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by PAM
My 'birthmonth' started out with a very promising endeavor, in which God blessed me with the incredible opportunity to lead the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in reaching a milestone. On 01 July 2019 (East Coast time), our 'Team Engineering' submitted our Self-Study Reports (SSR) for our six Engineering Programs to the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) of the United States of America (USA). The UST Faculty of Engineering is the first Engineering School in the Philippines, and as such, it is a highly storied and historical School. Therefore, it is incredibly special to be at the helm while the Faculty surpasses this milestone.
But that's work. Yes, it does make the heart beat double time feeling God's love, and the soul sing with enormous gratitude, but it is still work. So, let me talk about something else that made me want to sing praises to God because of the happiness that made my heart swell. While the root from which these gems blossom from is still work, the joyful feeling that they invoke does not resemble the mere feeling of fulfillment from a job done well at work.
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Being their second Mom...
Let me talk about this instead... because I'd rather talk about this, actually...
"Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken
Your best friend always sticking up for you
Even when I know you're wrong?
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze-dried romance
Five-hour phone conversation
The best soy latte that you ever had, and me?"
I spent the last two days of the first week of my 'birthmonth' with 'my kids', and it was incredible! The happiness was real... it was like being lifted up through the air to sit on the cottony softness of 'cloud 9' to watch the stars twinkle happily, and be overwhelmed by the awesomeness of it all. It felt so good... so good that I just had to post something here - in this little corner of mine - to create a happy place to retreat to whenever life's challenges become too much to bear.
Last July 5-6, my kids (thesis advisees and future business partners) and I went on Teambuilding/break/mini vacation at the Green Canyon Leisure Farms in Bamban, Tarlac, Philippines. It was a celebration of the graduation from chemical engineering of five of them, the moving up to the next level towards graduation from the same Program of four of them, and the celebration of my 51st birthday. The private atmosphere of the beautiful leisure farms was very apt for the bonding moment that we wish to have... to make good memories, and strengthen the bond of friendship and love that brought and hold us together. The little memento of a video - a small compilation of photos and vide clips from our mini vacation - captured a fraction of the enjoyment and happiness that we felt while spending time together. I just had to post it here for easy access whenever needed.
I may not have been lucky enough to be chosen by God to bear these kids in my own womb, to give life to them, and bring them into this world, but I feel fortunate that God entrusted them to me - all together - at a time when they are going through this critical transformation, enabling them to fulfill what God plans for them. It is still very much less than being their mother, but it is enough to make my heart swell from true love.
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Video and songs credit: I made the video. Thanks, YouTube, for providing the online platform for the video. Thanks, too, to Train and Simple Minds for the loan of the songs.
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