Reality Check

Life sucks.
But for some it sucks more.
I just flew back in from the Philippines, It was more or less a yearly pilgrimage I make. My mom is there. She is living with the scourge Alzheimer's. I have family and friends who I treasure. But if I was to be selfish, I would rather go somewhere else. Don't get me wrong, the Philippines is a beautiful country. I would argue that it has the best beaches in the world. There is just so much poverty.
So when the Alexis Louise Quiza Foundation (ALQ), of which I am honored to be a director in their Board, came up with a project to feed street children, my yearly trip took on a nobler purpose.



A study said that there are 1.5 million street children in the Philippines. I thought, if we even are able to provide an hour of relief, from hunger and the heat, this trip would have been successful.

So, on November 25, the ALQ Foundation bought food from Jollibee,  partnered with Childhope Asia and fed street children at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Nuestra Senora De Guia.



We got to the site early. Prior to the feeding, my family and I elected to stop by and have a late lunch. Yellow Cab! It is my favorite pizza joint in the Philippines. Ironically, it fashions itself after everything New York, even though it's origin is purely Filipino. Anyway... We had our fill and started to make our way back to the Ermita Church...

By now, a group of kids where beginning to come. They were mostly pre-teens. I noticed some of them did not even have footwear. In my head, I wondered how they got around the grimy, blistering Manila streets barefoot.

Soon the hall was full of children. There was order in the chaos. They have obviously done this before. They set up the old rickety tables and plastic chairs that have seen better days. It was HOT. There were 2 small ceiling fans. One was broken. I was drenched in sweat. And it was the end of November! I imagine it was hot as hell in summer. (This is why as a side project, we bought 5 fans to use in the hall.) This same hall is used by volunteers to give the children a semblance of school.

 The Church, through benefactors feed this young ones one meal a day from Tuesdays to Saturdays. Our little Jollibee donation is definitely a treat. A break from the usual grub the church provides.

We were told that their usual meal for 50 children cost 1,500 pesos. That is less than $32! Definitely less than most meals I pay for a regular meal for 2 here in the States. I can imagine the meal for the children wasn't a feast.

Before the meal, I was asked to speak. I tried to wiggle out of it because, I had lost my voice a day before, but agreed because I wanted them to know that no matter how life seems bleak at certain times, there are people in the world who sincerely care for their welfare, and that they should not give up on what is good. The talk was more for me than them.

After that they prayed and thanked God for the food they are about to partake in.

What broke my heart was, we saw kids, try to hide away food on their plate...to take home for a family member...

That was the greatest lesson I learned. No matter how little you have, there is always somebody who always could need your help. I was touched that these kids would put aside the little they have for someone else. How can we not do the same? Message me for details on how to help feed street children through the Alexis Louise Quiza Foundation.

The problem is, we think we have enough time.

Back from the dead.

Man...I feel so bad. I have not been here in 2 years. I feel like I have abandoned a friend. But I am still here. No excuses. I told you I'm not big on commitments. I am Procrastinator numero uno. I am lazy, forgetful...
Well it does not help that Life has taken over. Work, FB and Twitter. But like I said no excuses. I dropped the ball. It is not the first time and sadly it probably won't be the last.

Whew I am trying to remember where I left off. At one point in my life did I stop writing? I am sure I can pinpoint the exact date when I fell off the face of this blog but... I am no longer interested in the past. I have cut ties. I have buried the dead. I have burned bridges. I have moved on.

I have celebrated a couple of birthdays since then. Reality really has hit me. At this point, I know I have more past than future. That is scary. Time is running out. Clock is ticking. I gotta finish strong. But I may have lost the drive or the edge or maybe I just don't give as much of a F anymore. Luckily, maybe not giving a F would be a welcome change. You gotta stay tuned.

I was just gonna promise that I would write an entry a day. But I know that would be a lie.

So let's just keep it loose. I'll keep doing it till I don't. And if I don't, know that I meant to.

Taking One Marble Out (An inspirational story)

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable. A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it: I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say:



"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital" he continued; "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousandmarbles." "You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years." "Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part." "It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."



"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There's nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."



"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."



"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, (...), clear and going (...), good morning!"



You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'm on honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."



Author Unknown