DAILY PRAYER - JULY 31, 2009

Loving God, I mourn and grieve the loss of loved ones who have died. I long to hear their voices again. I feel alone without them, but I believe that I will see them once again. Heal my grief, my sadness and my loneliness. Thank You for the times I have shared with my loved ones and the many ways my life has been enriched by them. Let me keep in mind the joy with which these loved ones filled by life. Help me find the strength to continue to live faithfully, and to love selflessly all Your children who share in my earthly journey. Amen.

Latest on Nelia Amparo (Edited)

Katatapos lang naming mag-usap ni Nelia (Amparo). I called her up para kumustahin siya. I'm glad na she's okay naman (in good health). She was at work pala nong naguusap kami.

Anyway, for those in the U.S., ang viewing para kay Nanay will be on August 1, this coming Saturday 3:00 to 8:00 pm. at:

GROMAN MORTUARY
830 West Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles 90015

For those here in the Philippines:

Nelia and other relatives will be arriving at NAIAA , on the same date of arrival of Nanay's remains.


The wake will be held at their ancestral home in Sto. Domingo.

Internment will be on August 15 at the Evergreen Memorial Park.


Please inform our batchmates accordingly.

P.S. My friend, Luz, kindly inform Licerio about their arrival.

"WHAT WILL MATTER"

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten
will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned, or what you owed,
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.
So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to do list will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important, will fade away.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant,
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
SO WHAT WILL MATTER?
HOW WILL THE VALUE OF YOUR DAYS BE MEASURED?
What will matter is not your success, but how hard you tried.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched,
empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss
when you're gone.
What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

LIVING A LIFE THAT MATTERS DOES NOT HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT.
IT"S NOT A MATTER OF CHANCE, BUT OF CHOICE.

CHOOSE TO LIVE A LIFE THAT MATTERS.

Written by: Michael Josephson
Published in: Fr. Reuter's Column

Highlights of Batch Meeting

I sent an email to Mike re the highlights of the batch meeting last July 19 at Violeta's place for him to solicit comments from those who are in the US, Canada and Australia. This morning I got an overseas call from him telling me to post the highlights in the blogsite. There were some minor deviations from the first agreements since we considered the comments we got .
We are still soliciting your suggestions, comments and reactions since all these are not final yet.

The batch meeting last Sunday, July 19 was attended by 15 batch members. We had a long discussion of the various activities lined up for the Reunion of the Decade . We considered the comments we got from the US based members as well as the comments and suggestions of the locals here. As a result there were some changes :

1.Schedules (Two Days Big Affairs)

Jan. 16 Saturday

8:00-9:00 A M --------------Thanksgiving Mass
9:00-5:00 PM --------------Batch Picnic with Families , Mans Forest Resort, Limay


Jan. 17 Sunday
AM-------------------------Visit to Gawad Kalinga in Daan Pare, Orion
PM------------------------- Dinner Dance, Raven Resort, Abucay
( Those who would opt to stay overnight at the
resort can do so.)


Jan. 18 Monday
Other small group activities may be planned .


2. Others :

--There was a suggestion that the food for the picnic shall no longer be "Pot Luck". The food committee will canvass the cost of catering for 100 persons . This arrangement was arrived at considering the hassles of cooking and bringing
food and the utensils to be used and also the discomfort of those not coming from Orion.

--The total number of persons each batch member will be bringing in the picnic shall be considered in advance to facilitate ordering of food . The food committee had prepared the menu for the picnic.

-- The expense for the food will be solicited from each batch mate apart
from the reunion contribution.

-- T- Shirt will be provided and shall be worn during the thanksgiving mass
and picnic.


--- Separate programs will be prepared for the 2 days big affairs, Jan 16 and 17.

---Each Committee shall give a report of the status of task assigned to them in
the next meeting on September.

TEN PRINCIPLES FOR PEACE OF MIND

l. Do not Interfere in others' business unless asked.

2. Forgive and Forget.

3. Do not crave for recognition.

4. Do not be jelous.

5. Change yourself according to the environment.

6. Endure What cannot be cured.

7. Do not bite off more than you can chew.

8. Meditate regularly.

9. Never leave the mind vacant.

10. Do not procrastinate and never regret.

Condolence To Nelia Amparo and Family

Nelia's mother passed away July 20 , 11:00 AM . Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, Nelia !

"It's never too late for a new love."

When Vicky met Winston

It was now or never mind

By Larry Leviste
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:48:00 07/19/2009

MANILA, Philippines—There were no sparks when they first met, but a few months later, Vicky Garchitorena and retired Navy Capt. Winston Arpon, both in their 60s, knew they were meant to be together.

Love is truly lovelier the second time around.

Garchitorena, 65, former head of the Presidential Management Staff during President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s first year in office and once considered “the second most powerful woman in the land,” has agreed to marry Arpon, 67, a retired Philippine Naval officer who served as Special Assistant to Ambassador Benjamin “Kokoy” Romualdez from 1982 to 1986 at the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C.

The wedding date has been set for Jan. 5, 2010.

Last March, Garchitorena invited close family members to her country home at the Malarayat Golf and Country Club in Lipa, Batangas, to celebrate her birthday and to meet her husband-to-be.

Her siblings, Cash Pineda, Rose and husband Judge Oscar Leviste, Nina and husband Orlan Galang plus cousins Tootsie Vicente, Yoya Tanseco, Patsy Francisco, Tiggy and Elnora Barcelona, Boy and Helen Moren, Boy and Baby Tiaoqui, Gus and Sonia de Leon, Ginggay Vilena, Melinda de Leon and Nana Barcelona all made the three-hour drive from Manila to Batangas.

Let the grilling begin

After a sumptuous lunch, Arpon, who is tall, dark (from playing golf) and handsome, was grilled by the Garchitorena and Pineda families. They asked him: Where and how did they meet? What is his background? What are his intentions? Where will they live?

Arpon parried the questions with his customary wit and humor.

He said he was a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1964 and had lived in the United States for 26 years. A recent widower, he has two daughters and a son, who are married and reside in the States.

The starry-eyed couple said they decided to live in their Malarayat home because Arpon loves to play golf.

They will continue to travel as Arpon’s children live in America as do Garchitorena’s daughters, Teray and Isabel. Her sons Jaime, Rafael and Carlos reside in Manila.

Garchitorena, president of the Ayala Foundation, will continue to look for overseas funding for the foundation’s local advocacies such as Gilas (Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students), which enable poor students to finish high school in Tondo.

Incidentally, this was how the two met.

First meeting

A little over a year ago, a common friend suggested that Garchitorena—who was then visiting Washington D.C.—meet Arpon who would make a good sponsor for Gilas.

Arpon was recently widowed while Garchitorena had been a widow for three years. Both swear there were no sparks in that initial meeting; it was all business.

Then Arpon went home to Manila for a two-month vacation. Part of his trip was to visit the Gilas school site in Loakan, Tondo. After an ocular inspection, Garchitorena’s secretary asked him what else he planned to do during his vacation.

“I’m here to look for a new wife,” Arpon said wryly, trying to deflect the pain of having lost his wife.

“Well, Vicky is a widow,” the secretary said in jest.

Arpon replied with amusement: “Now why the hell was I not told about this?”

Like cappuccino

What started out as a business relationship developed into a friendship. The two started exchanging e-mails.

Arpon admitted he was cordial at the beginning, starting his e-mail with: “Sorry to bother you or am I writing at an inopportune time?”

Garchitorena would write back: “No, reading your e-mail is a good break for me—like having a cappuccino or going to the water cooler.”

The e-mails were intelligent, humorous and regular.

Arpon, a Libra, is shy but passionate and romantic. Garchitorena, an Aries, is dynamic and a born leader. They make a good combination.

The friendship led to courtship. They wrote each other love letters. They exchanged pictures of their grandchildren, children and then of each other. Slowly but stealthily, he had inched his way into her heart.

Then Arpon e-mailed Garchitorena a copy of the eulogy he read at his wife’s funeral. In the eulogy, he declared his love for his wife of 42 years, extolled her virtues and reminisced about their happy times together. His words touched her soul. She knew then that she could trust him.

Code names

Like a military man, Arpon had code names for the various stages of their developing relationship. Stage one was “Getting to know you.”

In one phone call, Garchitorena asked Arpon: “Where were you when martial law was proclaimed?”

Her late husband, former Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena, was one of the most active and vocal protesters against the Marcos dictatorship.

Keeping this in mind, Arpon replied: “I was taking my masters in computer science.”

That broke the ice and it became the start of many long conversations that made Arpon’s phone bills a concern.

Stage two’s code name was “From virtuality to reality.”

This time it was Arpon who wrote Garchitorena: “What could make this a reality is that we must meet in person and see where it goes from there.”

First date

“Rendezvous with Reality” was the code name of their first date.

Garchitorena was aware that Arpon had chosen to observe the traditional one-year period of mourning and she respected him for this.

But fate had its own timetable.

In September 2008, six months into the prescribed one-year period of mourning, Garchitorena found herself in Foster City, south of San Francisco. She thought: “It was now or never mind.”

Arpon, the ardent suitor, threw caution to the wind, got on a plane and checked in at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco.

He phoned his lady love and they agreed to meet face to face—finally, after five months of e-mails and texting.

They took a walk down a wooded path which led to the river’s edge. They held hands and returned each other’s tender feelings. In that instant, they knew they were meant to be together.

The proposal

Last May, just after Mother’s Day, Arpon invited Garchitorena to meet his six closest military buddies—who were all married—in St. Williamsburg, Virginia.

Every year, Arpon and his buddies would spend the weekend together, watching sports tournaments and bonding.

Garchitorena and the other wives were asked to sit together in one line while Arpon and his buddies disappeared. After a few minutes, they emerged in full gala uniform, and each man was holding two red roses. They serenaded the ladies with “Dahil Sa ’Yo.” At the end of the song, each of the men gave one rose to his wife and one rose to Garchitorena. In the end, she was holding seven roses.

Then one of Arpon’s friends said: “Sir, whatever you want to say, say it now. ”

“In front of my colleagues, I wish to ask you a question,” he began. “The reason they are all here is because I want to make sure I get the right answer. If not, I will lose face in front of them … I ask, with them as witnesses, Vicky, will you marry me?”

Garchitorena gave Arpon her biggest smile and said: “Yes, yes, yes.”

He opened two boxes—a military class ring traditionally given to a girlfriend and an engagement ring.

New journey

The newly engaged couple flew to Washington D.C. and had dinner with Arpon’s two daughters and their husbands who slowly, but warmly befriended their future stepmother.

Unbeknown to Garchitorena, Arpon had met with his family before introducing his fiancée. He gave them this speech: “I had 42 years with your mom. That was a great journey. But now I am preparing for a new journey. I want to continue my life. I am asking you to walk with me in my new journey … I am not asking your permission to marry. I have made this decision carefully with you in consideration but in the end, it is my life I have to live.”

Two months had passed after the prescribed one-year period of mourning. Arpon had kept his promise to himself and his children.

Keep the music playing

This love story ends with advice from Garchitorena and Arpon to other couples in their golden years who may want to take the plunge.

Make sure God is present in your union.

Explore each other’s personalities, warts and all, with childlike wonder.

Compromise, as older couples tend to be in their preferences.

Make sure you have something in common. For instance, Garchitorena and Arpon are both voracious readers, selfless givers to advocacies and charities. They love to travel, try new things and are even-tempered. They also love sports—from watching NBA to playing mahjong.

Be up front and honest. And no talking about dead spouses that could lead to comparisons.

Never let the sun go down with an argument unsettled.

And one last thing, and this is the loving couple’s code name for the duration of their togetherness: Keep the music playing.