Publisher's Note

Publisher’s Note
by CK May is the month of flowers not just in the Philippines but also here in Calgary. A lot of my neighbors have done their spring cleaning and unfortunately I cannot cope up with them. I remember that during this time of the year my husband, Hank gets busier day by day. He takes care [...]
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Page added on February 17, 2010

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The man on the hill listening to a romantic tale

“Silent tears”

By: Nikko gueco

It’s been a month since I started as a kitchen manager for a small hospital in Manila. Most days I am thankful because I still have a job. After graduating, my first job lasted for just 6 months, and then I was jobless for three months. Then my second job just lasted for five months. Now, I’m on my third and current job after almost a year of being jobless. I was seeing my friends moving along their career while I was going nowhere. Add to that, I was still a burden to my parents. Depression almost got the better of me. It was like days were just going by without any sense. I was bored. This was pathetic.

This was how my days went by… Shower. Drive to work. Go to the kitchen. Check the patient list and dietary requirements. Start organizing the cooks for lunch. That was my first week. Then the 2nd then the 3rd. A month. Life could be grander. But then again, who am I to complain. I’m thankful to have a job.

Sometimes it’s just feels like I’m in limbo. I was neither happy nor sad. Most of the time I ask myself what was missing. What do I want? What can I do? What do I want to do? I was lost.

Then there she was right at the hospital’s front desk; a beautiful girl in a blue skirt and white blouse. Boom! Love at first sight. Happiness surged through me. Who is she? Was she visiting a patient? Was she a patient’s family? Call it cliché but if it wasn’t love at first sight then I don’t know what it is.

The next day I tried looking for her. This lady had awakened me from my stupor. My existence had meaning all of a sudden. I went through the security logs then the nurses’ station. No luck. I even came out with a silly survey about the food to give me a reason to visit every patient in the hospital. But I still had no luck. Where is she?

I couldn’t sleep that night. All I can see when I closed my eyes was her. But what do I do? How do I find her?

Getting up to work the following day was torture. I had all but given up any hope of finding her again. When the lunch cart finally left the kitchen to do its rounds, I decided to head to the parking lot for a smoke. Upon walking back, I stopped well I thought I stopped. Or did I really stop? Actually I don’t really know. All I know was that I saw hope, life and love in front of me. My life changed from a silent black and white movie to a very colorful musical. Life suddenly had a purpose; Her. There she was, sitting inside the reception desk. You heard me right. Inside. Not in front or outside but inside. Inside meant that she was a co worker. If anyone was looking at me at that moment, they would have laughed. I could feel a bounce on my feet. It’s like everything was in slow motion. I was gazing at her with a big smile on my face as I walked by.

Any chance I get, I would pass by the reception desk pretending to use the phone so I would have an excuse to talk to her after the “phone call”. We eventually got to know each other. Her name was Pilar. She was a computer science graduate who had a thing for cellphones, texting, food, and music.

My usual boring routine now had color and life. Now I loved going to work for it gave me a chance to see her. “Siya ang nagbigay ng kulay sa buhay ko na ito”. How the day would drag by when she wasn’t working. One day, we bumped into each other at the canteen, had lunch together and got to know each other even more. We take turn driving each other home from work. “Mahal ko na nga ba siya talaga”? I live near UST and I work close by. She lives in Fairview which is quite a drive, but the drive with her is worthwhile. Thank God for Manila traffic.

When we are on the same shift or I would be off, I would drive her to work. When we leave early enough, we hang out by the next subdivision for a while.

One day we commuted together, I held her hand for the first time, and I could still remember time just stood still. It was a day I would never forget. From this day on, we were always together. We text or call each other if we were apart.

One day I planned something special. I brought three gifts for her. My first gift is a Yard Stick (a long bubble gum). She was so happy to see it for she really loved gums. We drove to the park to hang out. Then I took out my second gift, a ceramic figurine of a man holding half a heart. Then I told her to look beside her seat where she found a figurine of a woman holding half a heart. Then I asked her to close her eyes. I took my last gift, a bouquet of orange roses. I then told her, “I love you”. I was waiting intensely for her reaction. She then said, “I love you too”, as tears were flowing from her eyes.

She never thought she would find someone she will really love.

This is the story of how me and my wife met and how the love started… On a Valentine’s day!

The man on the hill listening to a romantic tale

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