With Integrity, Peace Is Achievable
The Holiday Season can evoke nostalgia on everyone. The season can bring fond memories of loved ones long gone and of happy times spent together. It is like a magic blanket that relives those moments all over again, reuniting families.
This year despite all the rough and tumble in life that I have been through, I can still say that I am just as good as before. The grieving over my husband Ruben’s passing continues to be part of my daily routine but I have learned to cope through understanding and acceptance.
I always prepare my house in the same traditional way for the Holidays, with festive lights, red table clothes, different colored candles, and Christmas ornaments all over. With this, I feel secure and fulfilled, also contented and at peace with myself. This was the holiday ambiance for many years when Ruben was still around.
With my growing family, five grandchildren, they are the gifts that now occupy my time. I take great comfort in bonding with them, watching them grow and to be mindful not to miss any of the magical moments.
Right now, the oldest and only granddaughter Caitlyn, is 18 years old and thinks a debutante’s ball is so corny and asked for a car instead. She is in university, so she drives now. The second, Julian will be in university next year as well. Both were in honor rolls during graduation.
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Tristan is in Soccer select team in school. Sebastian, the responsible Kuya to his brother is now nine years old in a regular school and the youngest, Benjie 7 is in French Immersion.
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The Holiday Season is also a time to thank those amazing, insightful, and caring people who stuck with me through thick and thin, and those who continue to give me guidance and support to this day.
I am thankful to those for whom believe in what Balita is fighting. They continually persuade me to fight till we find the underlying cause of everything and to expose the people responsible.
They really helped to put everything in perspective, making me feel I am not alone in the fight. The community has become our eyes and ears so no more fraudulent activities can be hidden from us. Who cares how much it costs when they start fighting back? It is a matter of fighting for our principles, and it is worth every penny spent.
Monies lost will come back if it was not earned in devious ways, but when the truth gets exposed it will be recorded in the community history and people and the next generation will benefit through lessons learned. We uphold the truth, and we will continue to fight for it.
Watching those who wanted to harm me together was like a picturesque view in my imagination now. Like what they say, birds of the same feathers flock together. They come in tow as if going to witness my hanging and eventual death.
As our community grows bigger with more newcomers arriving year by year, we have seen that new frauds keep cropping up. With vigilance from our community, we can help and protect each other as always.
With our desire to stop others we now call robbery in broad daylight, there are still some with the same motives to eat and live at the expense of others.
They are unfortunately very much around. Different rackets pretending to be charitable but who are they fooling? There are still people that are being taken for a ride only to regret it after.
For those crooks, parties are money making and so they continue to invite those that are naive and new to the money-making style.
This year, it is our hope that a miracle strikes those people to see the light, make amends, and clear up mistrust and suspicions. We should not go on with life with a cursed name and with a shameful legacy to leave our children.
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On a personal level, I deeply appreciate the numerous blessings I have again received, making my life challenges seem insignificant, and how lucky I have always been. To our friends, supporters, advertisers , we are very lucky that you continually work with us to support your businesses. We are very thankful to be still around after the pandemic that hit all of us.
To our loyal contributors, our thanks to your continued support for Balita. We know that readers enjoy reading your columns and have become a continuous habit to open Balita to your pages to enjoy them.
And for that I am very, very thankful.*****