Day 20: Top 10 Significant Events in My Life

1. Becoming a mother is the most significant among others. I cannot describe how ecstatic I felt when I held my babies for the first time. Each of them came with a grueling labor story. Their lives have define mine. And whenever they say "Mama", it feels like heaven on earth!
2. Getting married, twice, in 2003. For documents purposes, Mark and I got married through civil rights. I giggled and giggled throughout the entire ceremony. I just could not help it. It felt surreal that I was finally getting married. The second ceremony followed three months after, which falls on our tenth anniversary as a couple. It was intimate and solemn.
3. My engagement in 2003 was lovely! I feel like I'm the most beautiful girl in the universe when Mark asked me to marry him. It was by the beach, somewhere in Hong Kong, underneath the stars and the moon.
4. Papa's demise. Right before I left for my graduate studies, the doctors found a huge brain tumour on his left side. The sight of him blue after a seizure haunted me for many years. He died a little over two years since that happened. I still long for him. I still wonder how it must be for my children to enjoy their grandfather. I  see his smile and his sunny personality in my sons. I wish I asked for his recipes. I must stop now.
5. The year 2000 was both joyful and sad. I have never cried so much in my life until that day Mark left for the US to pursue his graduate studies. I was happy he got the opportunity but I was miserable being left behind. It was also that year that I was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst, which thankfully disappeared without surgery.
6. Opus Dei. I joined the prelate in 1997 but left a year after that. This is so personal and very precious. I was happy with my decision to become a numerary member. This means that I will devote my (single) life to doing apostolate and giving formation, while practicing my profession. However, I left because I can't stand to see Mark being with someone else. And I realized that becoming a parent is the greatest vocation there is.
7. UP Cebu. Best years! I was on the roll. I was so motivated. I was enjoying my time with my friends that I never want to miss school. I discovered myself. I graduated with honors and proved that I can do whatever I set my mind in to. This was when I felt like supergirl, not knowing the years after I'd be doing a million things with no help at all hehehe!
8. Betrayal(s). It hurts like mad. At that moment I thought I might as well die. And no, I am not going to discuss it here. Betrayal is universal. Almost always caused by someone dearest to you. Otherwise, you would not have cared at all. 
9. The Dark Ages. Looking back, I know I was in the pits. I barely noticed who I was and what became of me. I managed to be well and my husband survived it LOL!
10. Tupperware Days, not the fake friends you make but the ones you keep forever. Those were hot humid summers with huge boxes (and barely 80 pounds of us) and taking jeepneys! Who ever said that you cannot do enterprise with someone you care about? =P