Today my Dad would've turned 54.

I was doing okay until I hit a rough, hectic patch in the morning, when literally almost every email from my boss ended with ASAP or re-do this or...I don't know what.  Which made me want to curl up somewhere and sit in peace for a while.

I had such a blast at Morgan and Andy's wedding over the weekend, but when I ( Read more... )

 
Dear Pa,

Happy Father's Day.  Thank you for teaching me to be kind to others; to reach for the stars; to find the humor in everything; and to never give up.

We miss you more than you'll ever know.

Watch over us, k?

Love and lots of hugs,
Frances

 
From The English Patient:

I believe this.  When we meet those we fall in love with, there is an aspect of our spirit that is historian, a bit of a pedant, who imagines or remembers a meeting when the other had passed by innocently, just as Clifton might have opened a car door for you a year earlier and ignored the fate of his life.  But all parts ( Read more... )

Oh man, tears were definitely streaming down my face while watching Up.  Tears mixed with laughter, but tears nonetheless.

It's a movie for anyone who's ever loved and lost.


( Read more... )

In comparison to all the other ceremonies we’ve done these past two months, this was quite quick.  My family, along with a handful of his best friends and colleagues, were brought over to the small plot where his sturdy box would be buried.  A deacon came over and led a brief prayer service, particularly reminding my Mom, sister and me to “hold ( Read more... )

 
This started out as a book review, then as an essay, then finally as a piece on how one book--Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit--has helped me through my own hard times.

Keep Reading

Anyone who has followed my blog for the last six months will pretty much learn that I read.  A lot.  When I was an unemployed graduate moping around the house, bemoaning ( Read more... )

One of my Dad's friends from high school contacted me recently, asking me to write a brief piece on my Dad's life in the U.S.  His classmates were always trying to get him to come out to reunions, but he never felt inclined to go--although judging from the condolence emails I've been getting, a lot of them remember him fondly.  Here's what I wrote ( Read more... )

 
Sometimes, it feels like there isn't a street in NY without a memory of my Dad.

Grieving is a funny thing.  One moment I think everything’s fine and under control, and then the next tiny thought or memory of my Dad will make me tear up (or cry, if I were at home).  I guess you never really know how much you can love someone until you lose them.  Sad, but true.

But I'm taking it day by day, and I have quite a bit to tell now ( Read more... )

After

Following Filipino/Catholic tradition, we will bury my father’s ashes forty days after his passing, on Thursday, May 28th, at a nearby cemetery.  We had quite a few options to choose from-from displaying an urn to selecting a niche-but we decided that he’d like to be under the open sky, with plenty of fresh air and flowers.  Since the ( Read more... )