My house is alive with laughter, conversation, and the smell of freshly cooked food. This is what Filipinos do: gather together and eat. While I am extremely tired I can appreciate the gesture of my wife's friends rallying around her to give her support.
My mother in-law collapsed on Sunday evening in the Philippines partially due to the extreme heatwave that has hit part of this island country. Like most senior Filipino's Nanay, (translated "Grams") also has high blood pressure. She was taken to the hospital and is fine for now. However the dear old saint is still feeling dizzy and weak.
Tess and I didn't find out till yesterday and my wife took the news hard. In fact, she couldn't sleep well last night and broke down into tears at work. I am glad that she has friends at work who supported her throughout the day and are here now. I am also glad that she is leaving for the homeland this coming Sunday evening as previously planned. I will miss her dearly but is right that she go home so she can be by her Mom's side.
I have been keeping track of my father's trip across Canada and texting him regularly throughout the past two days. While I think I would have done it on my own, he also asked me to do it so I could call my mom (who stayed in Red Deer) with his responses to keep her posted as well on his progress. (It is a pure logistic and fun exercise to decide which communication medium to use to efficiently communicate with each other.)
This morning I knew that he was already in Ontario around Thunder Bay but he did not respond to my text. Later I BBm'd Lily, and she said she hadn't heard from him. I must confess, I had a bit of a panic attack. Coupled with what was going on with my mother in-law, I guess freakin' out was warranted. We tried to keep busy but I know we were both watching the clock getting more uncomfortable with each passing minute. Thankfully we got responses around 1 pm my time and my Dad informed us that he had simply been in a Roger's dead zone. There is still the last leg of his trip and I pray it comes to an uneventful end.
I long for a time when each member of my family will be secure and taken care of. I realize that this is a selfish wish and many will never see the fruition of similar dreams but I still think it is worth striving for. Why not aim for something and try for it? Is this not better than just taking a passive ride through life?
It is getting late. I guess I can wax on more thoughts later. After all...
"Tomorrow is another day..."
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