A BROWN MAN'S JOURNEY

I guess not everyone is aware, this month of March is the Woman's Month, so I'm dedicating this entry to "the woman".

Let me start with the etymology of the term for some small bits of information. Most dictionaries will define "woman" as a female human being. Duh? Old english initially say wer and wif (wifman) as man and woman respectively. The wifman became woman and the wif became wife. Let's not bother about how wer was then translated to man. Wait, so that's why we call a half-man, half-wolf as a werwolf (or werewolf).

Anyway, there are only three most important roles that a woman plays in our lives. These roles are so important that they influence how a person grows-up and live. People who don't have any of these "roles" in their adult-life usually ends up miserable and unhappy. So now, let me tell you how these roles were played by women in my life.

THE MOTHER
I grew up without a mother, long story. I grew up with my lola (grandma) and my aunt, who was introduced to me as "mommy2". I didn't know why I was calling her that name until I understood that it's because my mommy1 or my real mom, was not actually with us. This didn't troubled my life as a small kid because I never knew what it's like to have one, or what could've been the difference. My lola taught me how to take care of myself at an early age, take a bath, put my clothes on, and go to school. Then reaching puberty and realized who was missing, I didn't blame any of my parents because I understood it's a grown-up "thing" and that they had their reasons. My mother never forgot about us at all. She visited us every once in a while because I knew she already had her own family. I even remember there was one time that she spent the night and cooked breakfast for us the following morning. The awkward actions and feeling of my father that morning was very memorable to me.

My mother was a beautiful woman, and eventhough we didn't had that much time together and I never really knew how she lived her life, I am very thankful for her. She carried and took very good care of me inside of her as a parasite for nine months, and brought me safely into this world. I now understand the hardship that she endured for being far from her children, and the awful sadness she felt when it's time for her to leave everytime she visited us. She died just before I went to college. Just in time when I was starting to understand my life. It was a sad day, we all attended the wake and carried her to her final destination. She was wearing a dress given by my father. That was the first time I saw tears fell from my father's eyes.

And that's about as much as I can say about my mother.

THE SISTER - not the gay term
Not everybody has a sister so I'm thankful to have one. She was the eldest among our siblings. Being the eldest, she assumed all the responsibilities every time my dad's not around. Without a mother in our new home, she took care of the most mundane everyday tasks for us. I knew it was hard, especially with my other two big bros. My father's job limited his time to go home. He only managed to drop by the house every Sunday, which always ended up being spent on replenishing our stocks and providing our allowances. My brothers eventually moved out of the house. There were some rough times living with my sister when she was starting to have her own family. It was not quite a good start for her. In fact, life was not so easy on her. But she was strong and managed to weather the big storms. I continued to live with them during my last year in college and early years as a professional. I witnessed how she took great care of her kids, her husband, and even me. Every morning when I woke-up, I will find my clothes including my tie and socks ready at the door of my room. During weekends, I will request her to cook for something special. At times, we sat together and talk about her problems, and my love life in some occasions. She did everything to support the studies of her children, especially her eldest son. Anything lesser than what she did would already be begging. If my nephew hasn't come to acknowledged that yet, let this blog be. Through her I saw what it takes to be a mother and caught a glimpse of what my mother would've done for me too if we were together. I'm glad that I am able to help her in my own little ways and I will continue to do so as much as I can.

THE WIFE - also known as THE ONE
Saving the best for last, there's nothing more that I can be thankful for than my wife. Of course I am also thankful with our children, but I can't be able to have them without my wife, duh? When we met, I didn't expect that she was the one. When you meet the one, you will just see your life changes right before your very eyes and there's nothing you can do about it. She's indeed the combination of the roles mentioned and a whole lot more: mother, sister, wife, bestfriend, buddy, critic, supporter, lover, and even sometimes my worst enemy. My wife is a beautiful woman both inside and out. Born an artistic wooden tiger, she's not so easy to understand by most people around her, even me in the beginning. I think she has the most advanced defense mechanism a person could possibly develop. Full of ideas and has very strong opinions on almost anything! One that you should not outright contradict, otherwise the more she will not listen. That's how stubborn she is, a typical Taurean trait. I know because I'm also one bull-headed guy, lol. Instinctively competitive, especially to me, which I find annoying at times, but endearing at the same time. She is full of life, loves to play computer games, and have lots of childish antics, which I completely adore in her. She brought out the best in me, but also the worst. What I lack, she complements, this is why I try real hard to complement and learned to accept whatever I find missing. Besides, imperfections are what makes us human and accepting these in a person is the very essence of your love. Perhaps one of the things I learned from her as well, because I know that I'm not easy to love too, I can be as cold as ice when I was still single. They say that somebody else's trash may be somebody else's treasure. Well, she was a diamond in the rough, and my treasure now.

She was a very gifted singer, a voice that you will not easily forget. This was her passion, which she gave up for our family because situation cannot permit anymore. She showed me the beauty behind the darkness of the night time, which was purely a time of entertainment for me at that time, that is if I don't have extra work. Life had become more colorful and meaningful, I'm so lucky I found my "the one".

This entire entry won't justify what she means in my life, so in order not to be too mushy, let me wrap this up.

The one I'm talking about

It may not be obvious but the order in which I discussed about the women roles also connote the time in which they have been or will still be part of my life. My mother for bringing me to this world, my sister who was always part of my growing years, and now my wife, who's the woman I will spend the rest of my years.

Friends, the world will certainly be dull and gray without them, we guys won't be able to live without these lovely creatures from Venus. Let's forget about the futile efforts to understand them, just love them with all your heart and you'll see what I mean. I usually play this song with my guitar to my wife, so I will leave this same song to all you women out there. A meaningful month to you...