The spiritual eyesight improves as the physical eyesight declines.” – Plato
To be 55 years old, my face is now marked with lines of life, put there by love and laughter, suffering and tears. There goes my vision. Certain muscles and joints ache. Things sag out of place but yeah, I don’t mind what other people think of me now not even my husband.
With age comes some wisdom and acquisition of knowledge and skills that I thought I was never capable of. It is wonderful feeling to be 55 years old.
Bucket list? i don’t really have one. I love what I do now. My children are done with college and on their way to financial independence. I found a new normal by being connected to people through ” blogging, social media engagement and socio-political advocacy . To borrow the words of my friend Jane aka @philippinebeat on twitter, it “connected me to people of all walks of life — from ordinary netizens to advocates to politicians to celebrities, some of whom I now call real friends. ”
A good friend told me today that she could never be into politics. I know social media is just a drop in the bucket in the massive media arena. But if I can plant a seed for change, why not?
Social media is a venue to engage with our leaders, and fellow citizens to provide reforms or push an idea for positive change. I find fulfillment in being part of this change. The best part about being in social media is age is not a factor. It is the respectful exchange of ideas that matter the most. I know I may be opinionated and passionate at times …but you know, I agree to disagree.
With collective minds and shared visions, I know social media will continue to spread our message forming the viral wave pushing all the way to the long-tail shores.
Starting saturday, I will co-host a radio show and will talk of social media news rundown of the week. I won’t share the station yet because I have to see if I am any good in it.
Today, I will celebrate the lessons from the past, the future of social media and the love and warmth of friends and family. I will continue to enjoy the beauty of others and their connection to me. I will celebrate all that is in my life and all that is good.
““Grow old with me! The best is yet to be.” Robert Browning
15 years ago, on December 22, 1996, Lauren wrote 
It was my dear husband who reminded me to dress up the little girls into witches for Halloween. “Halloween?” I thought Halloween was only done in the Western countries. ” Yes you have to dress them up as witches”. As a little boy in the late sixties, he pranced around the neighborhood begging for candies and yelling “Trick or Treat” . According to him, the Halloween “Trick or Treat” originated in the Philippines in the sixties when the Americans living in the village started the tradition. In the early nineties, Halloween was not yet commercialized. The Trick or Treat was limited to Ayala Land villages, where most American expatriates lived. There were a few masks and simple decors in National Book store but that was it. No costumes. I had to be creative. I designed a witch costume with yellow piping and a dressmaker executed it. A balikbayan sister from San Francisco brought in the hat, the candy corn candies, the fangs gum for props. 
We drove all the way to visit the kid’s grandparents in Alabang just for the spooky Halloween experience. As usual, the beaming 
The Trick or Treat adventure in this swanky Alabang village is something else. The houses compete with each other on the scariest theme. Most of these houses had tricks. In one house, the kids were terrified of the candle-lit pathway that led to a vampire rocking on the chair. Complete with spine-tingling music as you walk towards the vampire, it even freaked me out. Four year old M scurried as soon as she saw the ghoulish figure. For many years, the girls spent their Halloween with their grandparents in this Alabang village until Luijoe arrived in our lives.