In a few hours 2006 will pass and we’ll be ushering 2007, a new year. A chance for a new start, new adventures, another 12 months filled with joy, happiness, surprises, as well as sadness and hurt. That’s ok though. That’s life and that’s what makes it interesting.
2006 has been both a good and bad year for my family and I. More of good though. Notably 2006 showed progress for me with Myozyme. Nothing big or dramatic. Very small in fact. However the true blessing there is that for the first time in my life this is the year with very little or no decline in my health at all. Without Myozyme I probably would not be writing this entry as I would probably be just in bed and with no energy to get up or do anything. I thank God for giving me relatively better health this year. It’s still tough though and probably will take a long time before there is any remarkable improvement at all. As they say “Patience is a virtue”. I will have to be patient.
This is also the year that my “Lolo” or granfather passed away. My mom’s dad passed away this year due to complications from diabetes which resulted in a lot of health problems for him. Growing up I used to be really close to my Lolo. Some would even say that I was his favorite, being his first grand child. We also share the same name. No, he’s not Juan too. My second name is Benedicto and it was taken from him. In fact both my names come from my two grandfathers. Juan is my dad’s father and Benedicto is my mom’s father. But I digress. Over the past few years things happened that made us drift apart. I will not dwell on that. Suffice to say that it is one of the very few regrets I have in my life. I always kept thinking I have another day to fix things. But by the end, it was hard to talk to him already and I didn’t get the chance to really fix things in the end. That’s what is sad.
2006 brought me new friends as well, some of them I’ve known already but it was this year that we really became closer. Most notable of which is Doc Lani. She and I have practically spent spent 2 days each month just talking. She’s the doctor that is at bedside everytime I get an infusion. When you spend that much time talking with a person, you get to know them a lot. She is one of the kindest persons I’ve known.
Another milestone of 2006 was the founding of “PSOD”:http://www.psod.org.ph marking the start of hope for fellow Filipino’s with rare disorders. The PSOD is a small group with limited resources but we’ve made a vow to try our best in order to help Filipino’s with rare disorders. 2007 will be an important year for “PSOD”:http://www.psod.org.ph as it will try its best to develope the endowment fund.
I’ve also seen a lot more public exposure this year. Several TV appearances as well as being featured several times in newspapers and a village magazine. I still get really amazed when someone I meet in public already knows who I am. It’s funny, I was chatting with a friend of mine who’s on vacation in the United States. We had a video chat and his young niece was with him. His niece told him that she’s already seen me on TV. Apparently they watch “The Filipino Channel”.
I turned 29 this year. This will be my last year as a 20 something. To be honest I felt sad. I’m turning 30 next year and I’m still not where I hoped to be by the time I was 30. I had a mental picture in mind growing up. I really far far from that. By this time I hoped to be married, own a house and a car and have the foundations of a fledging business that will support me and my family through our lives. None of these are a reality yet. The only thing I think I can make true as of this very day is buy a car, but why? I don’t drive. I’m content in using the family van instead. This year did mark our first complete year with Sparkplug Studios. But it’s far from a business that can support me much less my family for the years to come. We’re still at the growing pains stage and in fact I’m happy we even made it this year. I’m hoping we’ll do better next year.
As for love. Alas that’s something that I think will take some time. I’ve had many “crushes” this year. All of which really don’t have the potential for anything more than to make me smile on days that I feel down. Not because they’re not girls that you’d want to marry instead, the circumstances or some other reason just doesn’t make it possible. Who knows maybe one of them still might be the one. But as of now I just don’t see it yet. However, they still made this year very very interesting.
I think that this is the year I need to leave the past behind in terms of love. If I cling to it I might not survive. If it was meant to be God will find a way in the future. As it is, I just need to trust God and let go. Do you know the feeling that you fall on your back in the hopes that someone will catch you? The feeling of trusting someone else to catch your fall. That’s what I need to do. Let go and let God. It’s difficult but it’s something that needs to be done. It’s hard to let go of practically a third of your life.
As a whole 2006 was a great year. I would even say it’s a life changing year for me. I hope you had a good 2006.