THANKFUL

It's been two days since the last call from my father, but it feels like forever. No news about what's going on with them. Are they Okay? Did George survive? How about our relatives from another town? The questions are piling up by the minute. Twitter is the only place where we get updates and what we saw scared the sh*t out of us. I was haunted by tons of scenarios that resulted in sleepless nights and passive-aggressive feelings towards other people who kept on posting what they got for Christmas on Facebook.

There are moments I want to throw my phone for seeing someone complain about trivial things during the holiday season. I totally get it. What else can they do about a calamity? Nothing. But a little sympathy can do a lot for those people who need it. I needed it, but everyone I know (with the exemption of a handful) had other things in mind to even bother to ask. When tragedy happens, you realize who your friends are and who are just there. Feeling a bit sad about that, but that is reality and I need to accept that or I'll end up hating humanity. 

Miracles do happen. We were able to contact my father this evening making our worries go away immediately. George came home safely and without a scratch. Half of the house was submerged in water and mud and most of the roof was lifted off by the strong winds, but my father was able to save important documents and his medicines. They were able to evacuate to a higher ground. To our surprise, when my father did the inspection, the rice fields where half of the flood (the other half came from the left side of the town and it was sea water) came were spared. Our car and agricultural machinery were also spared. Our stock of rice grains got wet, but they (my father and our farmers) were able to plant it today. They ordered today new roofs and the construction of the house will start tomorrow. Words are not enough to describe how thankful we are for another chance to live. Our hearts go to all our kababayan in Iloilo and other provinces. I will continue praying for them and please do check the hashtag #UrsulaPH on Twitter for news or if you want to help.