Our family went to visit my high school classmate (Monette) and her kin in Sorsogon for the Holy Week.
We left Antipolo at 3 a.m. on Holy Thursday and reached Gumaca (Quezon province) by 6:30 a.m. We brought egg sandwiches for breakfast but our driver (my husband Norman) needed coffee so badly we stopped by Jollibee for a quick break.
We were back on the road by 7 a.m., tracking the towns as we saw them on the map of Luzon. Seeing the jeepneys loaded with passengers to their roofs thrilled the kids somewhat. The sight of Tayabas Bay, and then Lamon Bay whetted our appetite for the beaches we were heading to.
We stopped for gas in Naga City around 11 a.m. and did not stop until we reached Sorsogon City at 2 p.m. or 11 hours after we left home. We had lunch at Monette’s home in Bgy. Bibincahan and rested a bit. Then, we visited Monette’s mom in Bgy. Ruro.
We thought we’d be arriving at night so her mom was set to prepare dinner for us. As it happened, when she found out that we were already having a late lunch at Monette’s, she whipped up a delicious escabeche (sweet and sour fish) for us to bring to the resort we would be staying in.
It was another hour and some minutes drive to Villa Luisa Celeste Resort in Bgy. Dancalan, Bulusan, Sorsogon. We were so tired from the day-long trip, and with tummies full from the late lunch, we decided to sleep right away and get some real rest.
Good Friday was spent at the resort, which had a small swimming pool filled with mountain spring water, no chlorine! It was raining on and off, but the kids would be back in the water the moment the rain stopped. The property also faced the beach and Norman pitched a tent. The tide was low, but just the same, the view was quite pretty.
On Saturday, we went to Subic island off Matnog, the southernmost town of Luzon. It was a half-hour boat ride to the island. Just before we rode the boat, I received a call from my oncologist on my mobile phone. He was spending the Holy Week in Iloilo but was wondering when I would be contacting him, considering I completed my radiotherapy on March 1.
I was just cleared by my radiation oncologist on March 17, the Thursday before Holy Week, and had really planned to see my medical onco after the holidays. Well, that certainly served as a reminder, in the midst of our wonderfully normal family vacation, that as a ‘survivor’, each breath is miracle…and I should always be grateful for every hour and every day spent with my husband and children.
To the delight of the children, the waves hitting the shores of Subic island were quite strong. There was some drizzling throughout the day. Monette’s dad prepared a feast of crabs and fresh fish broiled with half a calamansi inside. Monette’s children and my children spent the day building a fort in the sand, as if not four years have passed since their last meeting (we last visited Sorsogon in the summer of 2001).
The rather slow drive back home on Easter Sunday, in rainy Quezon roads, took almost 14 hours, including an hour’s visit to Cagsaua National Park in Daraga, Albay. We had lunch in Bigg’s, a diner in Naga City. We passed by Lucena City for broas and native candy. We got confused a bit, entering one-way streets and missing the national highway as we entered poblacions with narrow streets designed for calesas. We reached home past 10 p.m., giving praise to God for the safe trip and the happy memories we brought home.
I have been told that patients treated for cancer enter a ‘new normal’. They try to return to life as they knew it, but should never overdo things for their bodies remain frail, ravaged not only by the disease but also by the drastic treatment they underwent. Their health remains guarded, their future uncertain.
I welcome this new normal with joy and gratitude. It is by God’s love and mercy that I now remain a ‘normal’ wife, mother and worker.
And it is by your friendship and generosity that I remain alive and able to continue this extraordinary journey, 218 days after I first faced cancer in the operating room, that otherwise ordinary evening in August 2004.
What a wonderful blessing indeed!
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