Saturday, December 09, 2006

That feeling of being appreciated as a writer ...

I got an unexpected but very, very pleasant surprise the other night. Hubby attended some company's Christmas party as representative of their organization, which was made beneficiary of the event's proceeds. There, he met Dr. Josette Biyo, the world-renowned and outstanding Filipino teacher who we both admire immensely. 

A few months ago, Dr. Biyo graciously agreed to be interviewed by email so I can feature her in an article I was writing. The writeup appeared in Good Housekeeping Magazine's October 2006 issue. Hubby texted me that she was a guest speaker at the party that night and I told him to ask her if she enjoyed reading the writeup I did about her. 


When hubby came home past 1 a.m. on Saturday morning, he had a huge smile on his face. A few moments later, he brought out Dr. Biyo's book A Trip To Planet Biyo which she personally signed with a short note for me! I think my mouth remained open for more than 10 seconds. It was definitely one of the "Wow!" moments in my life.
 
Dr. Biyo wrote, "Dear Ruth, Thank you for the beautiful article you wrote about me. I hope this book will inspire you. God bless and keep writing! -Dr. Josette T. Biyo". Isn't she awesome?! I wish I'd get to meet and personally thank her one day.

The next day, a mom of an exceptionally talented little girl I featured, this time in GH's December issue, texted me to say how much they appreciate the article about their daughter. Let's make that a double "Wow!" 

In moments like these, I once more give thanks to the Lord for letting me do something that I really love. The affirmations I get from people who appreciate what I do are truly precious gems that give me great encouragement and are simply priceless treasures I will forever keep in my heart.


Thursday, December 07, 2006

For the Love of James ...

... we joined the thick crowd of parents and all sizes of kids at the Alabang Town Center last Sunday to watch Dora The Explorer's Fiesta show.

It all started when ABC5 had this contest -- those who can answer the question for week gets a chance to win tickets to the Dora show at various Ayala Mall locations. Since James, our special child, loves watching our Dora DVDs over and over again (when it's not showing on Nickolodeon) we joined using Daniel's email address. Surprisingly, after a few days, we got a call that we won tickets!

So there we were, on a hot Sunday afternoon, trying to catch the 3pm show. But due to the huge volume of cars and lack of spaces in the parking lot, we were late. The show already started when we found the activity center, the crowds around the stage were jam-packed and we couldn't even find the ABC5 representative I was supposed to claim the tickets from!

The show ended, much to my and hubby's disappointment, without James being able to even get a glimpse of Dora and Boots because he's sitting on his stroller. It would have been foolhardy to raise him up above other people's heads because he might go spastic and kick someone.

I waited until the area cleared and tried to find Venus from the TV station. She was kind enough to allow us entrance for the 6pm show but told us she will only hand out tickets by 5:30pm. We waited out more than two hours by staying at Burger King. Daniel was already getting bored.

By 5pm, we were back near the entrance for ABC5 winners. Venus gave us tickets and when the guard said it's okay to enter, we happily got front seats and positioned James' stroller very near the stage. When Dora came out, he seemed overwhelmed at first but eventually laughed his way through the show. He never took his eyes off the performers. I took photos and videos using my mobile phone.

Venus gave us stubs for the Meet and Greet portion. After the show, all stub holders were allowed to go up on stage and have pictures taken with the mascots. Both my and hubby's phones recorded the moment.
We went home tired but happy. Just seeing how much James and Daniel enjoyed the experience is worth all the perspiration, aching feet and weary bones we oldies got.

Yup, it was just one of those days when parents willingly go through so much for their kids ...