./janella.com

The last time I saw my uncle was thirty-three years ago when I went to the Philippines. It was the first and only time I had been to the homeland of my parents. I was young and bratty, traveling without my sisters for the first and only time. I’m not sure why my parents took me, but I went willingly.

At that age, I had two concerns going to the Philippines, (1) the lack of a tv, and (2) the lack of food I was accustomed to eating. I was a child comfortably familiar with fast food, enjoying McDonald’s and KFC more than any Filipino dishes.

To be even more honest, I was afraid that any meat I would eat on this trip would be a dog. I bought into this notion for some reason. Perhaps it was my sisters who sold me on the possibility, I’m not exactly sure, but it was ever present in my thoughts around meal time. I was still young enough to scream and cry if I didn’t get my way. But while in the Philippines I would often not get my way because I just couldn’t. For those occasions, I just did not eat.

But one day my Uncle David gave in. He had two dogs when I first met them. From what I recall the dogs were friendly and full grown. He traded his dogs to another person for chickens, chickens for me to eat. I thanked him, at my mom’s prompting, not fully grateful for his kind gesture. Only days later did it really sink in what he did for me.

I gravitated to my uncle as the days passed. He was the only other person I could talk to since he spoke English, the others talking very little. He would translate for me and talk to me about anything and everything. We spent as much time as we could knowing the days would pass by quickly.

My uncle was always there for me during our time in the Philippines. One day I was a complete idiot and hurt myself while hanging out with the cool adults. I managed to get my foot caught in the back spokes of a motorcycle as it was being pushed forward. He picked me in his arms and rushed me to the local hospital.

He did so much more for me now that I think about it, and I wish I could recall more, but the memories are fading.

I do remember the last day I saw him, the day we left. I hugged him and cried, not wanting to leave him behind. I told him I would write him every day when I got back home. He said, “Of course, you will, but you will forget in time to write.” He was right.

I wrote for the first several months when we got back. The months then turned to a letter once a year. Then it turned to no letters at all. When he would call my mom, and I would answer the phone, there was no longer a sense of connection when we talked. We had grown apart, time and distance creating a wedge I believe he know would exist.

Now he is gone, at rest. But he lived a full life, and I had a brief moment to remember him. I might have never met him if I didn’t go on that trip thirty-three years ago.

Happy (belated) New Year to everyone!

I suppose my year in review is a bit late, but hey, I was enjoying my Winter Break!  I didn’t feel the need to blog. It was nice having almost two weeks off to recharge the batteries. Farrah and I didn’t go anywhere particular or do anything specific. We just simply enjoyed the time off.

Anyway, let me see if I can summarize my last year in one blog post.

• Since the end of 2007, I’ve been lost in the idea of whether I should continue blogging or not. I’ve archived and deleted my Wordpress install on Janella.com at least a handful of times this past year. At times I feel the urge to create a long post, something seemingly unsuitable for Facebook or tumblr. This makes me think maintaining a blog is a must. But as I think about it more, it could really work well on tumblr. I just have a difficult time giving up control of the content. You know, what if the Tumblr goes under? Would I lose my data? I mean, Pownce went away. I’ll probably wrestle with this idea again this year.
• The big news for me this year was turning 40. I was in New York City when I turned 40. The trip was a present from Farrah. I must say New York was amazing. It wasn’t until later in the year that I felt a bit like a 40 year old.
• We went to Hawaii for Tiana's birthday in September. It was the first time we had been back since the wedding.  Farrah went again in October for Grandma's 90th birthday.
• We started exercising more. (This is when I started to feel my age!) We kick-started with personal training and are now doing it ourselves! I feel so much better.
• I changed jobs and companies in May of last year. The type of work is different from what I was familiar with, but it uses skills I have in my “toolbox”. The work environment is familiar but different: I work from home! We converted one of the bedrooms into my office. What was it before? The computer room. What makes it an office? Oh, the speakerphone does.
• I met up with good ol’ friends in Las Vegas. It was nice catching up. And man, Vegas has changed since I’ve been there last.
• We watched several good concerts: The Bridge School Benefit, Rachel Yamagata, and Morcheeba. Farrah and Lotte saw New Kids on the Block on their reunion tour. Man, I wish I could have gone (he says sarcastically).
• It was nice to get into politics last year. The political passion for the masses should exist in each election cycle. Hopefully, the future will be as bright as we envision.

I look back at the resolutions I made for last year. I managed to attempt all of them, but was only successful in maintaining one: the exercising.

What’s the resolutions for this year?

• OK, I need to try using the CPAP machine again.
• Lose weight - always a good thing.
• Cook more / eat out less when possible.
• Get rid of things, such as clothes, books, papers, old computer cables, etc.  Too much stuff just floating around.
• Write on blog entry a week. I twitter and tumblr more often then blog, but blogging has been lacking as of late. I think I need a particular weekday to post to get me going.
• Take more photos! Perhaps go out one day every two weeks for a photo assignment.
• Keep in touch with friends more - or at least talk to them via Facebook. This seems to be the medium of choice lately.
• Watch more movies! I’ve have not been watching movies much. I managed to watch several this Winter Break. I think I’d enjoy watching more good films, not necessarily in theaters though.

Well, that’s all the resolutions I can think of for now. Let’s see how I score next year.