Amusing Grace Online

Hey, Rossie! These are pretty good stuff! I didn’t see a generic “leave a comment” section…and so, I found this!

Suggest you write about your latest experience as the anxious mother-of-the-bride and wife of a distraught father-of-the-bride. That should really be an eye-popper and may offer refreshing insights to readers in a similar situation. It isn’t everyday that you get to experience a daughter’s wedding…an a wedding that’s closest to your heart other than your own.

Will look forward to more exciting and interesting articles!

Labs,
Sensia….ShenXia the Warrior Princess…Cynch

Hello, Ms. Roseanne!
Just wanted you to know – I have a copy of “Amusing Grace” and it continues to be a source of strength and warmth at times when I feel most alone… Thank you for the warm hug your words continue to give me when I need it most. God bless! (I am reminded of the statement, “God’s strength is perfected in our weakness.” May we continue to grow in love and faith.
Meli

Hi, Ms. Roseanne!
How small the world really is! And wonders do never cease! How is your sister-in-law related to Dr. Bogayong, the lay minister at the Holy Spirit Adoration Convent/ Pink Sisters? Their beautiful daughter, Regina, is a friend. Oh, and I live close to Pink Sisters – walking distance, actually.
Coming to Baguio during the Panagbenga Season nowadays is not for the faint of heart… One has to contend with atrocious traffic, dense crowds and whatnot… Best to come during the “off season” – mid-January or thereabouts when the temperature really dips and we get weird cold spells which alternate with searing-hot noontimes – a “Philippine-ized” version of Indian Summer! (Er, just a little correction. I do not hold the senior post in the Mayor’s Office, but in the Public Employment Service Office [PESO] – which is a unit of the Mayor’s Office, ahem!)

Too bad I came to the City Government too late to experience the late Sir Tony Romero’s brand of leadership… From what I gather he was a staunch, no-nonsense leader – a true advocate of selfless public service.
I joined the city some 12-odd years ago. After graduating from St. Louis University in 1990 with a Communication Arts/ English Litt. degree under my belt, my first foray into the world of work was – naturally, as a teacher.
Funny, because I swore that I’d never be one! You see, my parents were public school teachers and I saw how difficult it was to be one. But – ce la vie! Life, as the saying goes, is what happens when we’re busy making other plans…

I first taught at UP College Baguio (now known as UP Baguio;) after which I took up my Master’s Degree in Literature/ Linguistics.
I then spent some time in Manila, working as Public Relations Officer in the Dept. of Energy at Fort Bonifacio. I stayed long enough in DOE to witness the transition between two Secretaries – Sec. Delfin L. Lazaro and Sec. Francisco Lopez Viray. After my stint in Manila, I worked as a Lay Missionary teacher in the foreign schools run by the SVDs (Societas Verbi Divini/ Society of the Divine Word) but my longest posting was at the small islands of Melanesia and Micronesia, particularly Papua New Guinea.

I know – this is becoming a lengthy novelette of sorts. I’m just driven by my desire to be a friend to you – not just some nameless, faceless entity firing off replies on a keyboard to you. This way, some added patina of warmth may be added to our somewhat “quirky” correspondence.

Please tell me when you plan to visit Baguio next. Maybe then, I can give you my hug personally and for real – and not just verbally or electronically! I hope that you will consider me as a friend of sorts from now on. I may not be physically around you, but you are always held in my thoughts. (Whatever your problems in balance or mobility are, I am constantly sending you my warm thoughts and prayers to help bouy you up and help keep you on an even keel. You will never know just how much YOUR own words and thoughts have bouyed ME up! And friends do just that, right? – reciprocate each other’s good deeds…)

May your days be always filled with a sunflower’s beams!

In love and faith,
Meli

Hi, Ms. Roseanne!

Yes, it is very likely that one of the Bogayong kids is a batch mate. the family is one of the most respected here in the city. it is good to know that our distance 9physical or otherwise!) has decreased by a factor of at least 100 kilometers simply by my breathjing the same air as your husband’s kin!(Ok – now I’m taking a good lungful of the cold Baguio air with the comforting knowledge that i live in the same city as the Bogayongs! it’s a windy, frowzy, cloudy day out here! Brrrr!!! I was born and raised here and quite used to cold weather; so when i say I feel cold, it MUST really be cold!)

I’ve been an intermittent ‘Kerygma” reader for years now. (Now, I’m hanging my head and admitting that I’m not a regular subscriber…) But the fact that I’m not a regular reader all the more adds to my sense of excitement every time I come across a copy. Once a “Kerygma” issue gets into my hands, I flip eagerly through the sections and immediately set my eyes on ‘Kitchen Scribbles!” (very like the way i barely skim through the sections of the daily newspaper and immediately pounce on the crossword puzzles at the bottom half of the “Entertainment” Section!)

Some years back, while I was at National Book Store purchasing a birthday card for my niece, i saw a small, slim tome resting on one of the store’s shlelves. what caught my eye was the title – and your name. i lost no time in buying one.

Why do i love reading “Kitchen Scribbles?” Hmmnnn… Maybe it would be more to the point to ask why I love to read YOUR writing… Let me see… (This is going to be long, so please bear with me.) First, there’s the PERSPECTIVE or POINT-OF-VIEW. For me, the charm in your writing lies in the fact that it is written from an earthy/ earth-bound point-of-view. Your pieces show me that the search for a deeper realtionship with our Maker begins with humility – the realization of one’s imperfections; that even the mundane and inconsequential holds the touch of the Almighty’s providence; that it’s ok for me to have “feet of clay,” to be imperfect; that true wisdom is not always borne out of grandiose, life-changing, earth-shaking “light-bulb” experiences but can come out of the simplest and most commonplace of moments.

Secondly, there’s the TONE. Unlike other writers, you never condescend ot ‘talk down” to your readers. i feel that you are taking my hand, walking beside me and not ahead of me, in this journey – this search for a life well-lived. You see, other writers take the ‘uppity” or “holier than thou” stance, which tends to make the reader awed, but feeling small. You, on the other hand, give personal accounts of experiences which your readers themselves have gone, or are going, through. You are telling us that we are not alone, that you are also facing the same challenges we face – and then some!

Third, there’s the HUMOR. Your thoughts, while gently and wistfully channeling our own thoughts to a more profound realization of our Lord’s Providence, are set against the context of a totally unpretentious and spontaneous human response to situations which truly are funny! (Consider your anecdote about how, one day, you stopped in your tracks even in the midst of prayer just to grab a can of hairspray and “experiment” on its effect on an insect – liberally spraying the poor creature with several coats until it was nicely glazed – and dead! Now THAT made me laugh! Many’s the time when my own thoughts wandered away while I was at prayer; i was distracted by an itch on my nose, or the thought of something or someone sudenly barged into my consciousness so that all other intentions were driven away!

Some might say that good writers must have the ability to make their readers “escape” reality by ushering yhem into a totally different world where they can forget their troubles. I dare to say NOT always. For me, the best writers are able to make their readers face reality with a better mindset, a better will, a renewed motivation to do good and be better. You see, it is easier to invent fiction; but to write about that which is real and stark and find beauty even in drudgery – now THAT takes real spunk, and compassion. So, i love reading your pieces because you don’t make me feel that I have to be someone else. In other words, you make me want to be me – only, a BETTER me.

One day last week i was having a diffult day at work. (N.B. It is especially difficult for me here because my environment is highly political. I am constantly walking a tightrope where I have to juggle my personal values, public accountability and the whims and caprices of an elected official who really has a personal motive behind his/ her decision/s.) I think my Guardian Angel then popped the thought about the piece you wrote about dealing wit the ravages of MS. I thought of you gluing on the sole of your left shoe onto your left foot! I stopped short. I was so ashamed …. I was internally grumbling and fuming about my situation when other people have to deal with even more difficult circumstances constantly and on a daily basis…

It was at that moment when a small, barely audible inner voice prompted me to type in “Amusing Grace” on google’s search bar. I visited the links shown – and voila! i came upon your blog. I firmly beleve that there are really no accidents in life. The Maker’s hand led me to this site. I am thankful that He led me to you…

Now, of all the few prized possessions I have, the chance the Maker has given me to know you is most valuable; not only for who you are but for the better person I am because of you!

Thank you for making me want to be a BETTER me!

With love (and a sunflower’s promise of sunny weather!)
Meli

Hi Roseanne,
I came to know about you this afternoon while you and your daughter were guesting on the TV talk show hosted by Consul Ablan. TV watching is the last thing i ever do so i can only say my joining my first born son Michael to listen to you could only have been spirit-led. It was the tail-end of the show but the portion i was able to watch was very inspiring nonetheless.

I will get a copy of your book “Amusing Grace” this week-end. You can count this grandma of four among your fans from hereon.

Maryheart