Laying Another Brick

I feel like I conquered a mountain.

The school year is almost over. I am having the feeling of bliss with the grandness of this triumph over this school year.

I am acting as the guardian of three college students: my brother – whom I considered as my first full time scholar; and my sister and cousin – both freshmen.

It is always a joy to retrieve the thrill and sweetness of this adventure of journeying with them.

I am not a neophyte in taking charge. I have lots of life experiences where I took the lead. But being a guardian to my own family is quite frightening.

I want to reflect and write the joys, fears, worries and grandeur of moments that mark in my memory and will live in my heart.

It just emerges in the ensuing silence tonight. Tonight that I am thinking of all the blessings I have. Tonight, that I am thanking the lord for making me his channel of love – at least and foremost – to my family.

Last April, I was overjoyed upon learning that my sister and cousin passed the entrance examinations of the universities that they applied for.

I was with them during their enrollment – sweating with them in the too long queue of freshmen students completing the enrollment process. We waited for our turn for three to four hours.

Boboy – my brother in law – even went with us. My cousin was not able to finish his enrollment in one day so we went back to the university the following day. Boboy went with us to take a post in the long queue of students for the medical exam results while my cousin and I were waiting for his turn for interview by the university’s dean of college of engineering.

While my cousin was filling up his registration form, he asked me, “Ate Bebe, ikaw na po ang ilalagay ko na guardian?”

“Huh?”

I was hesitant to say yes but, still, I said “o sige.”

I knew, with that came a big responsibility.

I can quite understand now the plight of parents in the business of bringing up a child. I cannot forget the worries and fears that I had when one of them was sick; when it was late and one of them was not yet around; when one of them was spending the night to a friend’s house; or, when one of them was on tour or field trip.

I shared with their happiness when they get a high score in their exams; when they accomplished an excellent report; or, when they passed a defense.

I spent a lot of time with them in solving the draining worded problems in Algebra and Physics; or, in getting the balance of the transactions in a certain journal entries.

It is not easy to act as a mother, a sister, an aunt, a tutor, a teacher and a friend to them.

What’s more difficult was rebuking them. I remember a time when my brother was only a freshman. He was invited to his classmate’s birthday party in Bulacan. He asked permission, alright. But he was not able to go home that night.

I was awake the whole night – worrying to death.

“Makikita talaga ng batang yan.”

“Lord, please take care of him.”

I was thinking of lots of punishments, for him, when he gets home while praying for his safety at the same time. And, when he got home, my anger was gone. I was just relieved and happy that he was safe.

But, I still gave him a punishment. I let him write repeatedly in five tablet papers – back to back – the words: “Di na ako makikitulog uli sa ibang bahay.” He is keeping those papers until now.

To encourage them to study hard, I launched a competition for the three of them. I recorded the scores of their quizzes and term exams. Those had equivalent points. Then, the points they earned had equivalent rewards. I gave the rewards last December – for the first semester. Ingkay got the highest points and so got the best reward.

I am thinking of more gimmicks next school year. I want them to excel, not only in academics but also in other aspects of life – of real living. I want to set their minds to becoming an entrepreneur or an investor. More importantly, I want them to really help themselves so that they can help others too.

I just laid another brick. I am willing to handle and lay more bricks – until I create a mountain of bricks.

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