FROM ONE I FOUND AND ONE WHO FOUND ME, FRIENDSHIP AND KINDNESS ACROSS THE MILES
One night, about the same time last year, while I was in the room and Papa was out in the hall, I heard him laughing... loud. I got up from bed to see what was so hilarious and found him reading Ate Sienna's Pansitan, specifically the 6th issue which she dubbed 'The Sixth Sense.' He got up from the chair and let me read and in no time, I was laughing myself.
After that, we were hooked. Every morning, my routine would be to check my emails, send my forwards, check my site (we had our journals even back then but we didn't have message boards or comment links and didn't know anybody through the internet), check Papa's site and check Pansitan. I wasn't so much into blogging yet... didn't know what to talk about. I haven't developed the spontaneity to write about anything and everything, neither was I brave enough to harvest from the vines of my imagination and believe that I could come up with something worthwhile.
It took us a while to gather up enough courage to send the first message to Ate Sienna. It was actually Papa who wrote the first email, to which Ate Sienna responded, to which I replied and on and on it went. On the next issue of Pansitan, she featured us in one segment, with links to our sites. We felt elated... hey, how do we know it's a common thing? We were still uninitiated, remember?
We've been exchanging emails... lengthy emails... for sometime before Papa and I mustered enough facial density (hehe... kapal ng mukha) to leave a message on her message board though, and not until we saw our names mentioned. A friend, Reggie, was telling her about getting to know us through pansitan and Ate Sienna was endorsing us to her. I felt encouraged to leave a note myself and having done that, it must have seemd by all counts, that I have left, not a message, but an email... hehe.
As a result, I bugged Papa unrelentingly to put message boards and comment links on our sites. So, loving husband that he is, he gave our sites a total revamp, which he did after coming home from work until late into the night. For a while, the names that would appear in those forums would only be Papa's, mine and Ate Sienna's. But even then, I would feel excited every time I see a message from her.
And then I tried hopping to the sites linked to Ate Sienna's... and a whole world of wonderful people, blossoming into friends, exploded before me. I am still basking in it.
In the meantime, Ate Siennna and I kept up with our correspondences. Through those emails, we discovered a lot of similar things we liked and believed in, and because of those things about, because and even inspite of life, we've formed a special bond called friendship. In time, we've exchanged phone calls and given each other our addresses and made promises to meet up sometime in this lifetime.
Last week, she sent me these... 2 personalized CDs and a card
Pansitan is now on its 9th issue, our emails on 'bershon 2.5' I think (we've changed the stationery, ergo... hehe). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that next year, Papa and I would indeed be able to visit her in California. Should that happen, I hope it will be a first of many exchange visits, and meeting up in the Philippines... each one tightening the bond of friendship that ties us together.
I first saw Kengkeng's name on Ate Sienna's message board. He's so polite and unintrusive with messages like 'Daan lang po,' 'Hello po.' In time, he also started visiting my site and leaving similar messages.
One time, I decided to visit his site, not knowing I'd find a jewel. In one of the sites I regularly go to, Kengkeng visited and it was asked who he was. I said that 'Kengkeng is a Filipino guy who now lives in Brugges, Belgium and roams Europe like an ant, going to every corner, taking pleasure in each country's sights and treasures.'
Kengkeng's visits to my site are sporadic, owing to the fact that he'd be gone every few days on a trip. I know that a lot of people are amazed and in awe of his travels. He posts pictures on his site and talks about things he's seen and heard and tasted. It leaves the rest of us, the deprived lot, envious... but grateful too for everything that he shares. I'd say he's pretty much like Papa, the only difference is that Kengkeng does it for pleasure, and Papa does it for business while taking a little pleasure on the side whenever he can... hehe.
And you wouldn't believe the whole cornucopia of things this guy can do and is interested in. He keeps a nifty little garden in his backyard, he's internet savvy, he's studying psychology and linguistics, he's just finished a course in electronics, he loves classical music and enjoys going to concertos, and he travels... and he travels... and he travels...
But more than all of these, I've grown to know Kengkeng as such a warmhearted and solicitous guy. At the start of our acquaintance, I've made it known to him that I am one of those technically challenged bloggers and that I was relatively new to the thing. Knowing that, he's been doing several things to further initiate me into the world of 'W's, the result of which is that I've come to know several more people and form several more friendships.
One time, when Papa was away and I was feeling a bit despondent, Kengkeng called me up out of the blue and we really had a fun chat. And then last month, again out of the blue and when I was alone, he sent me this...
Honestly and without being unforgivably sappy, I really felt like it was God's way of telling me I wasn't really alone... that He was with me and was sending me His love. And I see Kengkeng as an angel that God used as His messenger.
Until a couple of weeks ago, I've been having wily visitors on my site. I'm thankful though for the fact that I've received enough appreciation and words of encouragement before they came which left me unfazed in the face of such encounters. I'm hooked on the internet because of such friends as Ate Sienna and Kengkeng and a host of others that if I so much as mention here, I would be copying my whole list of links. Because of these friends, and in the hope of turning these friendships into a vintage, aged and made rich through the years, I guess I'm here to stay.
To you both, my heartfelt thanks.
All the gold in the world has no significance. That which is lasting are the thoughtful acts which we do for our fellow man.
Adolfo Prieto
(1867-1945)
One night, about the same time last year, while I was in the room and Papa was out in the hall, I heard him laughing... loud. I got up from bed to see what was so hilarious and found him reading Ate Sienna's Pansitan, specifically the 6th issue which she dubbed 'The Sixth Sense.' He got up from the chair and let me read and in no time, I was laughing myself.
After that, we were hooked. Every morning, my routine would be to check my emails, send my forwards, check my site (we had our journals even back then but we didn't have message boards or comment links and didn't know anybody through the internet), check Papa's site and check Pansitan. I wasn't so much into blogging yet... didn't know what to talk about. I haven't developed the spontaneity to write about anything and everything, neither was I brave enough to harvest from the vines of my imagination and believe that I could come up with something worthwhile.
It took us a while to gather up enough courage to send the first message to Ate Sienna. It was actually Papa who wrote the first email, to which Ate Sienna responded, to which I replied and on and on it went. On the next issue of Pansitan, she featured us in one segment, with links to our sites. We felt elated... hey, how do we know it's a common thing? We were still uninitiated, remember?
We've been exchanging emails... lengthy emails... for sometime before Papa and I mustered enough facial density (hehe... kapal ng mukha) to leave a message on her message board though, and not until we saw our names mentioned. A friend, Reggie, was telling her about getting to know us through pansitan and Ate Sienna was endorsing us to her. I felt encouraged to leave a note myself and having done that, it must have seemd by all counts, that I have left, not a message, but an email... hehe.
As a result, I bugged Papa unrelentingly to put message boards and comment links on our sites. So, loving husband that he is, he gave our sites a total revamp, which he did after coming home from work until late into the night. For a while, the names that would appear in those forums would only be Papa's, mine and Ate Sienna's. But even then, I would feel excited every time I see a message from her.
And then I tried hopping to the sites linked to Ate Sienna's... and a whole world of wonderful people, blossoming into friends, exploded before me. I am still basking in it.
In the meantime, Ate Siennna and I kept up with our correspondences. Through those emails, we discovered a lot of similar things we liked and believed in, and because of those things about, because and even inspite of life, we've formed a special bond called friendship. In time, we've exchanged phone calls and given each other our addresses and made promises to meet up sometime in this lifetime.
Last week, she sent me these... 2 personalized CDs and a card
Pansitan is now on its 9th issue, our emails on 'bershon 2.5' I think (we've changed the stationery, ergo... hehe). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that next year, Papa and I would indeed be able to visit her in California. Should that happen, I hope it will be a first of many exchange visits, and meeting up in the Philippines... each one tightening the bond of friendship that ties us together.
I first saw Kengkeng's name on Ate Sienna's message board. He's so polite and unintrusive with messages like 'Daan lang po,' 'Hello po.' In time, he also started visiting my site and leaving similar messages.
One time, I decided to visit his site, not knowing I'd find a jewel. In one of the sites I regularly go to, Kengkeng visited and it was asked who he was. I said that 'Kengkeng is a Filipino guy who now lives in Brugges, Belgium and roams Europe like an ant, going to every corner, taking pleasure in each country's sights and treasures.'
Kengkeng's visits to my site are sporadic, owing to the fact that he'd be gone every few days on a trip. I know that a lot of people are amazed and in awe of his travels. He posts pictures on his site and talks about things he's seen and heard and tasted. It leaves the rest of us, the deprived lot, envious... but grateful too for everything that he shares. I'd say he's pretty much like Papa, the only difference is that Kengkeng does it for pleasure, and Papa does it for business while taking a little pleasure on the side whenever he can... hehe.
And you wouldn't believe the whole cornucopia of things this guy can do and is interested in. He keeps a nifty little garden in his backyard, he's internet savvy, he's studying psychology and linguistics, he's just finished a course in electronics, he loves classical music and enjoys going to concertos, and he travels... and he travels... and he travels...
But more than all of these, I've grown to know Kengkeng as such a warmhearted and solicitous guy. At the start of our acquaintance, I've made it known to him that I am one of those technically challenged bloggers and that I was relatively new to the thing. Knowing that, he's been doing several things to further initiate me into the world of 'W's, the result of which is that I've come to know several more people and form several more friendships.
One time, when Papa was away and I was feeling a bit despondent, Kengkeng called me up out of the blue and we really had a fun chat. And then last month, again out of the blue and when I was alone, he sent me this...
Honestly and without being unforgivably sappy, I really felt like it was God's way of telling me I wasn't really alone... that He was with me and was sending me His love. And I see Kengkeng as an angel that God used as His messenger.
Until a couple of weeks ago, I've been having wily visitors on my site. I'm thankful though for the fact that I've received enough appreciation and words of encouragement before they came which left me unfazed in the face of such encounters. I'm hooked on the internet because of such friends as Ate Sienna and Kengkeng and a host of others that if I so much as mention here, I would be copying my whole list of links. Because of these friends, and in the hope of turning these friendships into a vintage, aged and made rich through the years, I guess I'm here to stay.
To you both, my heartfelt thanks.
All the gold in the world has no significance. That which is lasting are the thoughtful acts which we do for our fellow man.
Adolfo Prieto
(1867-1945)
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