Thank You For My Life!

"Thank you, Tita Budhsi..." he said quietly, as he was walking into the Risata Hotel compound, looking around constantly, taking everything in. "Thank you for my life!" he added...a skip in his step, not showing a bit of fatigue after more than half a day of traveling from Manila to Bali.

Rafa is four years old. Four! Born at the time my Bapak was being lowered into the ground, Ibu and I have always felt that he is a special one...bright, brilliant, joyful, joy-giving, extremely loving, and also extremely thoughtful. You can tell I am biased, no? Who wouldn't be! Rafa will run to you with open arms, and once he reaches you he will tilt his head up and be ready to give you a kiss. On the lips! And he often says, "I love you" just because he feels like it.

My birthday present to Ibu this year was to have her spend it with her sister, Tita Cherry, and brother, Taboy. Without her realizing it, Ibu also asked for Rafa and Lesley - his mom - when we were casually talking one day of who she would want to bring to Bali. An additional surprise was having Melo, my cousin-in-law, join in on the visit - which gave me the opportunity to get to know her more, too!

I loved seeing Ibu with her siblings...she was constantly smiling, and I think they enjoyed the 2.5 days (yes, ONLY!) they had together in Bali. Next time, we'll have to make more time for chatting and spending time together ... aside from shopping.

While we were on our way to the airport to see them off, I told Rafa that we wouldn't be going with them to Manila but we would see each other over Christmas. He looked at me, wrinkled his brows, went "Tsk!" obviously not happy at all with this development. But then Lesley explained that we'd see each other soon, to which he responded by looking thoughtful, and then raising his eyebrows in approval. So Filipino!

There's so much to tell even with the short time we had together...bit by bit, I suppose, I'll be writing about it. For now, I'm just super happy that everything went smoothly. I am truly blessed. Truly Blessed.