Larger Than Life

I am thisclose to going completely nuts with the crazy news I get to read daily.  From last Tuesday's acquittal of Hubert Webb after languishing in jail for 15 years for rape and murder, to the release of the Morong 43 who were taken into AFP's custody as they were suspected to be NPAs (a charge they vehemently denied while in captivity, and then later admitting on national television that they really are indeed NPAs and not health workers as earlier reported), to Trillanes finally making it to the Senate (literally!), to Regine Velasquez wearing a flaming red gown and rocker boots on her wedding day.  

I have to admit, the news itself has become some sort of a telenovela that takes you to the edge of your seat, causing you to pathetically anticipate the next episodes, and wondering what on earth is going on in Pnoy's head?  Has his failed courtship with his socialite of a stylist affected his judgment so much that even jailed AFP comptroller Carlos Garcia who was charged, tried, and convicted of plunder has been recently set free with the promise that he will pay back the 303-million pesos he embezzled from the public coffers.  Last Saturday, he happily drove home to his equally guilty wife in posh Loyola Grand Villas in Katipunan.

Of course that's just me thinking.

So last night's news on our way home from work appealed to me like spoiled meat served on expensive china.  Until the anchors started talking about these two really interesting individuals.

The airport employee who returned the P1-million cash left behind by a passenger.

I forgot his name, but I will always remember what he said when they interviewed him after he handed over the money to its rightful owner.

Hindi kami pinalaki ng mga magulang namin na kunin ang hindi amin.  Hindi akin ang pera na yun, kaya isinoli ko.

The magulang he was referring to was his aged mother who, at the time he found the wealth, was suffering from ovarian cancer.  He could have provided his mother with the expensive medical assistance she so badly needed.  He could have easily bought the medicines that will help ease her pain.  But he did not.

The President sent him a signed shirt for his honesty.  He proudly raised the shirt for the cameras, by his mom's casket who finally succumbed to the disease a few days back.

Alam ko, nasan man ang nanay ko ngayon, tuwang tuwa sya at proud na proud sya sa amin.

I know too.

Aling Ludy

She is 73 years old and lives alone with her bed-ridden husband.  Her children already have their own families.

Sumumpa ako, sa Diyos, nang ikasal kami, na magsasama kami sa hirap at ginhawa.  Walang iwanan.  Kaya ako nandito, kinakaya ko ang lahat ng ito.  Hindi ako umaasa sa iba, ayoko ng ganun.  Ayoko na matawag akong inutil o walang silbi.  Hanggang kaya ko, maghahanap buhay ako para sa amin.  May mga anak ako, pero may sarili na silang pamilya.  Ayoko naman silang abalahin.  Hindi pa ako humingi ng tulong sa kahit na kanino, ngayon lang.

It turns out that her 40-year-old sewing machine, her only tool in making ends meet for her and her sick husband, has finally called it quits.  She wrote the news station and requested for a new one, as she is incapable of purchasing such an expensive equipment.

They surprised her with a brand new sewing machine!  The celebrated news anchor herself delivered it to Aling Ludy's home.  She was holding back tears as she watched the media people assemble her new tool right before her eyes.  She offered to take the measurements of the news anchor and promised to send her a dress that she will create herself.  Unlike celebrities and what-have-yous who tend to express their gratitude with queued tears and wise anecdotes, Aling Ludy's "thank you" was straightforward and sincere:

Sa inyong lahat na tumulong upang mabili ang hiniling kong makina, maraming maraming salamat mula sa kaibuturan ng aking puso.  Maraming, maraming salamat.

Ordinary people, yes.  But with really extraordinary traits.  Their stories make the nightly news worth watching.  They will not take you to the edge of your seats, or leave you seething with rage.  They cause you to see life from a more meaningful perspective, and believe that in all the chaos and confusion, lies and deceit that has become normal in our daily existence, there are still some who have chosen to take the straight and narrow path.  And although the rewards for being honest, faithful, and industrious  may not be lofty (a signed shirt, a sewing machine), we all know how priceless these people may be in the sight of the One who sees everything.  The ordinary, mundane ones.  They shine the brightest in a world darkened by pain, hate, greed, and lies.

I applaud you Aling Ludy and airport employee.  You are larger than life.

Sir Art: Have A Hop-Hop-Hoppy Birthday

I chanced upon the videos of my former boss' birthday party ; today of all days when I am struggling to lift my spirits and feel the excitement of attending my first Christmas party with my new company.

It has been more than a year sinceI bid Bluebean goodbye, and the only person I was able to speak my heart out to before I left was Sir Art.  And now I realize that he will be turning a year older in a few days, and I so deeply want to wish him the happiest birthday he could ever have. 

He has become more like a friend to me than a boss.  There are just too many things that I learned and found odd about him than I could ever enumerate in this blog.  And at the rate I am going, I would probably be showing up at the party later with a bright red nose if I start recounting all the happy memories I shared with him and his family.

There are days when I would hear a silly song, read a grammatically-challenged line, see a long-forgotten 70's pinoy actor, a bald man, half-finished KFC chicken wings (even the clutter on my desk) and I would suddenly remember him and the smartass things that he is sure to say when he comes across these kinds of silly things.  And I would realize that I probably would never find another boss as cool, smart, at times insensitive but always willing to get you a cake to make up for whatever he said or did that made you cry as he was to me, to all of us.

Last year I caught him online on the eve of his birthday.  He said he was drinking tea by his lonesome, and not at all throwing a party like he used to do.  I greeted him a happy birthday, and he said "thanks thanks" (and this was at that time when I have already ceased reporting for work but have never really formalized my resignation).  He would always say thank you that way, "thanks thanks".

To you Sir Art, Happy Happy Happy Birthday! Thanks thanks for everything!!!