Switching On the Sun

Falling on a Saturday, my daughter’s 9th birthday was rather celebrated with family. The idea of throwing a party in school would mean celebrating it on a day other than her actual birthday. It’s not much of a tight spot but neither would it be exact… Thus, Feb. 19th proved its fitting essence.  Before another year adds to my daughter’s 9 years of existence of which is a closer stage to adolescence, the thought of taking advantage of her still not into “can-I-just-celebrate-with-my-friends” sort of awkward moment was rather set into an ideal perspective. Quite simultaneous, my brother was in town for a business trip. Being the generous person that he is and as a fitting birthday treat for her niece, he delighted us with a hearty breakfast before heading back to Manila. Having planned for an intimate family get-together for lunch somewhere similarly conveying that natural warmth for an ambiance, I asked my brother to extend a bit and join us to make the celebration more jovial. I ...

My father would have been 83 years old today. Before leaving us almost 11 years ago, by his hospital bed in the middle of the night while everyone was soundly asleep, my mother felt his warm and tight embrace seemingly implying of finally letting go. He was 72. Naturally sad as we were, at any rate, we were consoled by the fact that he succumbed to a considered most-painful cancer (pancreatic) peacefully. Quite the opposite, just the other day, my wife’s grandaunt went through a bumpy path. A coarse course so to speak as she was among 41 passengers who chanced on their demise in the course of a bus falling off a 150-foot deep ravine. She was 57. It was tragic. Come to think of it, 57 could be the “mystified” opposite form of 72. The position of “7”, a considered lucky number, was switched. “5” when flipped vertically is “2”. 5 + 2 = 7 but “lucky number” has presumably been severed with the bigger apportionment of the now split luck seems to live up to its oddness which is “5”, ...