Thank you, family and friends!

I am now back in the Philippines after six weeks of travel to the US West Coast together with Gilbert, Rose & Ted, and I want to express my appreciation to the people who made our visit fun, enjoyable and most of all, rewarding.

To Ted's cousin Trina and her husband Mel of Palo Alto, to the Del Rosario family (Au, Glenda & GJ) of San Jose, California, to my former officemate Hermie of San Francisco, California (whom I saw again in San Francisco, California after I left Cosmos in 1978), and to the family of Dr. Rudy Villasin & Linda Palaña Villasin (Ted's aunt) of San Mateo, California (Lalaine, Pete & Matthew), thank you very much for your hospitality, generosity, precious time and love.

Thank you Roma & Darwin for meeting up with Ted & Rose, taking time off from your very busy schedules to give them the wonderful Disneyland treat!

Thank you Pastor Romeo Provido and Sister Ana for your hospitality to Ted and Rose and for showing Ted and Rose around Murrieta.

To Rose's friend and former colleague JR of San Diego, thank you for your hospitality to Ted and Rose and for showing them around San Diego.

To Erin & Justin McDonald, thank you for your hospitality to Ted & Rose. It was indeed wonderful for them to see you in California, while they were still there.

Thank you Pastor Lance and to your parents for your hospitality to Ted and Rose and for showing them around Austin. It was also nice for them to meet up with their friend Tiffany while they were there.

To Aris and Grace Peñaranda of Arlington, Texas, thank you for your hospitality to Ted & Rose while they were in Texas!

Thank you Lynda Sangel Gutierrez for your precious time in bringing us to Rockwall and Bass Pro Shops Outer World to enjoy some of the beautiful places in Dallas.

Thank you cousin Joel dela Cruz & Dolly Gonzales dela Cruz for your love, hospitality, and taking time off to show us the beautiful Arboretum in Dallas. You have a beautiful home! Hopefully, we will be able to see one another again at the Dela Cruz reunion next year.

Thank you, Emma for your hospitality, generosity, gifts, and most of all, for your precious time. I hope to see you again sometime in the future in your new home in Cavite.

Thank you, Charito for your beautiful gifts. I was hoping that you will come to me just like the last time when I was there, but I understand you were very busy with work.

Thank you Bolet for your gifts. Maybe God willing, next time my destination will be in the East Coast, so we can see each other. Please give my regards to Jun.

Thank you Bebet & Elsie for your hospitality and love. Bebet, please take care of yourself. Always remember that in all your activities, you need to take your health into consideration. You are not supposed to lift even moderately heavy objects. Always remember that. You must always be around clean surroundings to avoid infection. Thank you Elsie, for being patient with my brother and for taking care of his needs. You are God’s gift to him. Thank you for the beautiful sweater.

Thank you Danny & Marlene for your hospitality and generosity, and for taking us to NASA, to the Museum of Fine Arts and the Holocaust Museum in Downtown Houston, and also to the famous M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. I will always be grateful for your financial support to Gilbert. I will always remember and cherish the worship, fellowship and prayer time at Lakewood Church, Grace Abounds Church, in the home of cousin Joel & Dolly, and in your home.

Thank you Carmen for sharing with us your beautiful love story, and for preparing delicious meals for us. It was nice to see you after more than four decades.

Thank you Sangel siblings - my family's Crusade Bible Church friends for five decades already. Thank you Beth for sharing something which I did not know about you and Gilbert when you were little kids. Hehehehe.....

Thank you Belen for your hospitality, for the Santa Fe treat, and for the Caesar’s Palace experience. You have a lovely home!

Thank you Francis & Jingle for welcoming us into your beautiful home, for driving us around fabulous Las Vegas, to Mount Charleston, Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Hoover Dam and to other tourist places, including Arizona and Utah. We are really grateful.

Thank you, Jonathan & Beulah for showing us around the Strip. We will always be grateful to you for the precious time you gave us. Thank you for Gilbert's Lebron James rubber shoes.

Thank you Paolo & Christian for your time in driving us around the Strip to show how fabulous Las Vegas is. I am truly grateful. Thank you, Christian for The Fast & The Furious movie treat you gave to Ted & Rose.

Thank you, Meyette, for coming to see us before we flew back home! We really appreciate you and your husband for this favor. It was exactly 10 years ago when we last saw each other. And it was almost two decades ago when you were in the Philippines and saw Ted & Rose. We really enjoyed bonding with you.

My special thanks to Pet. She wanted very much for Gilbert to see America, and for Rose and Ted to go there also as her way of expressing her appreciation for what they have been doing for Gilbert. At first we were reluctant, because getting a US tourist visa is never easy, the application fee is not cheap, and many who applied were denied. However, eventually her years of persistence to convince the four of us to get a visa paid off; we believed that if it is God’s will, Gilbert, Ted & Rose will be granted visas. So all four of us applied and were granted visas (I also had to apply for renewal since my first visa had expired already), and we were able to travel to America. If she did not do that, we (especially Gilbert, Rose & Ted) would not have the beautiful experience and memories of "America the Beautiful".

Thank you Pet, for your great efforts to make our stay in Las Vegas comfortable, and for driving to take us to some beautiful places in Las Vegas. We are truly grateful…..

Without the hospitality, generosity, precious time, and love of the people mentioned above, our stay in California, Texas and Nevada would not have been as wonderful and fun as it was. I am indeed very grateful.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU MORE!