Day 7 - Someone who has made your life WORTH living for.
Without battling an eyelash, it would have to be my family. When I was younger, I knew I have a big brother, but when my parents let my late Aunt Dada take care of him, somehow I forgot I have a sibling, until we met again during his pre-school graduation. Our relationship wasn't that good from the start - we would fight every now and then, and sometimes it could be very violent. I remember throwing him a small plant pot, and he threw it back to me and hit the side of my forehead.
My sister was born 8 years after I was born, and because sometime in my life I knew how it felt being the "only child," adjusting to a new member of the family didn't come as an easy thing for me. I felt then that my sister stole my late childhood away from me - as I cannot play with the neighborhood kids anymore, and at times I would think of hurting her, and at times I did.
Despite the sibling rivalries, it's so amazing that we became really, really close as we grew older (and wiser). People around us often times commend our close relationship, and I really am thankful they're my siblings. Actually, I am very thankful I am born into this family - I have the best parents - who took care of us, understood us, and loved us unconditionally.
We are originally 5 people in the family. In a household of 5 people with different passions, different preferences, we seemed to jive really well. I guess bottom line is respect. Respect that each one of us is different, and that even if buttons are pushed at times, we know in our hearts that we love each other and nothing can really tear us apart - even dad's death.
The picture above was the last Christmas of us together. Barely three months after, daddy died... but the family is still united and more closer than ever.
Day 08 - Someone who made your life HELL, or treated you like SHIT.
I am very thankful that no one has really made my life a living hell, but I could say of someone who has made my life somewhat like that. I met her on the last few months of fourth grade, but her attitude changed in the fifth grade. I don't want to tell much about it - what she did, what her name is - because this blog is public, and I don't want to open the "Pandora's Box" anymore, although I have talked about this in this blog sometime ago.
A year or two ago, I got to watch some episodes of "High School Reunion," an American reality show. In that season, some girls still carried their grudge over a popular cheerleader who treated them like garbage during their High School days. When they confronted the cheerleader, the cheerleader then defended herself saying, it was during High School... she was young, she was not mature enough... but when she got married and had kids, her outlook and attitude changed. I guess in a way I could relate this to my former friend. As kids we tend to do nasty things to each other (I did that to my sister), but as time pass, all of us get matured. She hasn't or didn't say sorry to me, but me receiving her wedding invitation in 1998 healed all wounds. In a way, I am thankful that despite the years of not speaking to each other, she still hasn't forgotten about me when she got married.
Day 09 - Someone you DIDN'T want to let go, but just drifted.
In year 2000, my brother acquired his very first cell phone - a phone that doesn't just make calls, it can create text messages as well. In the next few months, he cannot keep up with its expenses, so in a way, I inherited the cell phone. With cell phones being new, Filipinos started sending text messages blindly - in the hopes that someone would answer the message. From pen pals to phone pals, the word "text" pals entered the scene.
I have "met" quite a lot of people through this, and one person I could never, ever forget is the man named Lei Paras, who sent me a text message after my number appeared at a book of different text message, of which my brother forwarded a message.
To segue a bit, there's this article I saw from a magazine of which I copied. First parts went,
Sometimes, people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become.Well... I never met Lei in person - we just exchanged text messages. Being the very emotional, negative, fragile person that I was back then, Lei helped changed my life. I didn't get to know him long enough, but one of the things I remembered him telling me was to search for this book, "The Greatest Miracle in the World" by Og Mandino because it will be a life changing book. Actually, he said quite a lot of good things that help me start my path to change, but as he sent me some great advices, he just suddenly stopped talking to me. I don't know what happened, but I guess I could regard him as my angel. Maybe his purpose was already done so he just left.
You never know who these people may be (possibly your room mate, neighbor, professor, long lost friend, lover or even a complete stranger), but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that moment they will affect your life in some profound way.
Wherever you are, thank you so much!
Day 10 - Someone you NEED to let go, or wish you didn’t know.
I will keep this one simple - same answer as Day 8.
*** Jenn ***
