Reflection paper 1 - Defining Moments by Leader Ponti

Sir, re-sending my reflection paper. Thanks

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

            Life was pretty easy and comfortable for me as a child.  We live in a small province in Bicol and my father works in Manila.  Both of my parents are working and my father is earning quite good in an insurance company.  I still remember vividly, that whenever he gets to come home, he brings a lot of goods and clothes for us.  In our community, we always have the nicest clothes and the coolest toys.  And we enjoyed every summer day in Manila where our father would take us to big malls, restaurants and amusement parks.  That's what life for me as a child.  Full of fun, comfortable and yet simple.  Not until my father got sick of Arteriosclerosis.  Gradually, our life began to turn upside down.  Because of my father's illness, his right foot was amputated and the left foot was saved because of a bypass surgery.  This makes him unable to work even with a  prosthesis leg.  Although he still manage to get commissions from the insurance company he was working with, still not enough to support for the family's needs and medical expenses.  We had to transfer then in Manila to be with my father.  Though financially struggling, my father wants us to study in prestigious schools in Manila with the help of my grandmother abroad.  He always tells us that this is the legacy he wants to leave with us, that we would graduate in prestigious schools. But it was then when I realize that life is getting harder for us.  I have three siblings and all of us are studying in private schools.  I could just imagine how my mother has managed to budget our money for our daily allowance, food, utilities and medical expenses.  I called her "Curacha" at that time.  Because she does everything and accept extra jobs to augment our budget.    During Sundays, I will come with her in Forbes Park to provide termite treatment to wealthy families.  We would go there commuting, bringing all our equipments, while luxury cars just passing by.  She also does gardening jobs to other wealthy families because she's a licensed agriculturist.  Every morning, our kitchen is always busy because my mother and sister cooked different foods and delicacies to sell in their office and in school.  That's how we managed to survive.  Life became more difficult when our house was burned down in fire.  Nothing was left except for the clothes we were wearing.  Some relatives volunteered to accommodate us but only for a certain period of time. My father's friend volunteered his extra room.    We are literally like sardines whenever we sleep.  We lived there for few months until the house was built again thru the money we got from insurance and help again from my grandmother.  My books and all my school materials were burnt. Because of nothing left with us, I lost my motivation to study, reason why I was kicked out at MAPUA during my 3rd year.  I applied for a part time job to be of help to my family while studying at the same time.  On a Christmas season during those years, having to run from school to work, one day my appendix got inflamed and I have to undergo operation as soon as possible.  We literally had nothing that time, good thing, a friend of my mother helped us for all my hospital needs.  In spite of all of these unfortunate events in our lives, we never lose sight of our faith in the Almighty.  We recited the holy rosary nightly.  And my petition are pretty much consistent and detailed; that I will get a good job, a type of job where I get to move all day because I easily get bored when doing paper works; that I would stay in my first company for long; and that I would find a simple and responsible woman as my future partner.  My mother's faith is what kept the family stood still.  I would describe her as a "woman of prayer".  She prayed unceasingly day and night.  That is why, in midst of our hardships, God would always send somebody in the person of our neighbors, relatives and my father's friend who voluntarily offered financial help.  My father is also known in their little community in Pasay as a good and generous man.  Many friends visited him every now and then bringing him some food and at times would hand in cash for his medical expenses. During that time I realized that "goodness begets goodness".    Indeed, I firmly believe that God is always present during the time of our crisis. So life continues as our everyday struggle continues.    Until my eldest sibling and I began to finish college and though life is still hard, gradually, everything started falling into the right place.  My sister got a job in a bank while I was hired in TIPCO, Mabalacat, and the same company I still worked with up to now.  My sister financed our household needs while I financed my sibling's studies.  

But another unfortunate event happened.  My father died.  That made us even stronger as a family.  And now, nothing can ever come our way to pin us down.  The crises that we went through made us stronger and closer as a family.  At present, I and my siblings are all professionals in our respective field.  My eldest sibling holds the position of AVP at PSBANK, while I worked as a Manager at TIPCO.  My other sister works in abroad while my youngest brother works in a financing firm.  I can confidently say that we are all living a comfortable life.  And now my mother is enjoying her old age with her relatives and best friend in Bicol. She is busy with her religious organization and ballroom dancing and gets to visit us once in a while.

            As of today, I am married with three wonderful kids.  My wife is exactly what I prayed for.  She's simple, responsible and smart. In spite being a career woman, she is a very dedicated mother and wife. She always tells me that her full time job is being a Mom and wife.  My job is exactly what I wished for.  I have been with TIPCO for almost 18 years and my job requires me to be mobile.  God indeed answers all our prayer; we just have to tell Him the desires of our heart.  Now I could say that I am wiser in handling money matters because I learned from our experiences back then.  I try to invest in real estate, stock market and I have the habit of saving money and putting them just anywhere around the house because I believe in the saying "Kapag may isinuksok, may madudukot".  And now we try to instill in our kids the value of hard work and money.  Though we are living a quite comfortable life, we try to live simply and save for the rainy days.  And although we can manage to hire full time helper, my wife and I decided to hire helper on a part time basis because we want our kids to grow up responsible.  Life is unpredictable and we should prepare our kids shall crisis befall them. 

            My experiences in life allowed me to become a more mature person emotionally and spiritually. It allowed me to transcend and go beyond my human capabilities.  In every crisis that I experienced, it draws out the best in me.  If I have to live my life again, I will choose the same path.  Because I will not be the kind of person I am now, if not thru these experiences.  My education may have given me knowledge, but my experiences taught me wisdom.  My education may have taught me how to conduct myself professionally but my parents, thru their examples, taught me good and sincere human relations.  My school taught me skills about machines, but my experiences taught me skills about life.  Life is our biggest classroom and our greatest teacher.  Only if we learn to live it fully and succumb to our Almighty's willing.... then we could say, life is indeed BEAUTIFUL! 

JOSE MANUEL PONTILLAS  3.5