Ruminations: My Life During LOA (Leave of Absence)

Author's note: This is a re-post from my Facebook post from June 2019 while I was on my leave of absence from work.

Barely less than a week is left before my sabbatical comes to an end. I wanted and did plan to take time off work. I felt the need to have a breather after 20+ years of working. I did not expect that it will happen under very different circumstances. 

My leave of absence began after the 2019 Holy Week holidays. It was carefully planned to coincide with the period of our daughter's spine fusion operation and recuperation. Kyla has been diagnosed with severe idiopathic scoliosis and despite non-surgical treatments that were taken in the last 4 years, it became imperative to take the last course which is surgery to prevent the curve from worsening and adversely impact the other body systems as she gets older. Prior to the operation, I researched thoroughly on what to expect before, during and after the surgery so that we can prepare Kyla and ourselves mentally, physically among other things. I realized that she will need much of our assistance after the operation especially while she is regaining back her strength and muscular mobility, and while many restrictions on movements apply. We were home-based for the entire summer, except when we have to visit the doctors. We were not even allowed to take road trips, so life during my sabbatical wasn't exactly a holiday of sorts. The Rehab doctor prescribed exercises that she can do at home while the rest of hospital-based Physical Therapy can start after 10-12 weeks post-op and upon clearance from the Ortho. It is a blessing from God that her spirit and rest of her body remained healthy and strong because this made her road to recovery faster.

My daily routine was running through Kyla's home-based exercises, attending to her self care needs and balance of the day went to domestic chores. Our family has been thriving without any household help for a long time now so we divide all chores among us, except for Kyla while she is recovering these days. At the early days post-operation, caring for Kyla was like caring for a newborn all over again and I happily fussed over her and Kevin like a mother hen. As Kyla got stronger, we started training her to be able to execute tasks independently. It required a lot of task analysis and planning. My WPI (work process improvement) background came handy.

For quite some time I was simply their full-time mother again and not the multi-tasking working mom. They didn't have to share my attention with my work laptop or work-related phone calls. Every afternoon, Kyla and I hang out at the lanai area which is cooler and breezy. We would take short walks as part of her daily exercise program. We would chat idly about mundane things. Sometimes, I digress and talk about serious things like life in college, self esteem in the time of social media and spirituality. Sometimes, Kevin will join us and we would sit at the bench while waiting for the moon to appear. The hours passed by slowly and I savored the time we had together, knowing that at some point I had to go back to my work and home life routine.

My health also improved significantly without the day to day stress and with better food choices at home. My usual bouts of migraine and back pain disappeared.  Most of all I had a lot of time for introspection. I thought about my life so far, grateful for the twist and turns of life, the choices we made, the divinely orchestrated events that life laid ahead of us. I thought deeply about my goals and it's overall place in the grand scheme of events and anticipating how in 12 months time, our lives will have to take a different direction. I prayed for guidance and discernment. One time I couldn't sleep and somehow, the answers to my questions were revealed to me in a moment of rumination. I wasn't too happy with the revelation but I promised to keep faith and trust His will. Someday, the dots will connect and the wisdom behind the path laid upon me will be revealed.

Barely less than a week is left before my sabbatical comes to an end. Forever grateful for the graces that Kyla has been bestowed in this journey of courage, thankful for the time we had together before I go back to my usual multi-tasking life.

The Finish Line - Farewell P&G

Endings are also beginnings. You just don’t know it at that time. (from the book The Five People You Meet in Heaven)

Today is my last working day in Procter & Gamble Philippines. I am honored for the opportunity to Touch and Improve Lives for the last 24 years through this great company who nurtured me (and my family) and provided me with boundless opportunities.

When I moved from R&D to Cabuyao Plant Product Supply 20 years ago, all I wanted was to be able to continue my passion for process development. But destiny brought me into diverse paths and with the encouragement and coaching of several Cabuyao Lead Team,  mentors/advisers who became my life-long friends and my leaders’ trust in my capability and potentials – I have gone into various paths that brought me out of comfort zone many times over. And yet, those difficult assignments molded me to become a leader and to be a woman for others.

Where R&D was my P&G birthplace, Cabuyao will always be the home where I grew up to become a leader- which I humbly hoped – you deserved, and where I gave the best years of my life.

I would like to thank the leaders who became a significant part of my journey and their friendship that lasted even beyond P&G walls – my 1st mentor Jas Peralta, Nilo Siongco, Raul Nicdao, Mike Tan, the late Jazz Ramiro, Ed Macias, Laura Jensen, Anna Vicencio, Nancy Qin, Dawn Garibaldi and Fanny Wu.

I am also grateful to the key leaders and plant managers who influenced the key turning points of my career – Doug Wood, Sam Garcia and Fanny Wu; Nancy Qin whom I met in my early years and have witnessed me grow from Site Packaging Leader to Operations Department Manager to Supply Chain Manager to Regional Pillar leader; and to Peter Orji and Nancy for supporting me in my LOA last year, guided the last 2+ years in our Quality transformation and in this final ask.

To the QA team - to lead Quality requires leadership for sure, but also entails courage to uphold doing the right thing, as well as commitment and belief to the sworn mandate of quality assurance. I also learned from you and through all of you, that when a team is solid and comes together to help each other, nothing is so difficult. Continue supporting, uplifting one another and #StayingTogether. Always remember that I believe in you.

I also thank all of you whom I worked with through the years and the teams and organizations whom I served. Thank you for believing in the vision; for embracing them with pride and working together to be among the best and brightest of our time.

It has been an honor working with and for all of you - the great people of P&G / Cabuyao Plant. I wish you more power in your journey ahead. Thank you for the friendship and the memories. 

AD ASTRA, PER ASPERA.

Everyday, before I leave the Plant, I glance at the Twin Laundry Towers.
Its presence is an assurance that P&G will continue to be a #forceforgood.
Today, I will glance at the towers for the last time as a P&Ger.
"Here's looking at you, kid!"

My New Hire Poster
P&G has been my dream company ever since that fateful day
when I attended the Engineering Week career talk and the keynote speaker
was a UST ChE alumnus who is also a P&G Manager.
Rest is history.

This collage is a tribute to the teams/organizations I worked with and to my mentors through the years.

Farewell tribute from the P&G CBY QA Team last August 12, 2020
I could not have asked for a better team.
Thank you for making my last moments in P&G a very memorable one.