminiscing those moments you played around as I did my cross stitch. When you tried to push back your eyelids and resisted to sleep when you wanted to watch Tom and Jerry Show. How you seriously asked your cousin’s friend to be your girlfriend when you were three. On the other side of you, I was so proud when you don’t cry out loud when Mommy said no if you want to buy something beyond my budget. And how you had convinced Daddy’s livestock costumers by showing them your empty bottles to close the deals because you want to go home and eat lunch and watch cartoon movies.

It’s always been my prayers that you will be able to achieve the highest level of your dreams. To give you the best education no matter what the cost for that’s the best legacy I could ever leave you behind. Wealth and fortunes will be lost and can be taken away from you but the things that you learned in life will never be. And that will be your ladder to whatever you wanted to be in the future.

All that I could ever wish for is that you remain to be content and learn to live the simplest life possible, keeping love and respect for your parents and siblings, friends and the people around you who fondly love you. Keep up the faith in God that you have, be utmost in prayers seeking the Lord’s guidance and protection. We all know that you are loved by God, and he allowed you to experience how to trust in him at all times. He has never left you nor forsaken you. He has provided everything that you asked for. As we used to call you when you were a small kid “Just-In-Time” for God had always been just-in-time for you in all circumstances.

May God richly bless you and keep you. Happy Birthday Justin Boy!!! Dad, Mom, Ate Jo, Bliss, Olel, Mama-lola and your Nene love you very much…

There’s So Much to Be Thankful For

A colleague sent me a message in lantalk asking: “If you knew that today is the last day of your life, what will you do differently?”

Without a doubt and hesitation I replied, “Praise and thank God for my life….” I smiled while sending back my reply because I knew I made my answer right.

I Thessalonians 5:18 says “Be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life….”

Each one of us may have different levels of experiences at different times. If I am to ask you now, how would you react to this? Of course, when we are happy, it’s so easy for us to say “Thank you Lord.” Maybe for some, by expressing through singing, dancing or prancing around and tell everyone you meet how happy you are.

But what if it’s on a different level? When you are in tough situation, can you still say “Thank you Lord for all my troubles?”The Bible says, “Be thankful in season or out of season.”

As my son Justin was in the hospital emergency room during his accident, the doctor said he needed a surgery. Before I talked to the doctor I told my son to pray with me. And part of my prayer was “Lord thank you that everything will be fine with him because you are in full control of this situation.” And indeed God made a way for him and no surgery ever happened.

Just recently, the Immigration Officer withheld him at the Nong Khai border. But in less than 10 minutes after we prayed for him, the officer allowed him to leave with the group he was traveling with. Not only that, he was given a note for the officer at the Thai Embassy in Laos to grant him a 90 days visa when others had only 15 days visa. Isn’t it something to be thankful for?

Some days we forget to look around us. Some days we can’t see the joy that surrounds us. Why? It’s because we are so caught up inside ourselves… Indeed, it’s up to us to be the change. Even though we all can still do more, yet there’s so much to be thankful for.

As we look beyond ourselves, let us try to see the many instances, when God gave us such abundant blessings we need to be thankful for…blessings of love, life, family and friends, our career, our plans and dreams. If we do, we certainly can say there are not enough right words to express how thankful we are for each day, hour, minute or second that we live.

P.S. Thanks to Ms. Joanne Rose for asking me a thought provoking question because you inspired me to write this article. 🙂

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When You Wonder Why Things Turned Out the Way They Did…

The past days were quite hectic, classes, sports day, in-service training on a weekend when we are supposed to be relaxing at home and the disturbing low CBC (complete blood count) that certainly affects me causing weakness and telling me to slow a bit down when i knew I had to cope up with everything on time.

But all I know is that all things worked together for our good although sometimes we don’t see how they could…We don’t understand if we don’t see His plan and yet we can trust his heart.

Somehow as I was reading my emails, I came across a very short story of one whose character and attitude taught me lessons to ponder upon. It tells of how a mere taxi driver coped up with his day-to-day driving and adjusting to the many different attitude and lifestyles of his passengers and other drivers he met on the road.

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.

My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, ‘Hey, why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!’ This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call: The Law of the Garbage Truck. He said: “You know, many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage – frustration, anger, disappointment and sadness. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it, so sometimes they’ll dump it on you.”

His advice? “Don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don’t pick up the garbage others are trying to get rid of. If you do, you’ll take it with you and will end up dumping it on people around you, at work, at home, or on the streets.” (story retold)

If you want to be happy, do not let garbage trucks – your own or other people’s – overtake your day. Let go of anything that’s not positive because life is only ten percent of what you make it and ninety percent is how you take it!

In addition, love the people who treat you right and just simply ignore the ones who don’t and won’t. At any rate you can pray for them. Just as our speaker in the seminar had quoted Plato’s saying, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” Wow! It’s true, we just don’t know that by just simply giving a smile or saying hi and hello, whatsoever, we can be the only right thing that ever happened to their lives that very day. Be blessed to be a blessing today. Happy Hearts Day!!! 😀