The face of five

I have a writing coach, and she doesn't know it. Her name is Lorianne DiSabato. Although I am just an avid follower of her blog found in hoardedordinaries.wordpress.com, I can sense when her mood takes a dip like when she wrote in her latest piece what happens when she stays away from her journal too long. She feels "rusty when I return, having forgotten the route a feeble, circuitous thought takes from brain to hand then onto the page."

My life's circumstances force me to write in almost desperado fashion for a living, especially now with illness pervading in the room where I dwell in the lowlands. My other means of sustaining the freelance writing is trying to infect older children and teens with a love of and lust for the word. These have taken me away from this space where I like to chronicle, among other subjects, the growth of my grandchild.

Makeup time came early today as I reviewed the contents of my digicam and found these selfies taken by my now five-year-old Kai on her birth week. She may sue me for invasion of her privacy when she comes of age, but by then, I'll be past caring. Hey kid, this grandma still is in love with you. Friend Rita Ledesma likes to quote the author Anne Lindbergh who once said that grandchildren are the love affair of old age.

And mine is intense! Happy birth month, Tweetie Pie!

Daytime selfie

Our "fivester" at night with just the light of a lamp

This picture of Japanese fried rice taken at the Baguio Country Club's Hamada is my reminder to Kai the Not So Wee One Anymore to eat heartily.

Girlfriends' night

I've traveled miles to attend First Draft meetings, and even arrived once from an overseas trip, woozy from jet lag but still able to listen to my wise elders with some mindfulness.

Karina Bolasco and I are the "babies" in this group of women who write and like to share their works by reading them aloud for critique. I write "babies" because after me, the next lady is in her mid-60s. The eldest is forever 84.

We used to meet six times a year, but that petered out when each got involved in this or that. But the raison d'être for a group like this has been met--we're all engaged in and committed to writing. And we write not for livelihood reasons alone. To use another friend's term, writing has become a "lovelihood".

Rita Ledesma had been our gracious Christmas host for many years. December is when she brings out her best china, the best cuisine and desserts that she has tasted and now wants to share this delight with us. We exchange gifts (an option) and have a non-negotiable bunutan or mini raffle. This year we missed the company of Mariel Francisco, Melinda de Jesus and Lorna Kalaw Tirol, all fulfilling family duties. I know there's a next time with them.

If my pictures are fuzzy, maybe it's because I look at these women through the eyes of love.

Karina Bolasco and Gilda Cordero Fernando

Chit Roces Santos, Edna Manlapaz and Fe Arriola

Fe and Rita Ledesma

They cared enough to send the very best

My stash of Christmas e-cards for the year 2012

From Beng Valdellon and her son Jopop

Dear Babeth,

            Another season of friendship and good

             tidings is upon us! 

            May lightness and joy fill your heart at

            Christmas and throughout the New Year!

            With love,

            Rita  (Ledesma)

From Pablo Tariman:

Happy holidays, Babeth!

Life is beautiful!

"Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart... filled it, too, with a melody that would last forever. " - Bess Streeter Aldrich

Hi Baboobska! Nagpapadala pa rin ako ng Christmas card in all its glorious materiality, pero parang save-the-trees-and-inang-kalikasan mode ka ngayon, kaya e-card na lang ang para sa 'yo.

Cheers!

Del (Tolentino)

From the family of Meran and Cesar Umali

 From Shoko Mafune:

 With Best Wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

From Louie Lolarga Johnston and family

From the Cajipe-Endaya family:

Wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2013

Julianino, Indi, Aldo from London

Marcus Alfredo, Clariz and Marco from Manila

Trinka, Imelda and Sim from Bangkok and Manila

Luisa Igloria (left) with her daughters in the US: Gabriela, Trixie and Ina. Below is her other daughter in Baguio, Jenny Carino. Her Christmas letter opens with:

"Health, Peace, and sweet content be yours…"

~ Shakespeare

“Before the fields have finished,

Before the Christmas tree,


Wonder upon wonder


Will arrive to me…”

~ Emily Dickinson

It closes with:

"We are thankful for the internet, for Skype, for G-chat, for Facebook, and all the many ways in which we can continue to keep in touch with each other and with you. This holiday season, we commune with others and with ourselves, look for ways to replenish the body, the heart, and the spirit, and look forward with you to the new year. May your hearts and homes be filled with peace and the joy of lasting things."

s