Monday, July 07, 2014

Life at 70 ... awwwwwww !




July 7, 2014 ~  My mom is now in her 70's just like my father too. For her special day on 1st of July this year, I travelled from Singapore to Philippines to be able to find her a much needed wheelchair and movable bed in Bambang with the help and assistance of my brother and step-sister. I had been near Bambang area about 27 years ago when I gave birth to my 1st daughter in a hospital nearby. This place is not a place you'll dream of going to , filthy, suspicious looking people wandering all over the place ( watch out for pick pockets here too ) ... but it's well known for the reasonably priced medical equipments so it's the main reason why I went there. My sister got her car so going there was pretty easy but going back to my hotel was quite a problem coz the big boxes of equipment filled up all the seats in her small car. Ooopppsssss !
. So brother and I took the local LRT ( Light Rail Transit ) back to where I stay in Makati. Geezzz... I had never ridden LRT for so many years ! I was excited to be in there again despite of the crowd staring at me coz maybe I looked and dressed up differently .... LOL!

 
I decided to buy the wheelchair from this shop coz I saw a lot of buyers going in and out... hint ... they have good service and price for sure !

Brother Rowel and sister Wincess waiting for all things I had purchased to be properly packed.


Bambang LRT station ... just took us less than 15 mins to reach Makati from Bambang. Wow !

Lucky for me I had saved a bit of money from my monthly allowance so I was able to buy mom what she badly needed for her condition , a much needed wheelchair and some additional medical supplies..



For her birthday on  the1st of July , I surely surprised her with something she had been asking for. A wheelchair that can transport her out of the place where she and the family of my youngest brother live presently. I invited my  aunties and uncles she had never seen for a while to cheer her up plus I got her a Red Ribbon Black Forest Cake that she loves to eat too. She couldn't even wait till we start singing her a happy birthday song that she started nibbling on the cherries of the cake immediately like a kid . My poor mom !

Due to sickness and old age she cannot walk on her own anymore after few strokes and damages done by her falls in our bathroom floor. It's really very dangerous for old people in their early 70's to be walking on wet floors while alone at home. Slipping accidents are innevitable, she had even fallen on the living room floor  when I was on vacation there a few years back. She was way too heavy I couldn't even lift her up from the floor so I told her to slide up bit by bit till she can turn and go on her knees so she can hold on to the chair beside her. It was an experience I would never forget with her that day.

She's now most of the time in her bed and couldn't even sit on her own to feed. Just like a baby being fed and with pampers being changed. It's not the usual sight I used to see when I come home a few years back before. I used to see her walking around most of the time by the kitchen either cooking or washing something. I can even still remember her watering her pots of plants beside our house.


 How she loves her flowering Gumamelas, orchids and some other flowering plants adorning the sides of our old house. She was born with a green thumb coz her plants always had flowers to cheer us up !


How I miss those beautiful and memorable sights now. I'm sure she misses it more than I do too. Just a pity that people comes to this part of their lives when they can't do what they used to do. This is a feeling I would surely hate to experience but its a fact that time will come, we won't be able to avoid it.

Life is not easy in the Philippines for old people like my mom. Without physical help from my siblings, she won't be able to see what's happening outside the house. She has no idea what life is about out there unless her wheelchair gets pushed out of the door and rolled to the streets by my other half sister who can only do it once she's off from work once in a week. So my poor mom is just laying on her bed 6 days a week. Lucky if weather is good so she can breath some air outside. If it's rainy, no luck to see anything but hear the gushing wind and the drops of rain hittng the walls and glass windows beside her bed.

I always hope that mom can again stand on her own and walk a bit one day. Her mind is still very much alert although her voice had soften and had almost dissappeared . She's like whispering when she tries to say something these days. She just nods her head when she says yes or no. I felt so frustrated seeing her like this but since I'd been living here in Singapore far away from everyone, I can't do much to help her either. It makes me feel so sad .....

My sadness gets solved from time to time by going out with friends and family wherever I go . I'm blessed with good family and great friends around me . Thank God for that sincerely !







and of course doing my beading whenever I'm at home too .




So far, when I'm not partying with people, beading is still my best therapy ever aside from being busy with house chores which I do all by myself every single day.

I know my back problem hits me like a big rock crushing on me sometimes but I'm pretty ok still compared to my mom  in the Philippines. I can still luckily sit on my own and create my beaded creations whenever I want to , not like her .

I can also still enjoy taking my grandsons somewhere when I'm on vacation in the Philippines and enjoy my time with them eventhough I can't carry them due to my back problem.

Grandson Raphael enjoying the supermarket cart ride !
So happy to see smiling little faces when they picked me up in Manila.

I just hope old age doesn't get too harsh with me someday like what it had done to my mom. I don't wanna be bedridden nor not be able to go outside and play with grandchildren nor not be able to bead anymore. OMG... I must be feelin horrible if my beading stops one day and can't do anything much !

Old age gets me worried somehow ... imagine life at 70 ?
All I can say is ...... awwwwwwwwww !


Saturday, June 28, 2014

Feeling Of Emptiness ...






Month of June is the month I had all of Mommy Merah's puppies as well as my own adopted dog Luna who had recovered from her sterilization  finally adopted to good homes .









I was so sad to see the emptiness of our home after they were gone. It was a deafening silence not to hear the growling and squeaking of the puppies. No  more small fur balls running on the grass patch day and night. No more little paws jumping on me as I open the back door to the laundry area where they used to hang around. It was totally so different not having them around. I feel so empty in a way ...  makes me extremely sad !



Even the absence of Luna who used to be lazying on the living room sofa is a big  loss for me too coz I always used to smile seeing her on weird sleeping positions everytime I come down the stairs. I missed that scene too ... big time. haayyzzzzzzzz



My biggest loss of all is not having Mommy Merah to talk to anymore. Now that she had gone to a shelter after her sterilization, I miss giving her the milk she loves to drink day and night .I miss calling her name when it's feeding time. She's one very special dog I will never forget. Her survival on a cruel  environment before reminded me of things I'd been through in my life too. I see myself in her,  the courage and her strong eagerness to live no matter what. Her story is a great inspiration not only for the homeless but also for the rich ones who are lost in their everyday life. A life on the street makes someone tough not only in defending themselves but in their struggles to survive as well. For me being human experiencing all these harshness, I can think and I can find help ...I can ask help from other people or simply just by pushing to help myself by doing something .





 But for a poor dog like Mommy Merah who had been on the street all her life with no humans tending to her needs before, She cannot talk nor come to anyone to ask for help or food. She just tends to herself and her pups when they were found in Bukit Merah ( I had given her a name derived from where she was found and caught ).  I can imagine how tough and how hard the life she had been through every single day especially with her pups who were just 4 days old when I fostered them. I was so broken hearted the first time I saw their pics on Facebook. The feeders were asking for help about them.



The day her pups were caught by AVA and she was trying her best to get to them. A heartless scene I would say ... until today, I cry when I see these photos.

How can people be so heartless to these poor animals ? The only fault they did was to loiter around the neighborhood scavenging for food. But they didn't harm any humans at all. They are just trying to survive... just like us .

Is it really this cruel in our human world that poor living things like them are given a hard time by people like us?
Please think about it, they don't only deserve a chance but they also have the right to live their lives happily too .
So please, be nice to these poor animals !

I would like to thank all the kind hearted people who helped me support the puppies and Mommy Merah during the time they were living with me until today .

Sweety Chestnut!
Adorable Euro !

Cute and smart Kiwi !
Handsome Meroh !


To all the adopters, A big thank you ! 


To those who still keep generously helping Mommy Merah and Papa Dog now living temporarily in a shelter, may you all be blessed more with abundance in your life.

Mommy Merah with Papa Dog


Now I have to go back to beading again to entertain myself when I'm not with Gabby ( the only dog left under my care for the moment ) I better keep my mind away from loneliness and focus on something to fill up the emptiness in me !

Beads here ...

Beads there ...




Final Outcome ~ Beaded Necklace and Cuff Bracelet !

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Busy in May ...





May 25, 2014 ~ I was about to say that I had never been soooooo busy at home in my life. I was too occuppied not by beading ... opppsssssss !


nor even by painting at all ....


 guess what's keeping me moving constantly at home aside from cleaning nowadays ...






Major sign of a happy contented life ... for a dog ! LOL...


Remember I had 2 adopted mongrels previously that had been all this time quite naughty keeping me company all day. They're not the only 2 furred creatures keeping me going in circles now. I had welcomed with open arms the addition of 1 more + 4 puppies in tow !

Merah and her puppies on the night I got them for the 1st time in my place. Puppies were just 4 days old and Merah had just been trapped and reunited with her pups after a day of stress for being kept apart.

The night she was trapped and sent to my place, Merah was alowed to come out of the cage and given a room for herself and her puppies.

I had recently fostered 1 stray mother dog with 4 puppies. Rescued mother was trapped from the streets while puppies were all bailed out from AVA . Yup... crazy me ! You can say I'm crazy but it's true that I got my own source of ... oh well... how to define this thing .. a stone I can hit my head with LOL! Although I would say that I won't call it a major problem coz taking care of a stray mother dog and her 4 days old puppies up to this day didn't give me so much hardwork anyways.

I decided to name her "Merah" derived fom the place where she came from ~ Bukit Merah



Merah having some "me' time away from her puppies. Geezzz even dogs need to get a break LOL!
Having a power nap Merah ?






For some people, having 7 dogs would be such a big deal but you know, I'm used to doing a lot of things all by myself , multi-tasking I guess it is one of my greatest asset ha ha !.  Mind you.. I now had the dog family for 3 weeks under my care and they were all doing fine and healthy ! I thank all the food and milk donors who are people with such good hearts coz without their help and support, these poor creatures would only have a very slight chance to survive the hunger and poor weather conditions from their previous environment. They were actually found living under a walk bridge.



I am so happy to be with the puppies every day coz I see their growing developments . from the very 1st day I had them until now. They were so light & tiny back then. But now, they are quite chubby except for the brown female that moves around all the time and wiggles her tail everytime she sees me in the morning.

4 days old puppies came to my house for the 1st time in a carton box.
Poor puppy been away from Mommy dog for alost one whole day. Lucky they were always sleeping that time. From this... into this pic below : AAwwwwwww so cute !
Puppy is now about 3 weeks old !



They had grown so well in 3 weeks that they can now jump over the sliding door frame. I even caught 1 of tem already out of the room too ! Lucky my 2 other dogs were not around or else, poor puppy would be pushed and bullied by them. Haaaiizzzzz ....




They can now see me when I come in the room and jump in excitement as soon as they see my shadow coz i normally keep the lights off to protect their eyes.



Soon these puppies  and the mother would be up for adoption.
If you'e interested to adopt or foster a pet or rather would prefer to donate to support their food & medical needs , Please kindly go to this website for further inquiries :

http://www.animalloversleague.com/

Your donation today can save lives !



 
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