25 April, 2009

A Letter To My Son

A Letter To My Son
Author: Debra Bryant Lykins
When I hear laughter it is you (My Son)
When I look around it is you I see (MY Son)
When there is sadness it is you (My Son}
When there is teardrops shed it is you (My Son)
Remembering you these are the things I feel
Because you are gone forever (My Son)
You will always be in my Heart and memories
I will always LOVE YOU (MY SON) 
In the memory of my son
who died at age 19 Sampson Edward Lee Lykins
One of the greatest children in the world
who was very much loved.and will forever
be Missed... Love Mom

19 April, 2009

Me? A Teacher?

When I was still taking up my bachelors degree (Math), people will always say "math? so you want to be a teacher". I want to shout -- no way! Don't get me wrong, I don't hate teachers. My mom, grandmas, grandpa, aunt and even one of my sisters -- they're all teachers. I just don't like the idea of standing in front of students who doesn't even care what I am saying in front of them while they daydream of who-knows-what. And sad to say, teachers are under compensated here in the Philippines.

After hybernating from the corporate life for the longest time (of course I was my sons yaya), I decided to try working as a private tutor. I distributed flyers in our condominium building. I had to climb 60 flight of stairs with my sister and another sisters yaya. We didn't want to be seen (hello, the cameras in the hallway) so we had to make sure that nobody was in the corridors. Then we had to run (quietly of course) and slide the flyers beneath the doors of 15units on each floor of the condominium.

Finally, my sister losing lots of pounds climbing the stairs paid off (she only weighs 90 before she helped me with the flyers). There were a lot of inquiries, but I wanted a one-on-one tutorial because I don't want to sacrifice the grades of the students. I finally agreed to tutor Mrs B's daughters. They already have a tutor but their grades were failing, so Mrs B decided to look for another tutor.

At the end of the school year, the final grades of my two tutees were 90 and 95. The mom was so happy and I was so proud of myself because tutoring them was very stressful. Those kids really did try my patience. They didn't want to do their homework, doesn't want to study for their quizzes and quarterly exams. Most of the time, the mom even say that its okay if they don't want to study. Not study for the QT, no wonder they were having failing grades.

I had to explain to Mrs B (a lot of times) that instead of just agreeing with them in whatever they want, she should encourage them to at least do their homework. Homeworks are given for the students to be able to understand their lessons more. Understanding their lessons also means that they don't have to exert too much effort in studying during exam weeks.

I had a lot of tutees after that. But I had to stop tutoring when my son got accepted in his schools swim team because of time conflict.

My son always comes first.

Maybe I will try online tutoring next.


13 April, 2009

Messages


I am trying to organize my email accounts. So far I finished deleting unsolicited emails as well as forwarded messages in one account. Out of 3000 inbox messages, I still retained 500.

Why didn't I delete messages even those from 5years ago?

I didn't delete messages from my family, even if its just a grocery list. Everytime I read their messages again, it makes me remember that I'm part of a group -- a group that God has chosen for me to be in. That no matter how big or small my mistakes or their mistakes have been, we'll always support and respect each other.

I didn't delete messages from my friends, even short messages like "Don't forget, kita kits on friday sa McDo Glorietta". Everytime I read their messages again, it makes me remember that I'm part of a group -- a group that I've chosen to be in. Through thick and thin, they are always
there for me. Never judging me no matter how unbelievable my decisions are.

I didn't delete messages from acquaintances, maybe 10 years from now I can apply their forwarded messages on my life.

It's not just my email messages. I am fond of keeping Christmas, Valentine, Invitation, even Report cards =)

What about you, what "messages" can't you delete from your life?

12 April, 2009

I heart Brothers and Sisters

One of the shows that is worthy enough to be included in my "would rather not sleep early than fail to watch" list is Brothers & Sisters. Catch it every Monday at 9 pm on Studio 23.


The compelling one-hour drama series, is about a collection of five enmeshed and somewhat damaged adult siblings and their strong but passionately devoted mother, Nora Walker (Oscar and Emmy Award winner, Sally Field). The Walkers' lives have not been without challenge; romance, parenting, divorce, infidelity, addiction, war and even death have pushed each of them to the limit, but they continue to work toward living their lives as individuals, while loving each other unconditionally and trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy after the loss and lies of their larger-than-life family patriarch, William Walker.

Eldest sibling Sarah (Emmy Award nominee Rachel Griffiths) is a newly divorced mother of two who finds herself in a power struggle now that she has to help run the family business, Ojai Foods, with her father's lifelong mistress, Holly Harper (Patricia Wettig). Also running the business is loyal brother Tommy Walker (Balthazar Getty). Tommy finds himself torn between his loyalty to his family and the desire to make his father's company profitable again, while trying to keep his own marriage alive and provide the emotional support needed by his beautiful wife, Julia (Sarah Jane Morris) and baby daughter, Elizabeth. Kevin (Matthew Rhys) is an openly gay lawyer who has finally found his soul mate and a new spouse in compassionate, loving, chef-in-training Scotty Wandell (Luke Macfarlane). He'll call his own career into question when he experiences prejudice about his sexuality within the law firm. The baby of the family, Justin (Dave Annable) has struggled with war trauma, injury and addiction while unsuccessfully resisting his attraction to Rebecca (Emily VanCamp), who he once thought to be his illegitimate half sister. Kitty (Calista Flockhart) and Robert McCallister (Rob Lowe) move forward with plans to adopt a child after a devastating miscarriage and an unsuccessful Presidential run. Saul Holden (Ron Rifkin) is the emotional pillar of the Walker family, who has finally chosen to live his own life, exploring his feelings as a now openly gay man. And holding them all together is Nora Walker, the matriarch of the family.





source: ABC
photo credit : Brothers and Sisters TV
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