Birth of an angel: chapter 9

This is chapter 9 of a book that Manuel de leon wrote about his son Carlo and gives away for free to those he comes across in the Philippines, he has given us permission to reprint his story on MindBodySmile.com and we will publish weekly installments here.

Chapter 9: Puzzle for Our Days

My sister Veronica arrived from the states on the next day, Thursday, June 7. We were in a festive mood like when we celebrated our reunion. Only my younger brother Leo who lived in Cebu and our youngest sister, Zenaida, who was working as a teacher in Saudi Arabia were not around. Nevertheless, Leo was arriving on Friday evening, and Zenaida had a long conversation with my son before she flew back to Riyadh in early May. She gifted him with an I-Pod on his 14th birthday which he enjoyed very much. Read more

Birth of an angel: chapter 8

This is chapter 8 of a book that Manuel de leon wrote about his son Carlo and gives away for free to those he comes across in the Philippines, he has given us permission to reprint his story on MindBodySmile.com and we will publish weekly installments here.

Chapter 8: Enlightenment Read more

Birth of an angel: chapter 7

This is chapter 7 of a book that Manuel de leon wrote about his son Carlo and gives away for free to those he comes across in the Philippines, he has given us permission to reprint his story on MindBodySmile.com and we will publish weekly installments here.

Chapter 7: Angel at the Wake Read more

Birth of an angel: chapter 6

This is chapter 6 of a book that Manuel de leon wrote about his son Carlo and gives away for free to those he comes across in the Philippines, he has given us permission to reprint his story on MindBodySmile.com and we will publish weekly installments here.

Chapter 6: Wills, Wishes and Reminders

I spent my solitude in recollections, thinking if there were wishes, wills,
reminders or memoirs that my son wanted us to remember
or to follow. I was surprised that he left plenty of those which he voiced
out in different times and occasions. I could not remember the circumstances
when he made those wishes. But when he died those words made
me understand the beauty of his last days here on earth. Read more

Birth of an angel: chapter 5

This is chapter 5 of a book that Manuel de leon wrote about his son Carlo and gives away for free to those he comes across in the Philippines, he has given us permission to reprint his story on MindBodySmile.com and we will publish weekly installments here.

Chapter 5: Recollections and Rest Read more

Birt of an angel: chapter 4

This is chapter 4 of a book that Manuel de leon wrote about his son Carlo and gives away for free to those he comes across in the Philippines, he has given us permission to reprint his story on MindBodySmile.com and we will publish weekly installments here.

Chapter 4: Faith and Charity

Even before he was diagnosed with cancer, my son and I began searching
for opportunities to help other people in need. We both believed
that faith and acts of charity are good combination’s to catch the attention
of the divine up there to show us the road to his healing by either conventional or alternative herbal solutions. Read more

Begging for Love

Abandoned by unknown parents, Billal, a young beggar in Méknes city sat leaning against a mosque in hope to gain a plenty of money to feed himself. Day after day and this turned to be his sole job and livelihood.
Though his stomach is usually full and satisfied, Billal still feels a hungry stomach somewhere inside his body. Such suspicious hunger often provokes him to begin recalling the story of his old but lasting destitution. Yet, all that he could recall was an enormous mixture of noise, ghosts, and foggy images about a father and a mother in deadful quarrel. “What’s my sin to be thrown out here?” complained Billal. Read more

Birth of an Angel: chapter 3

This is chapter 3 of a book that Manuel de leon wrote about his son Carlo and gives away for free to those he comes across in the Philippines, he has given us permission to reprint his story on MindBodySmile.com and we will publish weekly installments here.

Chapter 3: Despair
When we got home, our house was ready to welcome him back. It was
well-lighted and the place for his casket was cleared and swept.
Chairs and tables had been set in order. My other sons did a good job
preparing everything necessary for this sad occasion.

Other close relatives volunteered to help. My son John Michael
manned the kitchen, and later my mother, my sisters Cornelia and Victoria
took charge over the wake. Immediate relatives of Nancy came over from
Pampanga to assist us. There was nothing left for me to do except to
wait for the arrival of his remains.

Despair was in total control of me as I groped for a chair inside the
room where we held the vigil. I had the urge to go back to the funeral
parlor to oversee the preparation and cleaning of his body. I feared that
the people at the mortuary would hurt him in the process. But he was
dead, he no longer felt anything. I then remembered the events leading
to the day of his death. Memories came alive with a childish tone
speaking passionately in my mind. Read more

From a flood to a hug with kindness

The late evening train from Glasgow was battling the worst of the winter weather and the driver was proceeding more on hope than anything. Weeks of rain had meant the line might or might not be flooded – and he wouldn’t know until he got there!

Well, it was flooded. So he backed up to the nearest station where we sat and waited for about half an hour with no one knowing what was going on. I didn’t mind. I wasn’t going home to anyone, I had music to listen to and it wouldn’t be the first night I had slept on a train. But not everyone would be in that position.

Then the lights went out. Read more

A Christmas story

Christmas is coming. I have been going crazy trying to figure out what to give my mother. She always loved my stories. This is it! I am going to write something for her. Something that I know she will like …

It was last year. Mom had been in the hospital for two weeks. Dad had left us and was far away. I was feeling blue and didn’t even want to think of Christmas. Just the thought of spending the holiday at home gave me the creeps. The thought of spending it in the hospital was even worse. I hated being there and almost had to force myself to visit my mother. I couldn’t stand seeing her sick. All I wanted to do was run.

Thank goodness, Yoni was there. At least, he listened to me when I cried. “Why do all my friends live so far away? They are all having dinner right now with their families. How lucky they are.” Read more