Going To San Francisco

The Original Plan

After the last delivery for the Madonna University Christmas for Kids Project, the original plan was to sit back, relax, be with family (in Michigan), go to church and celebrate a quiet Christmas.

A Dose of Life's Realities

Received word from the family, in San Francisco, that Tatay was taken to the hospital. Tatay is in his 80's, every hospitalization is risky. At 61 years old, I have never spent Christmas with him. So I cried. It happens - when I am not in control of circumstances in my life.

Decisions, Considerations, Decisions

Had 60 families with 154 children in the background counting on having a good Christmas. Had to focus on the packing, last minute shopping and deliveries to these families.

Had not shopped for my immediate family, had very limited $$$ for travel - holiday travel in the US is expensive. The obstacles were countless, financially!

Have never spent a Christmas away from my children and grandchildren - unless they have chosen to do so. They are the most important people in my life. Have spent the last 30 Christmases with the family in Michigan!

Drafted Lauren, John, Dominic and Larry to help. I was losing focus, got lost in neighborhoods that I was familiar with. I felt very splintered and acted very scattered. I was also searching the net for cheap air fare to San Francisco. So was Frank and Lauren. The regular economy class fare to San Francisco during the holidays is over $750.00.

Donna and Frank encouraged me to go - so did Larry. What would I ever do without him and the support he provides???

So on December 23, I made the decision that if I can find affordable air fare, I would go. So, I gave the kids an "I Owe You" for Christmas when the right price came up.

I flew to San Francisco on December 24 to spend Christmas with Tatay and family, but mostly Tatay.



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Updates for Family Connections - aka Some of Lola Bette's Lessons

The people we serve.

Just had a snow storm - have 10 inches of snow in the ground - still some folks are outside, some find shelters for the night. God have mercy! It is cold out there - yes,some of them die from exposure or from fires. They try to find shelter in abandoned homes - yes, we have a lot of those also! Go figure????

I see some of them at the soup kitchens - times are hard in Michigan.

Have 58 families for the Madonna University Christmas for Kids Project - about 162 children. These are the left behinds of our consumer society, the excluded from the holiday cheer in the packed malls - they watch television and see excess. And wish and hope!

I have a couple of students combing the malls and stores for gifts and groceries!

I wanted to win the Lotto - so all the people on my list plus Sr. Caroline's 500+ families and Ms. Rodriguez's 100+ have hope for the holidays. My friend brought me down to reality, very quickly - Larry said that if I had the money - I would still be broke because I will always give stuff away.

My standard reply is: "I came with nothing and I leave with nothing," Lola Bette used to say that.

Among the things she told me is that "all people placed in your life are gifts from God - so you better be kind, nice, etc... because they could be angels as in the story of Abraham of the old testament or Jesus in disguise as in the gospels." So how can I argue with that???

It is the same the world over - need, want, wish, hope - lines are blurred. Most people look away - I can't seem to do that - never developed the capacity to look away from injustice and misery!

I try to train students to look at misery and poverty without flinching or running away - it is the only way that we can collectively define the problem, get to the root causes and find solutions.Acts of love are very scarce yet essential in finding solutions.You know doing, something for nothing - no expectations,no strings,suspend all judgenment, etc.

Am I a dreamer or what?

When I was young - we never really had presents but we had a lot of joy and laughter.The best part was "panaygon." We went from house to house and sang Christmas carols.

My godparents - Papa Abog Concha and Mama Uping used to give me a few centavos plus "puso" and whatever else they had to offer. The others who remembered me were my godmother, Mama Natang Roldan, Tio Dido Flores and Tios Doring Flores. One year Auntie Mafe Ares brought me apples and grapes, another year raisins and prunes. That was before she came to the states - same with Mama Natang.

What I really wanted for Christmas were parents - on given days in December, I used to go to the beach and watch for the white ship coming in from Manila and hope, pray and wish that my parents were on it - coming to claim me forever. At least one of them anyway. My idea of parents were very sketchy in my mind. My ideal parent was Tia Ason Estenzo.

I am eating Divine Chocolates - Fair Trade chocolate from Ghana as I write this. I wonder about the children there and what their Christmas is like. The chocolates are excellent - especially the dark ones - reminds me of the "chocolate bits" that Mana Nene Villamor used to give me when she was making "tabliya." Heavenly!

My life is good and full.

Dominic performed in his school Christmas Concert last Thursday - Dad Elliott's birthday. He had a saxophone solo and played a very nice rendition of Oh Canada! The only saxophone solo - I might add. Dominic wants a router for his computer and Xbox 360??? It does not sound like a Christmas gift - sounds like an equipment used by th IT department.

Leto and Manny came to see me yesterday - Leto just finished a short story about one of his adventures in Catmon with Jonald Concha - written in Spanish, no less. Manny wanted a Wiii for Christmas - can't seem to find one.

Zachary had a birthday yesterday but I haven't been able to talk to him. He wanted a Wiii??? for birthday and Christmas. They are hard to come by these days.

With the help of the Madonna University community, family and friends,I hope to give each child on the CFK list an article of clothing, a toy and a book, the family food for the holidays.

Is this too much to ask from the wealthiest, best educated population this world has ever known.

Merry Christmas to all Montecillo/Rivera/Menchavez/Loyola folks wherever you are! I am thankful that I have family like you!Keep me in your prayers, okay?