beyond the great wall (View enlarged book cover) Alma Miclat, a friend and co-founder of The Compassionate Friends finally gave me the date for the book launch of their book, “Beyond the Great Wall”. It’s a family journal written by award winning writer, Mario Miclat, his wife, Alma and daughters, Maningning and Banaue. Maningning died a few months after my son’s death in 2000. Unlike me, Alma transformed her grief by starting the Maningning Foundation, whose mission is to recognize, nurture and promote Asian, especially Filipino artists 28 years and below through awards and creative programs. I hope you drop by the book launch to meet Mario and Alma Miclat and eventually buy their book. The book promises to be an interesting read . For 15 years, Alma’s family lived in the shadows of the Great Wall.

Here is the press release:

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fallen cradle “Fallen Cradle” is the title of the book which I am a part of. (View the book cover) Friends like Cathy Babao-Guballa, Alma Miclat, Agnes Prieto, Pia Cayetano are among the 22 parents who contributed to the literary anthology on their experiences of the loss of a child. Like Cathy said : “it promises to be a literary exploration of the many faces (and phases) of losing a child. ” The book is edited by award winning authors Agnes Prieto and Ricardo de Ungria.

Do drop by and take a look at our book and meet the authors as well.

When: May 3, 2005 at 5:30 PM
Where: Powerbooks at Greenbelt 4 , Makati Avenue

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technews1.jpg Thanks Annalyn for the Blog-O-Rama interview of this blog. I received a few emails from readers who have lost a loved one and got directed to The Compassionate Friends website. I know I can’t take away their pain but by talking or writing about their grief, they can somehow ease their pain. I only got to read the paper version while at the gym early this morning.


PageRank Tool
“Touched by an Angel” is only 7 weeks old , and my Google [tag]Page rank[/tag] is already PR 5 on the main page (it’s PR0 on newer entries). Sometimes I don’t understand Google. Only 10 sites link to this blog and not to mention, the domain is quite new. Anyway, this is good news because there is a chance that visitors can easily find this site by typing the significant keywords.

I believe that college kids are responsible enough to take care of their own peer problems. So why did the mother of an actress confront my daughter because of “an offending entry” about her daughter? Can’t her daughter just talk to my daughter? And why does the mother want to report her to the Dean? Report her for what? I hope she reads the Student’s Handbook before she complains or she will look really foolish. I want to say more but maybe this mother will report me to the police.

/me shuts up.

It’s about time that the whole Philippines follow the model developed by Lihok Pilipina Foundation and the Cebu City government. In Cebu, men who beat their wives or abuse their children do serious jail time. Unlike in other parts of the country, cases of wife-beating, incest, child abuse and marital rape are not ignored. Although Republic Act No. 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004) has been implemented since March 8 2004, Cebu City is the first city in the country to pass specific ordinances penalizing domestic abuses. Domestic violence aside from poverty is a priority issue that needs to be resolved.

One of the greatest pleasures of blogging is getting to know you through your comments and blog entries. I’d love to meet all of you, so I’m asking you to tell me about yourself.

You see, I’m curious. I want to know if the people who find this blog are mostly males or females

1. Are you in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s?

2. What do you do with your life? Are you a blogger too? Or a bereaved family member?

3. How did you find this blog?

4.How often do you come to visit?

5.What topics interest you the most?

If you humor me and tell me all about you, I promise to do these things:

1) I’ll visit your blog. If you have one, that is. And, if you leave the link when you comment here.

2) I’ll leave a comment or two in your blog. Maybe more, if you convert me as a regular reader.

3) I’ll tell you at least ONE thing that I like about you/your blog. I might even write all about you!

Even if you leave comments here and there , you can always tell me something about yourself that you’d like me to know – maybe something surprising, something you’re proud of, or something you think is cool about you. I look forward to knowing more about YOU.

(I got this idea from from Shai Coggin and Cottontimer.)

After being online for the past 10 years, I felt it was time to start a blog. Not that blogs are commonplace but I felt I have a lot to share especially with regards to my grief journey and the transformation that has taken place in the past year.

I chose joy over sadness. It is said that grief is inevitable but misery is optional. I realized that it did no good to sit in my misery pit. It does no good for the loss of my son to lead to the loss of two.
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