Rainy California

It's so nice to be in California with family... but the weather has been very temperamental. But I guess it's to be expected, it is winter here after all. I was here for 5 days already before the sun finally came out... the intermittent days were rainy and cold... yes, my friends, it does get cold here too, at least enough for a jacket. It's colder in the bay area and last week-end, we visited some friends near the San Francisco area, and I was cold.

Well, I ended up sick again. I've had a temperature off and on since last Sunday, coughing and sneezing. Yuck... I was hoping coming to a warmer place would get rid of my cold :-( But I've had fun spending time with the kids and just hanging out with them. I'll try to post pictures next time. I had my treatment today and the doctor I went to turned out to be someone who attended PUC in Angwin around the same time Frendell & I were there. What a small world!! He also graduated from Loma Linda Medical school. Amazing. I had to tell the doctor today how we usually do the shot.. my side effects were worse today, probably coz I'm not feeling too well. I'm hoping the sun will stay out the next several days.. at least until I go home next week :-) We're hoping to go into the city sometime this week-end. We'll see how it goes. Please pray for one of my sister's friends... she was having back pain last Friday and was taken to a hospital in Sacramento. MRI & CAT scans showed a tumor on her back and 5 lesions in her brain. We visited her the other day... she's very optimistic and her spirits are high, but her husband and son are having a hard time with it.

We've spoken to my Mom several times. My Auntie Juaning's funeral was last Sunday at Gen Trias, Cavite, Philippines. Mom and Auntie Esting are very tired and Auntie Esting is not doing as well; she's taking it very hard. My cousin said that she's having more moments of confusion and dementia. My Mom's having a difficult time with this as well; it was very difficult to comfort her when she's in another part of the world during this very difficult time in our family... she's very glad that she had gone to the PI to spend time with her sisters and that she was there when her oldest sister died. I have many fond memories of my aunt, especially during the summer months when we would leave the hot city of Manila and spend a month in the province. My aunt would always make sure we got the best fruits and desserts when we were there. She owned a store in the town market, so after we woke up, we would go to the market and she'd take us around to the different food places and get us breakfast. Then we could play in the store or try and 'help' out. Then we'd go back to the house and play and eat lunch. Towards the late afternoon, we would walk back to the market with one of our older cousins and stay there until my aunt goes home with us. Some days, we would be at the church for VBS and we'd get all sorts of delicious breads and foods there. When I was little, it seemed like the walk from their house to the church to the market took forever. When I went there last year, i was so surprised that it didn't even take that long to get from one place to the other. We were able to watch the band play at the town square... my cousin used to play in that band and I remember watching him during parades, sometimes following the band when it passed by the house. My aunt barely recognized me when I last saw her. I hope that she did not suffer during the last moments of her life. I am comforted by the knowlege that someday we will all be together again in heaven... and we can reminisce about all those times we spent together in Cavite....