Is age really just a number or a state of mind? My birthday this year has drastically changed my perspective in life, as I am now part of the age group celebrating National Grandparents Day, which happens to be today! All of a sudden, I feel my age and envision a new way of living and slowing down, which I don’t think I want to embrace just yet.

Is it possible to keep my indefatigable persona and physically enjoy everything life has to offer? I have been wonderfully elevated in terms of family status from being a mom to being a new grandma. Even if I feel like I should act more like my own mother and be a doting grandparent, I will do this my own way with a lot of fun and excitement!

For my 57th birthday last week, my hubby Dennis arranged a most intimate birthday weekend in Balesin Island with just our family and my co-birthday celebrator and soul sister Vina Francisco. Because of the quarantine and the ongoing Ghost Month, I didn’t want to really celebrate with a full-blown extravaganza.

Balesin is the first resort to require all visitors to undergo a new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) swab test. Even our baby grandson Louie was swabbed, but in the mouth, as is done on all kids 12 and below. Baby Louie slept through his swab test at the Aegle Wellness Center at Alphaland Makati Place.

Aegle Wellness Center offers a broad range of wellness services and programs that can be done either in their Makati Place offices or in their state-of-the-art facility on Balesin Island. Our family chose to do a gong bath session by urban healer Rosan Cruz at the Balesin Spa grounds.

For the pre-birthday celebration, we enjoyed Greek food at Mykonos Village. The family of Zaldy and Nova Veluz of Buddy’s Pansit Lucban joined our feast. Fresh from Rosan’s gong bath healing session earlier that afternoon, we all had a very fun and chill dinner. Rosan does sound healing using the powerful vibrations of the gong to clear energy blockages on a physical and mental level. She also does space clearing to rid your home or office of negative, stressful energy. Book a private or couples session at Aegle Wellness Center (email [email protected]).

Setting positive intentions

For our actual birthday on Sept. 6, Vina and I started the day with Rosan’s kundalini yoga class and meditation. With the current planetary aspects, the full moon during our birthday week was intense. Rosan said that this is the time to envision a positive future, to focus on the big picture despite the challenges we are experiencing now. This is an opportunity to set positive intentions, for healing and to plant seeds for new beginnings. Nurture your mind-body-energy through self-discovery, self-exploration and self-empowerment.

Next weekend, catch the Global Mala Project Manila on Sept. 19-20. This year’s event is free but donations are most welcome. The proceeds will go to Save the Children Philippines to support their “Project Access to Resources for Alternative Learning (ARAL).” (To register, visit bit.ly/GlobalMala2020.)

The universal energies must have been in perfect harmony last weekend, as I was able to celebrate Sunday Mass officiated by Rev. Fr. June Siccion, who happened to be a guest in Balesin. The family of Ferdie and Ester Beltran was also celebrating a milestone, so they brought in Fr. June.

Thanks to Balesin’s Luisa Banta’s arrangements with the Beltrans, Sunday Mass was celebrated with a very meaningful and touching homily by Fr. June. Fellow Virgo celebrators Ester, Vina, Zaldy, Tyrone Valdes, Bryan Prieto, Bubu Antonio Andres and Abet Antonio had a special birthday blessing indeed!

Back in Manila, I attended a very “social distancing” birthday dinner at Circles at Makati Shangri-La Hotel, hosted by my dynamic good friend Pinky Tobiano. Chemist Pinky has been very busy with her Sanivir Smoke (@sanivirsmoke) products that are excellent disinfecting solutions to clearing the air of airborne viruses for up to two weeks.

Trying to get back to some normalcy, I visited León Gallery and chatted with owner Jaime Ponce de Leon about their upcoming Magnificent September auction on Sept. 19. Copresented by ANCX, the León Gallery auction, launched in 2013, continues to make headlines in the art stratosphere with its broad spectrum of offerings, from Filipino Old Masters to rising contemporary artists. Check out their interactive virtual gallery (leon-gallery.com/show_room).

Retail therapy

I was also able to get some retail therapy at Crate & Barrel Makati (crateandbarrel.com.ph). The new Fall Collection 2020 is now available at all their locations—SM Aura Premier, SM Makati and SM Megamall. Crate & Barrel is a complete lifestyle store that sells houseware, decor and furniture. All branches follow safety and health protocols in order for all guests to have an exceptional shopping experience.

It’s officially the ’ber months, so the Jose Mari Chan memes are flowing. It was wonderful to hear him singing Christmas songs on the latest “Tim Yap LIVE!” with special guest Scarlet Snow Belo. “Tim Yap LIVE!” was born during the lockdown as a means to catch up with our favorite personalities. Since no shows were allowed to tape, visionary Tim Yap thought of doing live interviews of celebrities like Solenn Heussaff, Cristalle Belo and Rhian Ramos, and talk about how they were handling the pandemic.

“Tim Yap LIVE!” became Tim’s sounding board for joy, hope, frustration, despair, happiness and just plain catching up with friends. It also gave him a sense of order and purpose, in his own work-from-home studio. So with husband and partner Javi Martinez, who operates the technical side of stuff, they produced it themselves. Their two-man team has already created more than 20 broadcasts.

Happy Grandparents Day! And happiest birthday to my mother Marixi Prieto, who turned 80 on Sept. 11. She is for me the best example of a loving, caring and compassionate mother, who has created a perfect balance of family, work and love of God. She remains humble and kind and always so generous in all her charities, especially the Sisters of Mary.

While we honor our grandparents every day, take an extra moment to appreciate all the joy and wisdom that grandparents bring to our lives. Nurture your relationships! The world needs grandparents at their best!