Day 7: Play like a Pro!

As of this writing, my thighs and legs are aching due to two-hour badminton game at S.Pudenziana parish with Frs. Romy, Jonald and Sr Mae. You should see us play, not because we’re playing like pros (although the two priests are) but we’re playing like religious (which after all we are). I realized too much generosity in a game will keep you busy picking up the shuttlecock, or teaching someone how the game works stretches the waiting time to maintain your adrenaline rush. But patience is a virtue, and being virtuous is expected of us, so what can one religious do in times like these? Anyway, we played to our heart’s content and ended up having pizza and a can of Coke for dinner, and then walked towards our respective nest.

After the game I got to interview another Filipina migrant worker, Ms Milagros Sungahid of Santiago, Isabela, Philippines. Milagros has five children to her late husband, and is now married to another Filipino here in Rome. Three of her children had already settled while another daughter works in Manila. Her youngest son seems to be a special case – he is not only out of school but does not have the drive to finish anything. Milagros hopes to petition her daughter and youngest son to let them experience how to work abroad and hopefully discover for themselves that each peso they spend in the Philippines equates to the quality time not spent with them by their mother who out of necessity and motherly concern embraced such difficulty. Her daughter wishes to work here but if by any chance her youngest son decided to go back to the Philippines, Milagros also plans to go home and try her luck to reopen her former small business.

Parents will always be parents. They will do and give everything for their children so that they will have different or better lives. Most children will always be sons and daughters, selfish, immature, and ungrateful unless they become parents themselves, and unless through value formation or firsthand experience they discern opportunities do not need to knock since they are already inside their home.