Remembering Miriam

It will never be easy to say goodbye. On my 32nd birthday during the Holy Week, we had decided to finally put one of our dog’s to sleep.

Miriam was a shy but confident dog. But in the last weeks, her health was deteriorating quickly and no amount of medicine could stop it. She had developed renal failure.

I remember crying hard when I last approached her before I left for Makati that last weekend. On the car leaving the house, my nephew said that Miriam still managed to get up and peek through her place.

One last goodbye

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Moving on, moving out

It has been exactly half a year since Mon and I have both last eaten in Banapple.  These past few days, I could not stop thinking of their hickory smoked barbecue (the same thing I ate from there the last time) and we had a perfect reason to visit the row of restos in Tuscany, McKinley Hill (HAPPY 5Y8M!!). For the record, I have been only once to the Venice Piazza since December, and I have never set foot in Tuscany. Tagging along Faye, we walked all the way “uphill” to the Banapple branch there. I was relieved to feel that I no longer have any uneasy feelings on my chest over challenging walks. In fact, I always have a happy feeling of finally being able to go places on my feet again, as if the ordeal from months ago was just a surreal memory. Thank you Lord. =)

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At the bridge

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.
— Mary Frye, 1932

It is a very sad day for us, as we heard the news of the death of Mon’s pet kitty. Uyu was found dead and probably deliberately killed by unknown men late last night. We still find it hard to fathom what pushed these people to kill such an innocent and gentle animal. It was really hard to believe that something as heinous as this can happen to Uyu.

Uyu while taking a nap last February

Uyu while taking a nap last February

Uyu was an older brother of my pet Miso (another brother was Popo), and it seems only yesterday when they were born a day before Valentine’s last year. I had been sporadically crying all day as it was really upsetting. It really pained me so hard to think how much he had to endure before his final moments. The details of what he had become were too graphic that I just can’t bring myself to fully imagine his final image. Given the choice, I just wanted to remember him as the lazy, loving cat, whose flailing paws made him gentler and more adorable. However, it would be an insult to his memory to be forgetful of what truly happened — animal cruelty makes me sick.

A friend of ours forwarded to us the “Rainbow Bridge”, a prose talking of a place where pets who passed away wait for their owners to be reunited someday. It was gut-wrenching to read it. Words cannot express the grief that we are feeling now, but we have to eventually accept that Uyu has already left us. We just imagined him to have wings, similar to Keroberos from Cardcaptor Sakura, lazily sleeping under a tree in the meadow.

Sleep well, Uyu. You are at peace now. =(

Preparing for the rainy days’ power outages

Last month, I have promised Mama that I will buy a generator for our house before the end of June as a preparation for the inevitable long power outages of the rainy days. So when I finally got my first ever pay from my new work, I have informed her that our most awaited trip to Raon would be finally happening. LOL I had been anticipating this moment, and I even shared this silly story to my nephew that I grew up envious of his godfather (and my brother’s friend) having a generator during the frequent blackouts of the early 90s (which prevented me from watching The Uncanny X-Men on Friday nights).

Inside Quiapo Church

Curry beef brisket and fish fillet from Wai Ying

I had considered getting one last December and I already canvassed for the home-use ones in malls. But my Kuya advised me to try buying from Raon instead from malls because the prices on the former were almost half from the latter. So after lunch, we travelled all the way to Manila to find the best deal around. We first dropped by Quiapo Church, then to Binondo to introduce Mama to my most favorite place in the area: Wai Ying!

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