Back when I was sick, one of my blog readers messaged me to ask how I was doing. She had just found out she had cancer. From that moment on, we started lifting each other up. We would check in on each other to ask how the other was holding up. I would send her prayers, and we encouraged each other to keep fighting. Ang motto namin: hindi puwedeng sumuko because our kids need us.
I told her how much I admired her positivity, even in the face of something so heavy. I admitted that sometimes, nahihiya ako to complain about what I was going through, knowing she was carrying a much harder battle.
Last week, I sent her a message. She didn’t reply. Later that day, I found out… she had already passed away.
Sobrang lungkot. Ang bigat sa dibdib.
Life is really short. One moment you’re okay, and the next, everything changes. Sabi nga nila, you think you have a hundred problems—until you get sick. Then suddenly, you realize you only have one.
Now I catch myself wondering: How am I really living my life? Is this the kind of life I want to keep living? Have I been doing the things that light me up… or have I just been surviving, day by day, trying to hold it all together?
Nagmi-midlife crisis na yata ako.
Or malapit na talaga magmenopause.
Have you watched the movie, The Life List, in Netflix? It’s really nice. One of the daughters-in-law asked the mom if she should marry her son. She taught her the true love test:
1. Can you tell him everything in your heart?
2. Is he kind?
3. Does he help you become a better version of yourself?
4. Can you imagine him to be the father of your children?
These are apparently the questions you should ask yourself whenever you’re in doubt. But honestly, that’s not why I’m mentioning the movie.
The film is about a mom—who has passed away—who made her daughter complete a bucket list the daughter created when she was young, as a condition to receive her inheritance.
By the way, I really recommend this movie, guys. It inspired me to finally create my own bucket list… at 45 years old! =D
NANA’S BUCKET LIST:
1. Hug a panda.
2. See the Aurora borealis or Aurora Australis
3. Witness Anika get married
4. Hug my granchildren
5. Visit the 5 UNESCO World Heritage sites (Machu Picchu, Taj Mahal, Colosseum (done!), Historic Monuments of Kyoto, and the Great Barrier Reef
6. Get a tattoo
7. Skydive
8. Learn a new sport (ongoing!)
9. Learn and be good in investing in stocks
10. Run a marathon
11. Get a body fat of 25% or less
12. Sing well in front of a big crowd
13. Kiss under a mistletoe
14. Go on a solo trip to a new country
15. Go on a romantic stroll late at night after a good dinner along the Seine river
16. Travel to Prague
17. Finish my Master’s
18. Witness a miracle
To be continued…