Since early 2000s, it has been my tradition to reflect on the events of the year that was about to pass; to thank God for the graces bestowed and the learnings that made me wiser, made us stronger as a family.
But then, most of the year felt as if I was under an eternal dark cloud due to poignant events. We lost our brother Aris in an untimely manner and Tatay spent nearly half of the year in ICU and eventually, passing away.
For the first time in my life, I felt the stirrings of anxiety. I consider myself lucky that I am still able to get through the day, functioning on auto-mode – work, home life, ending the day with my family beside me. We went back to face-to-face hybrid work set up some time in March and I was glad for the company of work-friends in Avon PH whom I can open up with. They made those days bearable.
Here are the 22 high and low lights of our 2022 --
- The 1st day of the year began with me getting the Covid19 virus. The symptoms were mild-to-moderate but took me ~10 days to get my voice back. Thankful that the rest of the family did not get the virus.
·
Alvin
and I celebrated our birthday on our Year of the Tiger.
·
Death
of Aris on March 13th. Took us more than a month to process the repatriation of
his remains from KSA where has been working and living for the past 23 years. I felt the blow of grief only after we were able to bring him to his
final resting place. It took a while to comprehend that our last time together
in the Philippines was 8 years ago. I am glad we had some time to talk during those last few days and months before he passed away.
·
The
Presidential elections. It was not the result I expected, and I recall listening to
the news around 8PM that evening as if the world has fallen apart.
·
Kyla
making it to straight Second Honors in Grade 12. I am proud of how far she has
gone through her journey and overcoming her challenges.
·
Kyla’s
Senior High Graduation and Loyalty Award
·
Kevin
at 22 and Kyla at 19; I still have to come to terms that both of them are
adults now
·
Alvin
and I celebrated our 23rd Wedding Anniversary. Each year is a milestone to be celebrated, and we are blessed to have been given the life we prayed for.
·
My
parents’ 50th Wedding Anniversary. We are thankful that despite their aging and ailing body, we are still together and survived this pandemic.
·
Turnover of our new condominium unit in Manila. We have a new (alternate) home in the city.
·
Tatay
in ICU for ~ 6 months until his final breath on August 6th. My husband Alvin had to spend nearly 24/7 at the hospital during the entire period. I am fortunate to be working from home while Kyla is also on online schooling, all of us managed to make it work.
·
Became
an adoptive cat parent for the village mom-cat strays; having the kittens around helped me through the ‘dark
cloud days’
·
Started
taking minimalism and decluttering seriously, and discovered community bartering; we amass so much stuff through our lifetime and one day I asked myself, what I am going to do with all these when I die? Ask someone else to clear it and dispose it for me when I could have done it myself when I was stronger? Should I expect someone to keep all of it for sentimentality's sake? That was when I decided to do the
·
Kyla’s
illnesses and hypoallergenic challenges. It was not a good time to be going to ERs during pandemic.
·
Had
our wisdom tooth surgery; served me right for procrastinating this!
·
Cat
pestilence in the village- we lost Bacon
and Ginger, and few other stray kittens; we moved Patch to my mother’s home, and he is the only survivor in the litter batch.
·
Kyla’s
college life began, and I am over the moon that she is having the time of her life; we moved to the condo and started our ‘tiny home adventure’
·
Said
goodbye to Avon PH and the Supply Chain teams after 2 years. I wrote an earlier blog post in honor of the men and women behind the Avon PH Integrated
·
Started
joining the K-drama band wagon
·
Welcomed
a new job, moved back to the south, new set of challenges but remaining loyal to my personal purpose
·
Back
to face-to-face reunion with friends
· Finally, picking up where we left off and going back to the road to run! To be able to run is freedom.
So that was 2022 in a nutshell. Closing the year with a grateful heart that despite the sadness and grief, there is always a fragment of hope waiting. I continue to trust that while the days that await us will not always be better than yesterday, I can hold on to my faith that God will help see us through it.
Praying for better times ahead in 2023. As always, we are ready for you but please be gentle this time.
 |
| Here is a photo-collage to the high and low lights of 2022 |
No comments:
Post a Comment