this july...
what happened this july....
it's been a year since uncle nick died. uncle nick was my dad's best friend in the States but we feel that he's closer to us than any of our real uncles. he's always had a big smile for everyone and when we were kids, spoiled us crazy. he was always there for our family, especially my dad, even if he was actually a continent away. when my mom died, uncle nick helped in more ways than any other family member did. and when we used to go to San Francisco, before we got our own house and after we sold it, we always stayed with his family. no question.
uncle nick would make annual trips to the philippines. we all knew that even if he was already an american citizen, he was a filipino, heart and soul. last year, my brother announced that he was getting married. again, no question, uncle nick was going to be one of their godfathers. since uncle nick was in manila and the wedding is going to be a big event, my dad set up a family dinner where uncle nick and his wife, auntie mary, would be formally introduced to my brother's bride-to-be and formally asked to be a godfather. that night, my brother didn't even have to finish his sentence. uncle nick was already smiling a big "yes!" uncle nick went on to regale Margot, now my sister-in-law, stories about my brother when he was little. after dinner, we decided to take a walk around the mall/park surrounding the resto. i noticed uncle nick seemed a little distant, a little tired. i guess my dad noticed it too so he called it a night. he took uncle nick, auntie mary and their daughter nicole, home. my brother, margot, my two sons and i stayed a while longer to have coffee. on my way home an hour later, my dad called saying that he was rushing to the hospital because uncle nick suffered a heart attack. i couldn't believe it. my dad went on to say that he had just got home and was about to change to his bedclothes when nicole called to say that something happened to her dad and that they were on their way to the hospital.
i immediately called my brother to tell him what happened. none of us could believe it. after my brother and i had spoken, my dad called and said uncle nick was dead. i felt numb but the tears came falling. next thing i know, i was sobbing uncontrollably. i called my brother to tell him and i knew he cried too. while waiting for his body to be transported back to the States, a wake was also held here in Manila but i just couldn't bring myself to go. when i kissed him goodbye that night, i didn't know it was going to be for the last time. i wanted to remember him alive.
for his first death anniversary, i was surprised to learn that three of his daughters and auntie mary would be in manila. the first weekend they were here, we had lunch at a chinese resto. i found out that uncle nick wanted his entire family (his wife, six daughters, all of his sons-in-law and grandchildren) to travel to the philippines for their 2008 trip. sadly, only auntie mary and three of his six daughters came. all his daughters are close to my mom and when they used to visit manila, they stayed at our house and my mom would take them around.
after lunch, they wanted to go to greenhills so my brother, his wife, my sister, my two kids and i offered to accompany them. they bought so many stuff so my kids helped by carrying their packages. while we were having dinner, we got to talking about what happened to uncle nick. by that time, my brother and his wife had already gone home. while i was telling them about the last few hours of their dad with us, i started crying. then they started crying too. i guess the best part about that dinner were the reassurances we gave to one another's family that if they were in manila or we would be san francisco, we would always be around and available for one another.
my mom and uncle nick must've been smiling that night.
~
wednesday last week, on my way to work, i got involved in a minor accident. i kind'a hit a cop. i say kind'a coz i didn't really hit him. i was driving a little fast and whizzed the cop who was caught off-guard so he fell off his motorbike. when i saw him fall, i went back to check on him. then, i got swarmed with other cops who told me to pull over and talk to the cop i didn't hit. one of the nosy cops mentioned that cop-i-hit needed medical assistance because he got bruised from the fall. when i approached cop-i-hit, he started berating me. i didn't want to just give the cop money so i offered to take him to our office clinic which was just close by. he agreed to follow me in his bike. on my way between the "crime scene" and my office, my boyfriend, whom i had called earlier and was actually listening to the cop berate me (i immediately called him, even before i got down to talk to the cop and told him that i wouldn't hang up my cell phone so he could hear our conversation) told me who to call and what to do. he also assured me that he was going to follow me right away.
so i called two of my staff, told them to also call our office security, and for all them to be ready to meet at the building entrance. we all escorted cop-i-hit to the clinic. since i had already called our clinic, they immediately assisted cop-i-hit. while cop-i-hit was being treated, i decided to go out for a smoke. lo and behold, two more of our office security and three cops from our PSPO (police security and protection office) were there. i found out boyfriend called them up to give me some sort of back-up assistance. i told them what happened and the three pspo cops went inside the clinic. while i was still smoking, two more of our security arrived. i called boyfriend to ask where he was (almost there - he said) and he said that i should call our chief security officer to tell him that i was already at the clinic. so i did that. next thing i know, our chief security was there, along with the chief pspo assigned to our office and two other cops i didn't know. my office-bestfriend also came for "moral support". so after i gave them my side of the story, we all trooped to the clinic where cop-i-hit was asked about his version. just as i thought the whole show of force ended, boyfriend comes in with his security detail (ta-daaa!). sheesh!!
the whole ended when i told cop-i-hit that i was going to pay for his x-ray, medicines and the expenses for the repair of his bike. from his berating voice, he turned into a meek lamb, told me that he was fine and that no one wanted to have an accident in the first place. at that point, i soooo wanted to bash his head but instead i just smiled and yes. but i do have to admit that it was a funny site when he boarded the ambulance with two of my staff who would accompany him to get his x-ray because everyone was by the ambulance door to give him a huge send-off.
when cop-i-hit returned to the clinic after the x-ray, my staff told him that they were going to bring his bike to the shop for repairs. he declined and said that if either of them knew how to straighten his lights and just realign his steering, he'd be fine. lucky for me, my staff knows how to repair bikes. in the mean time, cop-i-hit said that he would have lunch with our pspo guys - turns out they were classmates in police class!
it's been a year since uncle nick died. uncle nick was my dad's best friend in the States but we feel that he's closer to us than any of our real uncles. he's always had a big smile for everyone and when we were kids, spoiled us crazy. he was always there for our family, especially my dad, even if he was actually a continent away. when my mom died, uncle nick helped in more ways than any other family member did. and when we used to go to San Francisco, before we got our own house and after we sold it, we always stayed with his family. no question.
uncle nick would make annual trips to the philippines. we all knew that even if he was already an american citizen, he was a filipino, heart and soul. last year, my brother announced that he was getting married. again, no question, uncle nick was going to be one of their godfathers. since uncle nick was in manila and the wedding is going to be a big event, my dad set up a family dinner where uncle nick and his wife, auntie mary, would be formally introduced to my brother's bride-to-be and formally asked to be a godfather. that night, my brother didn't even have to finish his sentence. uncle nick was already smiling a big "yes!" uncle nick went on to regale Margot, now my sister-in-law, stories about my brother when he was little. after dinner, we decided to take a walk around the mall/park surrounding the resto. i noticed uncle nick seemed a little distant, a little tired. i guess my dad noticed it too so he called it a night. he took uncle nick, auntie mary and their daughter nicole, home. my brother, margot, my two sons and i stayed a while longer to have coffee. on my way home an hour later, my dad called saying that he was rushing to the hospital because uncle nick suffered a heart attack. i couldn't believe it. my dad went on to say that he had just got home and was about to change to his bedclothes when nicole called to say that something happened to her dad and that they were on their way to the hospital.
i immediately called my brother to tell him what happened. none of us could believe it. after my brother and i had spoken, my dad called and said uncle nick was dead. i felt numb but the tears came falling. next thing i know, i was sobbing uncontrollably. i called my brother to tell him and i knew he cried too. while waiting for his body to be transported back to the States, a wake was also held here in Manila but i just couldn't bring myself to go. when i kissed him goodbye that night, i didn't know it was going to be for the last time. i wanted to remember him alive.
for his first death anniversary, i was surprised to learn that three of his daughters and auntie mary would be in manila. the first weekend they were here, we had lunch at a chinese resto. i found out that uncle nick wanted his entire family (his wife, six daughters, all of his sons-in-law and grandchildren) to travel to the philippines for their 2008 trip. sadly, only auntie mary and three of his six daughters came. all his daughters are close to my mom and when they used to visit manila, they stayed at our house and my mom would take them around.
after lunch, they wanted to go to greenhills so my brother, his wife, my sister, my two kids and i offered to accompany them. they bought so many stuff so my kids helped by carrying their packages. while we were having dinner, we got to talking about what happened to uncle nick. by that time, my brother and his wife had already gone home. while i was telling them about the last few hours of their dad with us, i started crying. then they started crying too. i guess the best part about that dinner were the reassurances we gave to one another's family that if they were in manila or we would be san francisco, we would always be around and available for one another.
my mom and uncle nick must've been smiling that night.
~
wednesday last week, on my way to work, i got involved in a minor accident. i kind'a hit a cop. i say kind'a coz i didn't really hit him. i was driving a little fast and whizzed the cop who was caught off-guard so he fell off his motorbike. when i saw him fall, i went back to check on him. then, i got swarmed with other cops who told me to pull over and talk to the cop i didn't hit. one of the nosy cops mentioned that cop-i-hit needed medical assistance because he got bruised from the fall. when i approached cop-i-hit, he started berating me. i didn't want to just give the cop money so i offered to take him to our office clinic which was just close by. he agreed to follow me in his bike. on my way between the "crime scene" and my office, my boyfriend, whom i had called earlier and was actually listening to the cop berate me (i immediately called him, even before i got down to talk to the cop and told him that i wouldn't hang up my cell phone so he could hear our conversation) told me who to call and what to do. he also assured me that he was going to follow me right away.
so i called two of my staff, told them to also call our office security, and for all them to be ready to meet at the building entrance. we all escorted cop-i-hit to the clinic. since i had already called our clinic, they immediately assisted cop-i-hit. while cop-i-hit was being treated, i decided to go out for a smoke. lo and behold, two more of our office security and three cops from our PSPO (police security and protection office) were there. i found out boyfriend called them up to give me some sort of back-up assistance. i told them what happened and the three pspo cops went inside the clinic. while i was still smoking, two more of our security arrived. i called boyfriend to ask where he was (almost there - he said) and he said that i should call our chief security officer to tell him that i was already at the clinic. so i did that. next thing i know, our chief security was there, along with the chief pspo assigned to our office and two other cops i didn't know. my office-bestfriend also came for "moral support". so after i gave them my side of the story, we all trooped to the clinic where cop-i-hit was asked about his version. just as i thought the whole show of force ended, boyfriend comes in with his security detail (ta-daaa!). sheesh!!
the whole ended when i told cop-i-hit that i was going to pay for his x-ray, medicines and the expenses for the repair of his bike. from his berating voice, he turned into a meek lamb, told me that he was fine and that no one wanted to have an accident in the first place. at that point, i soooo wanted to bash his head but instead i just smiled and yes. but i do have to admit that it was a funny site when he boarded the ambulance with two of my staff who would accompany him to get his x-ray because everyone was by the ambulance door to give him a huge send-off.
when cop-i-hit returned to the clinic after the x-ray, my staff told him that they were going to bring his bike to the shop for repairs. he declined and said that if either of them knew how to straighten his lights and just realign his steering, he'd be fine. lucky for me, my staff knows how to repair bikes. in the mean time, cop-i-hit said that he would have lunch with our pspo guys - turns out they were classmates in police class!
quacked by The Sipping Duck at
10:44 AM
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