......Looking Back....and Now....
Catherine Monteclar

����������It's 11:35pm. February 11, 2002. Just got home from work about 2 hours ago. Kinda tired but I have to stay awake and do something that's long overdue..THIS. I mean this autobiography.. (I have no better term for it actually)..:)

����������When Nanay asked me to write something about what has happened to me the last ten years, I was quite surprised�no I was terribly surprised!!!!! You know just like in Film Awarding ceremonies people say.."I'm not expecting this!!" (ha, ha, ha, ha)..as if�

����������Am I making sense people???? Or am I just really too sleepy?!?!?!? :)

���������� Nope! None of the above...seriously now..

����������For the last ten years here's what I've been up to..

����������A management degree, five jobs, raised my family (is that right???), two trips to the US, sent two sisters to school (one graduated last 1998, the other graduating this March), four boyfriends, and two failed marriage proposals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quite exciting don't you think??? :)

����������Life was never really easy for me. My family was not well off and every penny we spend on anything has to be earned the hard way. I grew up seeing my father working so hard to provide the family's basic needs and my mom, she never failed to continue encouraging us that life will be better someday, that we shouldn't loose hope and that God has great plans for us. I could very well remember those words to this day.

����������Thanks to the amazing virtues my parents has embedded to my personality, that when my time came to assume the responsibility of taking care of my family, I remained steadfast through all the hardships�

����������At 21, I have to make sure my family has something to eat, pay for the bills, tuition fee for my sisters, allowance for the both of them, and medical expenses for my sickly father. Those were days (well, as a matter of fact they were in years). I thought I could never surpass..but I did!

����������It happened several times, that I went to work with only P5.00 or P10.00 in my pocket..Yup that's true! On those days, I simply hitch a ride in the jeepneys (that's ok, so long as the driver didn't notice!), and I take 2 or 3 P1.00 bread for lunch with iced water as "pantulak".

����������But I never felt pitty for myself. That I thought would be the worst disaster that could happen to me. Despite what's going on in my life, I still felt that I was very fortunate because I had a job, I have my family intact, I'm healthy, I have my life, and I am sane.

����������The toughest year came in 1999. We have to give up the house my father has put up for us..It was just too difficult to pay for the amortization considering all the other expenses we were having�As we were packing, I felt I failed my family� I was devastated. But my mother consoled me. She believed I've done my part. That made me felt better..:)

����������And of course..my boyfriend for more than ten years got married�definitely not to me..but to another girl whom he met for less than a year!

����������To say the least, I was crushed! Somehow, I felt that life was a bit unfair�It took away almost everything�or really everything.

����������But I was wrong�.in the passing of each day, I was able to hurdle one obstacle after another�The light at the end of the tunnel was getting more and more visible�Other loves came too�but they didn't stay for long�I didn't feel discouraged though..I know that in God's chosen time and place, I will meet the ONE He has prepared for me.

����������And now, ten years passed, I believe my time has come. And that, I have met the ONE.

����������My family is more comfortable, my youngest sister is just a few weeks away from earning her degree, my father's health is okay, my job is (a bit tiring) very exciting, not to mention rewarding.. (I work for Dranix Distributor as major accounts manager, handling Procter and Gamble operations), and I'm looking forward to settling down next year with Jun, the ONE who inspires me to be a better person, the ONE who gives me the freedom to be myself, the ONE whom I intend to spend the rest of my life with. Simply, the ONE.

����������Looking back, I could say I had the best and worst of times�and looking ahead, I know there are still more challenges that lie out there�.

����������But I am not worried, I have the best teacher, EXPERIENCE. I am also educated in the best school, LIFE. And I have only the best companion, THE LORD.

����������Timecheck: 12:46am
����������February 12,2002