Happy Easter 2008!

at an Easter celebration at our friends' house
by the Venice Canals, CA

Finding Face

It took me awhile to join social networking sites, such as MySpace, Friendster, and Facebook; since I was under the impression that it was only frequented by the peers of my nieces and nephews (teenagers to twenty-somethings). I kept out of MySpace, since I was worried that I would be easy prey to online pedophiles ... LOL.
But two months ago, I decided to join Facebook to search out old friends. Boy, am I glad I did! I finally found old friends that I have failed looking for via Google. I was able to find long lost friends that I had last touched based with ... all the way from the time I left the Philippines 13 years ago, from college, from high school. I even found my best friend during my sophomore year in the seminary, who I last saw when the priests finally kicked me out of the seminary, since they concluded that I would just be wasting my good looks if I became a priest ... LOL. My image of him was that of a 14-year old, and thus did not immediately recognize him in his picture of a man close to hitting his 40s. It feels exhilirating to even think where and how to begin to catch up on all the years that have gone by. Or who knows, perhaps friends don't really give a F+_)(*&^%$#@! about what each other has been up to... We'll see ... just elated to see "old" faces (and by no means am I referring to the wrinkles) ... LOL.

Sleep Well Roy

Bill's father, John, unexpectedly died in 1987 from an aortic aneurysm, seven years before I met Bill, thus I never had the privilege of meeting him.
By the time Bill and I met 12 1/2 years ago, his mother, Mabe, had found a new love in a man named Roy. Roy proved to be a wonderful blessing to Mabe and Bill's family. The couple was happily married for the next 13 years.
Well, one of sad days that we've been anticipating and fearing, which was one of the reasons I was kind of unexcited about this year, unfortunately has finally come to pass. Roy, Bill's step dad, passed away shortly after noon today at age 85 from bladder cancer.
Last Christmas, you couldn't tell that he had been battling cancer for the past year and half. But by Valentine's he asked to go back home to their main house in Grants Pass, Oregon, instead of finishing the winter season in Palm Desert, CA, as Mabe and he usually do every year. It was Valentine's Day and as I whispered to his ear that I love him, I knew it was the last time I would see and touch him. His local doctors later checked him again and gave him a month to live. Sadly his time came earlier, but at least he is mo longer in pain.
May he rest in peace. Please lift him up in your prayers and include Mabe and Bill's family during this difficult period. To our dear friends who have offered their condolences, "Thank you very much." Your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated. :-(

iPostcards from Chicago, IL

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