reminiscing.....

i still vividly remember some 9 years ago... on this very day, it was barely a few weeks when i arrived in KSA, and my sponsor is yet process my local papers due to the holidays.... my brother who happens to be working in the same company that i used to work with, was invited to a community affair and we needed to get some documents in the office so we decided to pass by the office before going to the affair...

while he was busy in his office taking the documents he needed, i pass by the room that has the company fax machine, copier, etc... it was locked then and saw that there were a few pages in the machine so i advised him that it might be important otherwise it wouldn't be sent during weekend... that time mobile phone line are still very expensive and not advisable to have, so communications are either through expensive long distance call, snail mail or fax messages.

the fax message contained the message that my brother and I have been afraid to read all along.... it says that my father who when i left manila, has been already hospitalized for over 3 months for cancer treatment... we are being advised that my father has passed away on the 9th of April 1999..... i was devastated then...

many things has entered my mind then.... one reason i decided to work overseas again is to help sustain my father's treatment cost... and have better life for my family.... have i known that he will only last a few more weeks i could have delayed my deployment by a month or two.... another thing that immediately come to mid is i have no legal documentation yet and there is no way for me to be able to leave for Manila in a week at least...

but thank God next day, holiday was over, our sponsor instructed our liaison officer to expedite my papers and make sure i can go home within the next 36 hours... with God's grace they managed to pull through.... in less than 36 hours i was back in manila to bury my father... and back in KSA in 10 days time....

i still recall this hectic process that i have to go through and it will remain in my mind until the day that i die....