I am writing this vlog feeling cold because the weather has been somewhat gloomy lately. In fact, there’s a little drizzle that can be heard from my office window and it sounds like it’s going to be pouring heavily through the rest of the morning. I don’t mind rain. In fact, I love rain. I don’t leave the house anyway so I don’t get affected by it.

So it is now February 10th. My son Ken has just turned 17 years old last week! My goodness! 17 years old!!! Time flies by so fast! What’s weird is that I still really see him as my good-old little boy. Is that really how it is when you’re a mother? Ralph has been giving me a hard time lately because Ken has been wanting to go to the city (Bacolod) with his friends and I was not ok with it. All I can think about is, he’s not gonna be OK without his mother!

Here’s the thing: Ken has always had motion sickness. We have tried everything. Ralph’s adoptive mother, when they were still OK (not going to talk about that because it’s kinda personal), she sent motion sickness bracelet and chewing gum for Ken but those didn’t help either. We tried travelling him by bus, rental cars etc. but he still throws up. Although when his best friend Miguel who now lives in Singapore came home to visit, they went to Bacolod on their own and Ken claimed he was fine travelling going to and from the city — which was amazing. Ralph formed the idea that maybe Ken’s motion sickness has something to do with his parents being around, that maybe it’s ok to throw up because his parents are there to clean it up or are there to provide him the bags and towels when he needs them; meaning it’s purely all in his head. And it does kinda make sense.

The problem is, I have always seen how bad it is when he throws up and I don’t want other people besides his family to witness that. I want to spare him from the embarrassment of it all. And Ralph said to let him experience the good, the bad and even the gory, all on his own and I know that I’m going to have to let him experience life without me in the picture someday, I just didn’t know that it’s going to be that soon, which is NOW! He is going to be in college in two years and I know he’s going to finally be free of me, can’t I just savor the moment while he’s still here?

It’s now 2020!

Besides Ken turning 17 years old, I also turned 41 years old last January 6th. There were no preparations and celebrations because things have not really been good for me and the entire family. A lot sure has happened right from the end of 2019 up to the present.

My nephew’s tragic death

The end of December 2019 has been, by far, one of the worst December we’ve ever experienced! My nephew, Gino S. Aguirre suffered a tragic accident on December 28th, 2019, Saturday, while on his way to a wedding photo-shoot that he took on from his friend Lendz Motin. He suffered a severe head injury and leg fracture. He died the next day in Bacolod Sanitarium hospital. Everyone was devastated. Everyone had a very good relationship with Gino because he was such the kindest, most charismatic individual one can ever know. I’ve never seen a man, as young as he was, so responsible and doting to his one and only kid, Gab, given the circumstance that he was in the middle of a complicated marital situation at the time. My heart is still breaking to this day as I recall the moments leading to his death and to his burial. I miss him terribly.

Taal Volcation Eruption

Who would have thought that a phrase “welcome the new year with a bang” could end up being so literal? According to Wikipedia, the volcano erupted on the afternoon of January 12, 2020, 43 years after its previous eruption in 1977. Loud rumbling sounds were also felt and heard from the volcano island. By 2:30 pm, PHIVOLCS raised the alert status to Alert Level 2 after a stronger explosion was recorded around 2 pm. It was followed by an even stronger explosion by around 3 pm that spew an ash column measuring 100 meters, prompting PHIVOLCS to upgrade the alert status to Alert Level 3 by 4 pm. On January 13, the provincial board of Batangas declared the province under a state of calamity following the eruption, ordering the evacuation of residents within a radius of 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) from the volcano.

Basketball Legend Kobe Bryant’s Death

On January 26, 2020, just a few hours after we laid my newphew Gino to rest, a Sikorsky S-76B helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California, around 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, en route from John Wayne Airport to Camarillo Airport. It was carrying retired American basketball player Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, baseball coach John Altobelli, five other passengers and a pilot. All nine occupants were killed in the crash.

Novel Coronavirus Outbreak

The 2019 novel coronavirus (provisionally named 2019-nCoV), informally known as the Wuhan coronavirus, is a contagious virus that causes 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease, a respiratory infection. It is the cause of the ongoing 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, a global health emergency.

Losing My Biggest Fan

Tita Yoni is my best friend’s aunt. She has been the one consistently sending me heart emojis and likes in all of my social networks. She’s always made me feel like I’m so important. She’s had lung cancer for 10 years now and God probably decided it was her time to rest from all the pain she’s endured all these years.