Walking Miracle

Tuesdays are coding, so I usually hitch with my Dad in the morning.  During these car rides, as I maneuver through caloocan to ortigas, Dad likes to fill in the morning with either curses about Gloria... or wax poetic about his young policeman days. In the 80s, Dad was a fearless sergeant who chased crooks in Quiapo and other parts of Manila.

This morning, he recounted how he got shot, and survived.  I wasn't able to fully appreciate that my dad is a living, spitting, cursing miracle until now.

On June 1988 he chased a holdupper notorious for stealing money of the stores in Quiapo.  He thought the man was working alone, so when he cornered him, he was surprised to hear gunshots. Dad acted quickly and used the holdupper as a human shield. Shots were fired at his back, at his front, at his side.  Dad wrestled the holdupper and managed to shield himself for a while.  Only for a while.

One bullet hit my Dad's skull near his ear.

Another hit his arm.

Another hit his back.

And with a final flourish, the henchmen of the head holdupper fired the gun at my Dad's chest.

Next thing my Dad knew was waking up at the FEU hospital.  A cop friend of his said that when my Dad was rushed to the emergency room, he was left in a corner on a stretcher because the doctors and nurses said he was a sure goner from all the bullets in his body.  He was left to "bleed to die".  But one of the merchants who Dad helped recover money from the holduppers came and paid a handsome amount to the doctors. Only then did the doctors did what they can to resucitate him.

How did my Dad survive those bullets?

Even the doctors don't know.  They were surprised why the bullet merely grazed his skull.. and why the bullet on his chest wasn't that deep.. And why Dad was living at all.

My Dad is wont to say that his faith, and the tatoos on his body that inscribes the name of Yahweh, saved him.

My Mom is wont to say that Dad is given a second chance because he has a lot to make up for.

I don't know who  those doctors in FEU are.  I don't know the name of the holdupper who shot my Dad (last time I heard from Dad, the thug was jailed once and bailed out... he's still out there somewhere).


I do know that Dad is not the definite picture of a pious man.  But his faith is something that even now I have a hard time believing.

Happy 65th Birthday Daddy.
  

Insights from the Soup Kitchen

 Location: Typhoon Ondoy Victims, Pasig

 Evacuation Center @ ULTRA

October 5, 2009

Knowledge Channel Soup Kitchen 

1) 95% of the kids and adults i saw don't have slippers

2) A lot of the kids are resilient. Staying at the evacuation center can be like a prolonged picnic..., with many new friends to make, and eating on the floor with a bigger family - about 3,000 members in the new family.

3) It's the moms who are really stressed. They constantly worry where to get the next meal for the family (or for her infant), how to treat their sick children, and how on earth are they going to rebuild their homes again when there is nothing left to start over with.

4) Children don't hold back in expressing their happiness. So when they smile at you, you feel that they are the ones bestowing you a gift, and not the other way around.

5) There is still so much to be done. It's overwhelming. But the things you cannot do should not stop you from doing the things that you can.

6) Being interviewed on the spot is not as easy as it looks. =)

7) It is a humbling experience.  I know deep down it could have easily been me, or my family, in that evacuation center.  Everything I have could be wiped away in an instant.  I don't really own anything.

tough lessons

lessons i am learning recently:

1)  It will take time for parents to truly see the "adult" you

I just had an awkward but honest conversation with my mom.  We are not the type of family that talks about thoughts and feelings, so those two minutes of talking felt like having constipation  -- its gruelling, but I'm glad for the release.  She doesn't approve of some of my life choices, but she already knows that I'm not seeking her approval.

2) when it niggles, pay attention

I had a niggling feeling that i was forgetting doing something last week. I got sucked in the vortex called "everyday urgent tasks" and promptly forgot about the niggling feeling. Turns out I forgot to email our foreign resource person that our event is re-scheduled (for the Nth time).  Now she has a flight going here, and the event aint happening. damn.  pay attention.

3) recognize the silver

I appreciate the random kindness of my officemate. i didn't ask for it, but i got an assist that i needed.  =)

UP movie review

Things I learned from UP

1) Dogs, no matter how trained in the arts of nefarious plotting, will simper for a ball.

2) Eager beaver scouts never give up. They sure come in handy when you are lost and alone in a rainforest.

3) Discovering a lost paradise isn't the greatest adventure -- but doing mundane things with someone you love is.

4) Missing someone who left leaves a blank space for you to fill


Recommendation? Watch this film. It is deceptively simple, but the emotion it evokes run deep.