Hanapin ang sarili mong daan sa mga kwento ng iba..dito sa Tumana
‘BER na Naman
September 13, 2011
How quickly time flies. It feels just like yesterday when we were all busy implementing Y2011 plans. Look at us now. Again, the “BER” month is ushered with the month of September and in no time at all, Christmas will be upon us.
The month of September is very special in a political, spiritual, and personal way.
September 21 in the year 1972 is marked as a dark day in the political calendar of my beloved Pilipinas. This is the sad day when former strongman, Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, declared Republic Act 1081 putting the entire Philippines under Martial Law. The Bill of Rights is suspended along with Writ of Habeas Corpus, effectively giving the former president of the country a free hand to suppress the collective will of the people. I grew up under the Martial Law regime. I remember clearly how we used avoid the “midnight till dawn” curfew or risk being apprehended by the former Philippine Constabulary and be hauled to Camp Crame. Martial Law was eventually lifted, nine years later, on January 17, 1981. The human-cost of the Marcos Dictatorship according to the activist’s rights group: 3,257 extra-judicial killings; 35,000 torture victims; 70,000 incarcerations; and 120,000 arbitrary arrests and detentions.
September 08 is the date when the Roman Catholic Church observes the world-wide celebration of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. My beloved, Pilipinas, being the only Catholic country in Asia, never fails to commemorate this blessed day with the celebration of the Holy Mass. I attended the Sept 08 mass not to ask for blessings but to seek guidance for my troubled soul. I know if I course my please through the Blessed Mother, I would eventually be given a chance to get the healing of his Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Of course, who will forget the darkest day of September 11. Ten years ago, in the Year 2001, the United States of America was hit by multiple terrorist attacks. Four commuter planes where hi-jacked by Alqueda Terrorists and crashed the doomed planes in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Almost 2,000 people lost their lives. This is comparable to the December 07, 1941 attack in Pearl Harbor where 2,402 people (composed of sailors, airmen and civilians) died in the infamous raid of the Japanese Imperial Air Force which plunged the United States into the Second World War.
But the most important date for this ‘Ber month is the 5th of September. This is the date when Alexandra, my first born, was successfully delivered into the world. She was a tiny little creature at four pounds and eleven ounces. She was so frail that we had to keep her incubated with other new born’s in the hospital’s nursery for six days. Today, at sixteen tears of age, Alexandra is a Senior High School student raring to conquer the world as she is preparing for college. I find it harder to “hang” with Alexandra as she is so busy even during weekends. She is bursting with so much energy that I have to tell her to take it slowly. But then, I remember that this is her life and I just have to guide her, not dictate what to do. She is beautiful like her mother but got her “street-smarts” from me. Am sure we will celebrate more of her birthdays, whether we are together or apart.
