Perhaps it’s the coming holiday season that makes the ache of missing someone so much stronger than it normally is. In the Western hemisphere, there is a condition called SAD—Seasonal Affective Disorder—a kind of depression that usually takes hold in winter.
It’s that time of year when I get all my health exams done, that week or two before I mark one more year on the calendar.
“What are you thankful for?” was the question at the bottom of an e-mail I had received the day after getting some earth-shaking news. I sat quietly, watching the cursor blink as I blinked away tears.
Scottsdale, Arizona—God’s timing is impeccable. He also has a great sense of humor.
Alex Tizon was not just an extraordinary storyteller with a Pulitzer to his name. He was, by all accounts—through the life he lived and the stories he told—a truth-teller about forgotten people.
I have nothing tangible that belonged to my father. They are all in my mother’s and brother’s possession. But when I look into the mirror each day, I see my father so clearly. I have his eyes, I have his nose. No one can ever take that away from me.
In December last year, I wrote about the 82 Days of Christmas project that the Assumption College High School Class of ’82 class launched for their beloved batchmate, Pilar Bustamante Estrella. At the time, Pilar had been battling cancer for 10 years.
Depression has many faces, and they’re not always sad. The one who seems to have it all together in front of family and friends, but is actually a wreck behind closed doors or when he or she is alone, is someone whom pop psychology would describe as a high-functioning depressiv
When I ask them what their secret to a long, healthy and happy life is, Tining quips: ‘Mahjong!’
Weary. That’s how I was feeling up until about a couple of days ago. With everything that’s been happening in our country (and in the world) these last few weeks, you cannot help but be affected. I need not enumerate all the things that have made us all so angry, sad and disappointed. This collective grief cuts across classes, gender, age, social status and sometimes, even political lines. The energies have been predominantly negative. It’s there, like a pall of gloom.
