London Chronicles

It’s my final nine days here in London.

Reflecting on it, it has really been a great experience. I have met some wonderful people.

Fixing and organizing all the stuff I need to bring home, leave, and throw away, I remember where it all began. Now, I realize how it has to and is going to end.

It will be bittersweet but I have no regrets.

There were times I may have complained and wished I was home, although, I wouldn’t do anything different.

I have learned many things and I have grown as a person.

So as my stay here in London ends, I will be slowly winding down my London Chronicles blog. The journey is almost over and the story almost finished.

Thanks!

About me:

I can cook. I can clean your dishes. I can wash, iron, and fold your clothes. I can tidy up, fix your bed, and put away your shoes. I can take care of children. I can do your shopping. I can run your errands. I can pick you up from work. I can make you laugh or smile, whichever you prefer. I have an interesting background, and have had an interesting life so far. By now you know, I can be confident. I can be trusted and honest. I can be intelligent and entertaining. I can make you feel loved and special.

I can ramble on for hours and hours about what would make me perfect for you. 

the truth is all you have to do is say yes.

I don’t know if its just me. But I do think that my parents are slowly preparing for life on my own. It’s very scary. :-O OH NO! How did i come to this conclusion?

1. I’m going to school.

2. I no longer have my yaya. Well I do. But she isn’t with me.

3. I have to drive or commute.

4. I have to buy groceries. and cook those groceries.

5. I have to wash my own dishes, even my own clothes!

6. My mommy and daddy live a thousand miles away. Can’t see them everyday.

7. I’ve been alone for so long I’m actually learning to enjoy it.

8. I’m having an internship.

Before you know it, I’d have to make my own money and pay my own bills.

I wish I could just be with them my whole life and be worry free. Unfortunately, they probably wouldn’t like that, haha just kidding. Or maybe they really don’t? haha just kidding again.

Anyhow, I’m sure they love me and just want me to grow up and be independent. I’ve probably caused enough trouble anyhow. They deserve the break. Thanks mom and dad. :D

FOCUS. focus. FOCus.

Those that loved and knew him fondly referred to him as Tatang. He was after all a loving father, grandfather, and teacher who dedicated his life for his family. I never knew him but I met him. Although I never had a clear memory of my grandfather, my mother’s father, Tatang still had a profound affect on my life. His name lived on through my parents, siblings and relatives.

As a child, I was curious and made an effort to know the man.

To my mother, he was a caring father who had nurtured her and, at every chance, spent time with her. Often sacrificing for the best of our family, Tatang left the Philippines to further his studies abroad in the US and England. Knowing that his sacrifice that included boat voyages that lasted months and years spent away from his wife and children would provide a better future.

To my father, Tatang was the one who helped him and my mother gain a good start in life. As Dad once said, Tatang let them live in house for free as newly wedded couple, until of course mom offered otherwise. The details however, aren’t important as he clearly set an example for my parents. He was a man who valued family and surely, was always willing to lend a helping hand.

For my brother, Tatang was the grandpa you couldn’t wait to see. I know this from the enthusiam of the way he relates his stories of Tatang to me. Kuya told me that Tatang would come visit them on the weekend in Merville, after teaching in Manila, to babysit. But I was not yet born to remember. 

Unfortunately, a year and a month after I was born, he tragically passed away at a tender age. I still struggle to grasp the man he was. He seemed like a legend to me then and still remains a legend to me today.

Fortune, however, has granted me a chance to know him. Being in London England, I am few hundred miles away from where my grandfather once studied, the University of Reading. The opportunity is finally here for me to finally establish a connection with Tatang and I must seize it. Although I may not fully learn anything, I hope to establish with him a bond that transcends time, to walk in his footsteps and to know the halls he once walked in. In doing so I only hope to symphathize with him and gain a sense of what he might have felt then - that his time away from his children will not have been in vain.

As a humble man, I am sure my grandfather might have never boasted about what he has accomplished or his adventures. But my mere existence and my experience here today is a clear sign that he succeeded and that his legacy lives on.

Tatang is the man, The Legend.