i notice that no one's been updating much lately. does that mean that we all live pretty boring lives, or like ches said, we only write when we're depressed? hmm...

last thursday, my mother received a text message from one of my 50+ cousins that our eldest cousin, kuya rico, is back. i entered our gate and there my mom is cying, "si kuya rico nyo, nabuhay!". hehe i almost laughed. i told my mom "ang sagwa naman ng nabuhay. parang namatay na sya dati. baka ibig mong sabihin, buhay pa!" we laughed at that. then my mom made a few calls, and lastly, she called nanay (my mom's eldest sister and kuya rico's mother). maybe i should start from the beginning.

my mom was the 10th of 11 children (actually, 11th of 12, one died as a toddler). kuya rico was the eldest son of mama's eldest sister. he is, like, 38 y/o now and his eldest daughter is about my age. anyway, eight years ago, kuya rico disappeared. he left his wife (who we don't like), two daughters and a son who is about 2-3 y/o then. years passed and we thought that he was dead. when his dad, my uncle died, my aunts tried asking for him through radio stations but to no avail. well, one day he just showed up at tita elong's house and that's when ate riza texted my mom. turned out that kuya rico went with another woman to cotabato and stayed there for 8 years. the place was like those we see on tv - super bundok na talaga. pag sinabi nilang "wala ito sa bundok namin" they really mean it! kuya rico, a very smart guy (though he was not able to finish college) was like the most intelligent person there. people in their place would rely on him to serve papers, land titles, settle disputes, and compute inheritance claims.

i think he'll be coming back to their place. he's got 2 little boys and he said that he did not want to wreck another family.

his situation made me think. my cousin is a very smart person but he did not act like one. his life went downhill. madami syang nasayang na taon. he told us that if only he could turn back the hands of time, he will.

his story serve as an example to us, his younger cousins. we have do things wisely. we dont have to resort to drastic measures to escape problematic relationships. love our family and cherish them. he lost 8 years with his family. he did not see his children grow up. now he resents that.

well, enough of that....

i just received my course cards and the results are great! un lang...