January 25th, 2009 by Chari
Today I sent a message to a batchmate whose mother had just passed away. While I was typing and putting my thoughts into my email, my eyes welled up and soon tears were falling. My son was asking me why I was crying but I said it’s nothing, it’s just the fumes from my cooking. In truth, I was crying because my heart was feeling that hurt again when I lost my own father.
There is nothing comparable to the anguish that all of us feels or will feel when a loved one dies. Whether it’s our spouse, our children, our parents, our siblings, or our grandparents, the ache is just unexplainable. The pain is a whole lot different and way too deep. It’s something that will always stay. It’s like there is this big gaping hole in your heart that nothing can fill up. It’s like you lost a part of you that you will never get back. Sometimes you’d wake up in the middle of the night and you suddenly remember that they’re gone then the pain creeps in again, and you’d start crying. But you know so well that no matter how hard you cry, you know that they will no longer be there. You know you won’t be able to see them, or hear their voices ever again. And that makes it all the more painful. If only we can keep them with us forever. If only they have stayed for just one more day, or a month or maybe for just one more year.
If only…
When a loved one passes away, there is nothing else to do but grieve, pray and keep living. And be consoled that our loved ones are now with the Lord. It’s hard, truly all of us who’ve lost one knows that, but for those who have not been through this phase yet, you will know that no matter how hard it is to accept it, eventually you will learn to accept this and God will give you the courage and strength to go on with your life again.
P.S.
Personally, what I learned most about losing my father early is that people may not have all the time in the world to change into the people that we want them to be, so we have to accept people as they are, with their faults and flaws. As my Aunt told me, ” we have to love people unconditionally”. Whether they are nice to us or not, whether they are the kind of persons, or parents, that we wished they were because we never know when they will suddenly leave us.
January 21st, 2009 by Admin
Yes, I know and I am guilty ! I know I keep changing the design of this blog. I hate to accept it but yes, I have become very undecisive when it comes to choosing my blog’s design. I actually have been downloading every design , layout that I thought would fit the personality of my blog but nothing seems to work for me yet.
This is what I want actually, I better put it into writing so I know what to look for:
- wide widths, or do they call that fixed width? I don’t like cramped posts .
- three columns , double right sidebars only
- post titles that doesn’t have too large fonts coz it overwhelms the page
- Comment forms for all posts and pages coz some designs loses the comment forms at the pages
- custom headers
- bright and cheerful colors like pinks, oranges…
- sidebars that doesn’t disappear on single-post viewing
It’s not easy to look for a blog design really. It just takes up so much time to Google, choose, preview, download , preview the blog in the new design then delete if it’s not to my liking and look for another one again . I know I cannot find everything in just one design but at least something that comes close to my what I have in mind would be enough.
Ever heard of a blogger who went crazy coz she couldn’t find a design that fits her to a T ? Well, I could be that person pretty soon. 
January 8th, 2009 by Admin
The I-134 affidavit of support is submitted during the K1 applicant’s interview at the US Embassy in Manila. Prior to the scheduled appointment to the the Embassy, the consulate will send a checklist of what the K1 applicant should bring during the interview. It includes this I-134 affidavit of support, and this will be filled out by the US citizen petitioner/fiance(e)and sent to the fiance(e) before he or she goes to the interview.
In filling up the I-134, the US citizen must determine if his or her income will be sufficient enough to support the K1 applicant being petitioned. The petitioner can check the current POVERTY GUIDELINES. The annual income should either be 100% or 125%. If the US Citizen’s current annual income is enough, is above or equal to what the poverty guideline states, then there is no more need for an additional sponsor. (Do not get an additional person to sponsor you lest you will be forever indebted to that person. Some people think that because they signed your I-134, you should owe it to them that you got to the USA.)
The I-134 is not a legally binding document even if it notarized. It is just a formality I guess. But what is legally binding is the affidavit of support that the US citizen spouse will sign when the K1or fiance(e) adjusts his or her status to permanent resident.