SOULFUL

Archive for December, 2011

Gerry: Every morning I still wake up and the first thing I want to do is to see your face.

Holly and Gerry were young couple very much in love but who always argue about everything. They argue about having or not having  a baby, about their jobs, about their career plans. Holly thinks Gerry says something when he actually means something else. Whereas, Gerry thinks Holly doesn’t really know what she wants. At the end of each argument, however, they end up expressing their love for each other.

Then Gerry died of brain tumor and Holly left not knowing what to do with her life. Three months after Gerry’s death, Holly was still unproductive. She just stayed in the apartment. She doesn’t go to work nor does she answer the telephone. Then on her 30th birthday, her mother and her sister, together with her best friends Sharon and Denise came over and caught her in her messy apartment. Shortly after they arrived, a cake was delivered with a note that says it was from Gerry, set it up just before he died, and that there are more to come. All of them ended up with ‘PS I love you.’

His first note told her to go out and have fun on her birthday. And she did, only she got heavily drunk and threw up on Daniel’s, a new acquaintance’s shirt.

Gerry’s second note came on the mail instructing to buy a new bedside lamp and a knock-out outfit for a disco diva because he said she was going to need it for his next letter.

The next note was delivered by a man in a leprechaun costume carrying a balloon. The instruction was for her to sing in karaoke. Holly didn’t want to do it especially when she recalls the last time Gerry dared her to do that. She started dancing sexy on the stage, but managed to have her foot tangled with the microphone wires and she fell off the stage. She landed in the hospital with a broken nose. However, if only to please Gerry, Holly did what he wanted and sang a song for him.

The next note was stapled with Gerry’s leather jacket in the laundry. He was giving his jacket to her because he thought she looks good in it. He also instructed her to dispose all his belongings. She did it and asked Daniel for help.

When summer came, Holly got another letter from Gerry. It was actually an arranged tour to Ireland, Gerry’s hometown, for Holly, Sharon and Denise. When they arrived at the Irish cottage, there were letters addressed to Sharon and to Denise telling them to take care of Holly and let her have a good time. They, then, went out to a bar and met a charming hot singer, William. Holly got attracted to him right away. But when William sang her a song, Holly withdrew when she heard that it was the same song that Gerry sang to her before.

The trio went fishing, but everything got out of control and they got stranded in the middle of the lake. It was then that Sharon told them she was pregnant and Denise said she was getting married. The news made Holly felt bad about herself. Then, to their rescue came the charming William. They asked him to stay at the cottage. That night, Holly could no longer hide her attraction to William and they slept together. After making love, Holly found out that William or Bill was Gerry’s childhood friend and band mate.

Holly, then paid her parents-in-law a visit. Another letter from Gerry was waiting for her there. It was a reminder of the first time Gerry saw her and helped her find her way in Ireland. It was when Gerry pointed to her the direction that she must take, and that is to create.

When Holly got back to America, she stayed at the house and thought hard about what she really wanted with her life. She didn’t communicate with any one and she didn’t answer phone calls, even when Denise called up to say she was no longer invited to her wedding. Instead, Holly started to do the thing she really liked. She began designing shoes and found out that she was good at it. She even attended lessons to enhance her craft. Then, she paid Denise a visit. She apologized for the wrong things she did and volunteered to design her wedding shoes.

Holly went out with Daniel and told him about her rediscovered self and wanted to share her happiness with him. However, she made the mistake of calling him ‘Gerry’ so Daniel walked out. Holly felt so bad, She went to her mother for comfort and found out that it was actually her mother whom Gerry asked to send the letters for him when he’s dead.

She handed Holly Gerry’s last letter which urged her to move on with her life and not to feel afraid to fall in love again. Then she thought of Daniel and went out with him. She let him read Gerry’s last letter. And to find out whether they were in love with each other or not, they kissed. It was then that they realized it won’t work out between them and agreed to be friends.

Holly took her mom to Ireland. There he met William again, and as Holly introduced her mother to him, William in turn introduced his father. In the end, Holly wrote a letter to Gerry telling him how good she is now and that if she is not in love with someone at the moment, she may be in the future.

Image Source: Wikipedia

Several hours before Christmas, I received the most important call I could receive this season, a call from my husband abroad.

It may sound over reacting, but yes, it is a bit over reacting to be this happy with an overseas call. You see, my husband left his laptop to my daughter, Candid, which means he doesn’t have anything to use to communicate with us. We haven’t had any regular communication for the past three weeks now and that it is taking a toll on us all, making a single overseas call the most important call on Christmas.

And to my husband, Merry Christmas! The Lord will see us through this and we will be together again soon..

Peter and Juliet were getting married. Beside them at the altar was the Best Man, Mark, Peter’s best friend who was never close to Juliet. In absence of a nice shot in the official video, Juliet asked Mark to see his own video of the wedding. Though Mark said he couldn’t find it, Juliet managed to find the tape and played it. She was very happy to see a nice video shot of herself. It took her a while before she realized that the entire tape was of her making Mark’s true feelings for her known. On Christmas, Mark, pretending to be carol singers expressed how he feels about Juliet, and Juliet acknowledged his feelings by kissing him.

Jamie, a writer, attended Peter and Juliet’s wedding leaving his girlfriend at home. When he came back to the house, he found out that his girlfriend and his brother were having an affair. He retreated to a French cottage together with his housekeeper Aurelia. Despite Jamie’s speaking English and Aurelia’s speaking Portuguese, they fell in love. When they parted ways, Jamie studied Portuguese so he could talk to Aurelia. On Christmas, Jamie went home to his family but realized that it was Aurelia he wanted to be with on Christmas so, he went out to find her and proposed to her in his newly learned Portuguese. He was surprised to know that Aurelia, too, learned English so that they could talk to each other.

Sarah, another attendee to Peter and Juliet’s wedding has been with a design agency for more than two years and has been in love with his co-worker Karl for just as long. A fact which is known to everyone including Karl himself. On the night of their Christmas party, Karl asked Juliet for a dance and they ended up at Sarah’s home. When they were about to make love, Sarah’s cell phone rang. It was her brother, Michael, who was in the institution. When the phone rang the second time, Karl asked Sarah not to answer the phone, but Sarah did anyway. Karl left. On Christmas, Sarah celebrated it with Michael at the institution.

Harry, Sarah’s boss, is married to Karen. Karen is a loving mother and a good wife. Mia, Harry’s new secretary was trying to seduce him and on Christmas Party made it clear what she wanted him. Harry, then, bought a gold necklace for Mia. Karen saw it in his jacket pocket and assumed that it was for her. On Christmas Day, Karen was disappointed to find out that it wasn’t. That night, after their children’s performance at the Christmas concert, Karen told Harry about the necklace and Harry felt sorry.

Karen’s brother, David is the new British Prime Minister. On his first day in #10 Downing Street, he met his household staff including Natalie, a sweet, chubby girl with a lousy mouth. David was drawn to Natalie right away, so he felt bad when he saw the American president flirting with Natalie that he had her removed from his office to somewhere else. On Christmas, however, he found among his mails a card from Natalie expressing how she feels for the Prime Minister. David got up and searched for Natalie until he found her and her family leaving for the Christmas concert. In order to keep themselves from the public, they tried to get in from the backdoor only to find his sister, Karen. They, then hid behind the curtains. As they were kissing, the curtain parted and they were seen by the audience.

Daniel, Karen’s friend, has just lost his wife. He was left with his stepson Sam, who, he felt, was having a hard time. Upon closer inquiry, Daniel found out that what made Sam felt sad was that he was in love with Joana, an American girl. Daniel encouraged Sam to tell Joana how he feels. Sam learned to play the drum just so he could join Joanna in the Christmas concert. After the concert, Joanna went to the airport to go back to America. Sam ran after her and as the security guards caught him and brought him back to Daniel, Joanna appeared behind him and kissed him.

Bill Mack is an old rock and roll icon. In order to revive his career, his manager, Joe, had him sing a Christmas version of the song, Love is All Around. And though Bill didn’t believe it will make number #1 at the music chart against BLUE, it did. And on Christmas, after staying a few minutes at Elton’s party, he left and found Joe to celebrate Christmas with him.

Jack and Judy are body doubles for a sex scene in a film. While they were rehearsing, they got attracted with each other and had a date on Christmas. They watched the Christmas concert together with everyone else.

Image Source: Wikipedia

I would like to apologize to my cousins Maria Lourdes, Janet, Ruth Sandra and Grace and to my aunt Nita, widow of my uncle, Dr. Artemio Agustin for offending them with my blog post “A Doctor’s Love’ (which was already removed from the archive).

I sincerely apologize for posting the story of my uncle without obtaining the family’s permission first. Moreover, I apologize for citing things that were based on what I heard from other people. Below is an email from my cousin, Maria Lourdes, to correct all the wrong information with the actual facts.

I want to take this opportunity to let them know that I did not intend to invade their privacy or dishonor my uncle, and I apologize for how my blog post made them feel.

Kim,

Hi! I just read the blog that you posted yesterday featuring my dad. I think that you did not do us any justice in posting this blog for the world to see. For ethics’ sake, you could have asked our consent before publishing anything regarding my dad.

Firstly, there is no truth to the specific incident that you related about my dad’s chance of going to the US before he met my mom. As you mentioned, you just based it on “tall tales” that you heard from different unreliable sources. Yes, they are just “tall tales” and not founded on the TRUTH. I believe that there is nobody in this world who knows my dad better than us. In our family, we always spend our free time lounging in our family room, talking about each other’s challenges and sharing each other’s accomplishments. My dad so vividly shared every part of his life to us from the time he could recall his growing up years to all his achievements. His lifetime was part of the legacy that he left us. The fallacy that you mentioned in your deceptive article would not have been overlooked by my dad. If there was any TRUTH to it, he would have told us, for the simple reason that it was a symbol of his undying love for my mom. Do you get my point, Kim? Don’t bloggers follow a standard policy of posting only proven facts unless otherwise classified as fiction?

Secondly, my dad never drove an “old battered jeep”. We never had a jeep in all of my life, plainly and simply because, its way out of our interest. We were raised up by my dad who never liked jeeps because he thought they were not classy. I beg your pardon, miss, the only time you will see my dad ride a jeep is when it is the only available military service vehicle in his area of assignment. But, mind you, our personal vehicle has always been a car, the current year model at that.

Thirdly, my dad never had a private clinic just like the “doctors” you know, because my dad is not a conventional ordinary doctor. He is not just a five cents doctor that paid a large sum of money in order to be admitted to medicine proper by a diploma mill college of medicine. It was you who mentioned that my dad topped his board exams. You heard right this time, lady. But, just because you know one fact about my dad does not qualify you to judge him and his motives. He did not end up as a “colonel in the Philippine Army”, like you’re trying to imply that he did not have any choice but to grab the only opportunity he had after passing up your “tall tale US opportunity”. My dad was a Brigadier General in the Medical Corp of the Philippine Constabulary. My dad hated the Philippine Army and he had nothing good to say about it. He belonged to the finest arm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and that is the Philippine Constabulary. He was one of the well-decorated finest officer during the reign of President Ferdinand Marcos, of which my dad was a part of the core that was loyal to the greatest president. Just one book will not be enough, if I were to enumerate the achievements that he has garnered in his military service. Now, these are the achievements that money cannot buy. The legacy that we (his children) got from my dad is priceless : INTEGRITY, HONESTY, MORAL PURITY and LOVE FOR THE UNLOVABLE. We, his children will never trade these for all the money the world has to offer. He did not have a private practice or his own doctor’s clinic because his love for God and country comes first in his life, and all the remaining love is for us, his family. He loved God so much that he shared in God’s interest, PEOPLE. He did not have a private clinic to make money but wherever he is, that is his clinic. People came from all over the country, friends, relatives, referrals to ask for medical consultation and assistance. He was just very glad to be of service to them. He did not have any specific clinic hours so most of them came in what the world know as “unholy hours”. And, I think the big difference, between the doctors that you know, and my dad, lies in the fact that he never charged anything at all, including medicines. And if the patient needed further medical attention, my dad would even refer them to his close comrades and give them a special recommendation for FREE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE.

My dad loved the Philippines and he is willing to give his life for it. This is the very reason why he gave his Medical profession to the military service. Several times, not just once but multiple times, my dad was offered to serve in the US Army with a promise of making our whole family American citizens enjoying all the benefits and he will be given the best position and will be promoted one rank higher…he declined it all for the love of his country. Anybody ordinarily will grab this once in a lifetime offer, but my dad did not want to belong to the ORDINARY. These offers came when US generals saw how my dad served excellently in the Vietnam War. Facing an irresistible offer at the time when he was sacrificing everything in the war zone was too difficult to ignore, but he refused it for the love of the Philippines. Now, is my dad like the doctors that you know?

Kim, what do you mean by “why does he live the way he does”? What do you mean? And this question brings me to another fact about my dad. After giving his love for God and his country, all of his remaining love was smothered on us, his family. He was a military surgeon because if he was a private practitioner, how will we live since he will never charged anyone any professional fee. And, I can shout it to the whole world that my dad served in the military with all HONESTY AND INTEGRITY. He did not get, not even a penny, unscrupulously. However, he gave us the best way of life his paycheck can offer. He sent us to the best schools and he gave us the best luxuries in life. So, for a fact, he did not let an “old battered jeep” bring us to school, but he made sure that we had the latest decent chauffer driven car. We grew up not knowing that there were other jeans beside Levi’s…there were shirts other than Esprit, Benetton and Lacoste…things like that. My dad never denied us the pleasures in life that his paycheck can afford. And this was the very reason that when we got the chance to see the world, we also did not hesitate to give him the best that we can give: a Mercedes car, Florsheim and Bally shoes, Rolex and Omega watches…My dad deserved the best because He has given us the best. Therefore, I don’t know what you are talking about, Kim.

I want to ask you why do you have to write what you wrote about my dad? Why did you suddenly think of him? THE BLOG THAT YOU WROTE ABOUT HIM IS POINTLESS. Kim, my dad is also different from the doctors that you know because my dad is a very private person and that’s how we were raised up. We grew up to be a closely knitted family trained to take care of each other because we did not really get close to any of our kinsfolk. If my dad were alive, he would not also give you any consent to make our family’s life public. WE PREFER TO REMAIN PRIVATE.

By the way, my dad does not measure success or happiness by material wealth or MONEY. For him, money is only temporary and no matter how much you have, it will only last for a lifetime. He believes in focusing on the things that have eternal value, things that you will possess even beyond this life. When he looks at a man, he sees him as a soul who needs God. If he can do anything for this man that will show him the love of God then he has accomplished a great deal. Therefore, for my dad, the more people you touched with the love of God, the more successful a person is. And this principle is the greatest inheritance that he left us. Now, after giving you a brief insight about the REAL Dr. Artemio B. Agustin, do you think he was happy with the way his life turned out?

Jake* is handsome. His is not an ordinary face. It was the face of a guy who gets a girl, any girl he wants. He couldn’t remember any girl that ever turned her down. He is simply irresistible and he knows it. And he doesn’t settle for an average face, his girlfriends had been known for their beauty and body. In fairness to Jake, he doesn’t dump anyone in his life. The relationships simply.. didn’t work out.

Then, he met Kat*, a witty, funny and ordinary looking girl who contradicted her the first time they came face-to-face. Jake was amused. How could she? thought he. Is there something wrong with the girl or he has gotten old? After all, he is already 26.

Since then, he did all he could to be noticed by Kat, but nothing seems to work. The girl is just too smart for him and no amount of flirting can do the trick. She’s just beyond him.

So, Jake found himself smitten by the girl to the point of obsession. Jake was finally and hopelessly.. in love. But there was one problem.. Kat was 10 years his junior? She was just a child. Courting her would be deemed taking advantage of the girl’s innocence but letting her go without taking a chance would be unbearable. So, he took his chance and was rewarded. Kat liked him too, maybe not as much as he felt about her, but it was enough for Jake.

For the first time in his life, Jake felt what love really is. Love was looking at her, watching over her and making sure she’s alright. He wanted to protect her and make her happy. He wanted to be there for her always. He couldn’t stand being away from her for too long. But Kat was too young and too smart, too young to commit herself to Jake and too smart to know there is so much ahead of her and Jake has to accept that.

When Kat went to college, Jake went abroad. He had to do something while waiting for Kat. Five years later, Jake came home but learned that Kat already had a child but had no husband. It didn’t matter, he still wanted her. But Kat was still the spirited girl who knew what she wanted and it wasn’t Jake.

Jake went back abroad, still hoping that when he comes back, Kat would finally realize she loves him. But Jake was wrong, he came back with a happily married Kat. Jake knew it was time to let go. He courted another girl and married her. They had two children and Jake loved them.

Jake is happy and knowing Kat is well makes him happier. Still, in the dead of night, he would put out his cell phone and look at Kat’s number, not to text her or call her, just look at her number thinking that his one true love is just a phone call away..

*not real name

Doctor Marcia Fieldstone: Tell me what was so special about your wife?
Sam Baldwin: Well, how long is your program? Well, it was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together… and I knew it. I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home… only to no home I’d ever known… I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was like… magic.

On her way home from her parents’ house on Christmas eve, Annie Reed, a reporter from Baltimore Sun, heard over the radio, a boy from Seattle who wanted a ‘wife’ for his mother on Christmas. The boy told the radio announcer how sad his father had been since his mother died and how he could not sleep at night. At first, it was the boy who was talking. Eventually, his father, Sam himself, took over the telephone conversation and spoke about his dead wife and how much he loved her.

Annie, along with other listeners, got hooked up on the guy, eventually called Sleepless in Seattle and his love story, and found herself crying. Since then, she started to tune up on the radio station and even called to ask for Sleepless in Seattle’s address. She wrote to him and, inspired by the classic movie An Affair to Remember asked the man if he can meet her on top of the Empire State Building. As soon as she wrote the letter, however, she crumpled it and felt guilty about paying attention to another man when she was already engaged to Walter.

But Annie could not get the man and his son out of her mind. She tracked them down and even hired a private detective to find out how they live. Her friend and editor Becky, feeling how it bothers Annie sent her to Seattle to make investigative report about ‘radio shows.’

Upon arrival at the airport, Annie was seen by Sam, Sleepless in Seattle himself, while he was with Jonah and his co-worker, Victoria, whom he started dating. Jonah doesn’t like Victoria because he wanted someone else for a new mommy, a letter sender named ‘Annie’ who wanted to meet them on top of the Empire State Building, something that sounds too unconventional to Sam.

Annie went to Sam’s address but father and son have gone to the beach. She went there and was about to approach Sam. They were staring at each other across the road until a truck passed by and nearly hit Annie. The next moment, Annie found another woman hugging both Sam and Jonah. In her embarrassment, Annie went straight home and decided to forget about Sleepless in Seattle, a decision contradicted by Becky. So, Annie showed her the pictures the private detective sent her which were of Sam and Victoria having dinner together. She assumed that it was the same woman who was with Sam and Jonah at the beach.

To her surprise, she found in her mail a response to her letter to Sleepless in Seattle through the radio station agreeing to meet her on top of the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day. Becky had mailed her letter. But Annie already made a decision, she would forget Sam and marry Walter.

On Valentine’s Day, Jonah, with the help of his friend Jessica, managed to sneak to the airport and go to New York City to find Annie by himself. She didn’t come. Sam, upon learning what Jonah did took the next flight and followed his son. He found him on top of the Empire State Building and then they went down. Neither noticed that Jonah’s bag was left.

Annie, realizing that she couldn’t marry Walter because she wanted someone else broke up their engagement. She rushed to the top of the Empire State Building hoping that Sam was still there but it was empty except for a back pack. She held it and was about to go down when the elevator opened and out came Sam and Jonah who came back for the boy’s back pack. Annie handed it to Jonah and they were finally able to formally introduced themselves with one another.

Image Source: Wikipedia

Jessie* is a lesbian who works in a call center. She used to live with her girlfriend in a quiet subdivision in Laguna. They had been together for several years and were both satisfied with what they had, until one fateful night.

Jessie was supposed to meet some friends and her girlfriend Tina was supposed to go to work, but for some reasons, both of them stayed in the house. By midnight they were woken by voices in the living room. It took only a short while for them to realize that the house was being robbed. The robbers were just as surprised as they were to find them at the Master’s bedroom. Both were masked and there was no way for Jessie and Tina to recognize them, besides the fact that they froze and couldn’t function over the idea that they were face to face with criminals.

In order to save themselves, Jessie and Tina got up and ran for their lives. The sturdy Jessie was able to reach the door but the petite Tina wasn’t as fast. She was grabbed by one robber and stabbed her, again and again. Jessie was able to get out the door but upon realizing that Tina didn’t make it out of the house came back for her. Luckily, the robbers already left and Tina’s body was lying motionless on the floor. With the help of neighbors, Tina was taken to the nearest hospital. She survived.

When she was sent home, it was Jessie who took care of her. Jessie fed her, bathed her, dressed her up and nursed her back to life. Together, they faced the ordeal. Jessie would come home from work and feed Tina, clean her wounds, change the bandage and put her to sleep. Sometimes, Tina would scream in the middle of the night. She was in so much pain. Sometimes, she even scream in her sleep as if the robbers were trying to kill her even in her dreams. Jessie would put her arms around Tina and comfort her and put her back to sleep. It seems to go on forever.

It took several months before things finally got back to normal, or so they thought. Things didn’t get back to normal. They love each other as much as they did before or maybe even more, but something about their relationship has changed. They no longer find enjoyment and satisfaction in their physical relationship. Instead of lovers, they feel as if they are sisters. Time passed by and the romantic feelings they once shared didn’t come back so they decided to part ways. They became best friends until now.

Funny how fateful events which make other people closer had opposite effect on Jessie and Tina. Life, indeed, is mysterious..

Health is wealth, therefore, we must see to it that we are always in the best of health. Otherwise, we must consider looking for the best health insurance in case something happens. We must, however, be mindful of various factors like what the insurance covers and how it works. It is, therefore, important to look for health insurance quotes and choose the best.

Image Source: Charles Fredeluces Mundo

“If you just couldn’t find a way out, because you think there is no way out and you are convinced of that, then maybe there really ISN’T ANY…” (The Wicked Witch of Fairview)

-Soulful

No win no fee refers to the type of agreement in which the lawyer gets paid only if the case wins. One of its advantages is that no payment is made if the case is lost. The disadvantage, on the other hand, is that, if an individual decided not to take insurance, he may end up paying the cost involved. It is, therefore, important to gather information and educate oneself with the requirements of the case before getting involved into this type of agreement.