A Time For Everything

Three months ago, I turned 70. I have been in retirement for 10 years already. Yes, ten years. But for me, it feels that that was not very long ago. How time flies!

So, what have I been doing during my retirement?

In my early months of retirement, I did general cleaning and organized my house. It was a natural mess given that I was able to accumulate “things” over the years. Things that I bought because they were necessary at that time (but have become unnecessary and obsolete over the years), and some “spur of the moment” purchases. Yes, in spite of my being a prudent spender, I sometimes do “spur of the moment” purchases. Credit cards make this possible for me. I already cancelled three of them, but I still have four. I never applied for credit cards, they just came through the mail. Whew! I really should cancel another two, so that I can maintain only two that are beneficial for me because by using them, I accumulate rewards points which I can readily exchange for tickets to the cinema and purchases at the supermarket and department stores. As my eldest daughter told me, I should use credit card for my own benefit, not for the benefit of the credit card company.

After a year of retirement, I was able to visit my siblings in America, courtesy of a generous sister. I was very happy then, because I never thought I would be able to see America. The first time, I stayed there for four months, and the second time, for six months. I have good memories there. I was able to see first-hand, how people live there. It is a very clean place, and people there are generally disciplined, except of course for some who are lazy and are dependent on the US government for their basic needs.

There are people who say they like it there better than in their own country of birth, but there are also people who say they like to come back to the Philippines. It is true that America is for the young, because it is a land of speed and hard work. It is not a place for lazy people.

Nowadays, I am helping in the house of my youngest daughter, where my mentally challenged brother is staying. Funny to think that before, I was the one who leaves the house to work, while my young children were waiting for me to come home. Now, it is I who stays in the house, waiting for my daughter to come home. Life is like this.

I was young once, and now am old. While I can still do things to help, I am here. For I know the time will come when I can no longer do the things that I need to do. I hope God will take me before I become a burden to my children, and that He will take me in such a way that it will not be too painful. I think dying in sleep is one way.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)