The Rose

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned round to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze.

“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked.

She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…”

“No seriously,” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went.

She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up. At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us. 

She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.”

As we laughed, she cleared her throat and began, “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it!

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.

If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.

Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.

The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.” She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose.”

She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

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Only Time is capable of understanding how great Love is

Once upon a time there was an island where all the feelings lived; happiness, sadness, knowledge, and all the others, including love.

One day it was announced to all the feelings that the island was going to sink to the bottom of the ocean. Hence, all the feelings prepared their boats to leave. Love was the only one that stayed. She wanted to preserve the island paradise until the last possible moment. When the island was almost totally under, Love decided it was time to leave. She began looking for someone to ask for help.

Just then Richness was passing by in a grand boat. Love asked, "Richness, Can I come with you on your boat?"

Richness answered, "I'm sorry, but there is a lot of silver and gold on my boat and there would be no room for you anywhere."

Then Love decided to ask Vanity for help who was passing in a beautiful vessel.

Love cried out, "Vanity, help me please."

"I can't help you", Vanity said, "You are all wet and will damage my beautiful boat."

Next, Love saw Sadness passing by.

Love said, "Sadness, please let me go with you."

Sadness answered, "Love, I'm sorry, but, I just need to be alone now."

Then, Love saw Happiness.

Love cried out, " Happiness, please take me with you."

But Happiness was so overjoyed that he didn't hear Love calling to him. Love began to cry.

Then, she heard a voice say, "Come Love, I will take you with me."

It was an elder. Love felt so blessed and overjoyed that she forgot to ask the elder his name. When they arrived on land the elder went on his way. Love realized how much she owed the elder.

Love then found Knowledge and asked, "Who was it that helped me?"

"It was Time", Knowledge answered.

"But why did Time help me when no one else would?", Love asked.

Knowledge smiled and with deep wisdom and sincerity, answered,

"Because only Time is capable of understanding how great Love is."

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The carrots, eggs and coffee

A Very good story to Ponder :)

There was once a devout mother who went through a deep trial. One by one, trials slowly crush her faith to the point of rebellion. First, her husband and children died from a vehicular accident, she was the only survivor. But what would life be when all your love ones are gone? With this, she felt so depressed that her business started having problems and she end up with a huge debt. All this happened in a very short time. She has nothing.

She can not understand why she went through trials so much. She has been a good person and serves the Lord. She is active in a lot of church activities and volunteer work. She obeyed the Ten Commandments and helps those in need. And yet, why all these trials and tribulations?

With all her sufferings, she went to church and confronts the Lord. She screamed at the top of her lungs to ask the Lord: “Why?”  The people in the church thought she was crazy, for she was acting like one. She appears to be so lost and distraught and just keep walking without a direction. All the time, asking why…

Her feet lead her to her mom’s house. Immediately, she went in the house and upon seeing her mother, knelt down and cried like a baby.

Woman: Mother! My mother! Please help me! God sent some trials and tribulations into my life.

The mother looked at her as she was pleading and remained silently still.

Woman: I do not know what to do, mother. I have been a good servant of the Lord. I did everything to give glory to God in the highest! How could this happen to me? I do not know if I can still continue to serve the Lord with all these trials in my life.

Woman: Mother, have mercy on me. Please help me.

Mother: Go fetch me three pots, pour some water and put them on the woodstove.

Woman: Mother! This is not the time for cooking.

Mother:  Just do what I say.

The daughter obeyed her mom’s instruction despite confuse. She got 3 big pots and put them on top of the woodstove, with fire burning woods like crazy. A few minutes later, all three pots were boiling, boiling, and boiling…

Woman: Mother, the water’s boiling.

The mother glance at the boiling water, walk away and came back with carrots, eggs and coffee.

Into the first pot she dropped all carrots. She came to the second pot and gently put the eggs into it. The third pot is where the coffee goes. A few minutes later, the water began to boil for the second time.

Woman: Mother, I do not understand why are we doing this?

Mother: Come closer to the first pot and tell me what do you see?

Woman: I see carrots that became very soft from boiling, almost mushy and are easy to crush.

Mother: What about the second pot?

Woman: I see eggs. The liquid form inside turned into hard and solid after subjected to boiling.

Mother: What about the third pot?

As the woman move closer to the third pot, she stopped and enjoyed the aroma of the coffee, so inviting. Mmmmmmm…

Woman: Mother, it smells so good!

The mother smiled and hugs her with love.

Mother: My dear, the boiling is likened to the trials in our life. God spread some trials as we desire to get closer to Him. This is to test our faith. How far can we get closer to Him is how much trial we can endure to prove that we are worth His love.

Woman: Mother, what about the carrots, eggs and coffee represents?

Mother: The carrots, eggs and coffee represent the three kinds of hearts for the people who served God. These people who went through trials like you did. 

The carrot represents those people who went through trials in life and lost their faith. If you noticed, the carrots have a firm shape before boiling. The boiling represents the trials. The boiled carrots became soft, mushy and most importantly, lost its shape. These are the kind of people who let trials change their faith in the Lord. They get discouraged easily and lose their hope in the Lord.

The eggs characterize those people who serve the Lord on a short run. They overcome a few trials and as life get tougher, their hearts become harder. Soon, they would believe that they can do it on their own and without God’s help. They end up not wanting to serve the Lord in the end because they become proud and arrogant.

Woman: What about the coffee?

Mother: These are for those people who accept any trial in life with faith in the Lord. That despite of trials, they keep going and believing. They don’t become soft like the carrots and hard like the eggs. The coffee remains as is and spreads aroma to everyone near. These are the people who never lose their sight of God, even if trials after trials try to break them apart. These are the people who remain faithful to God’s love no matter what life brings.

My dear, I believe that your heart represents the coffee. That after all these trials, you continue serving the Lord with all your might, your strength, and with all your love. You will be a shining example to everyone. You will spread the coffee’s aroma through your continued service to the Lord to lead people closer to God. That amidst all trials; you go on to give thanks to the Lord for making you stronger everyday. God’s love is abundant, enjoy!

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The fruit of SILENCE is Prayer 

The fruit of PRAYER is Faith 

The fruit of FAITH is Love 

The fruit of LOVE is Service 

The fruit of SERVICE is Peace

I Dream

In a room so dark, I entered to pay respect for someone dead. Someone died whom I do not have a clue. The coffin was huge it filled up the whole room and a lady in black was standing beside. Streaming towards the coffin, the room seemed quite but full of people who were mostly familiar to me and I felt comfort. My skin feels nippy with the airy space but went ahead closer to the coffin to check who it was. She was all wrapped in black; it was hard to recognize her. To her, I ask who died and she responded to me in a soft voice “I do not know”. That moment, I came to realized who this lady was. She was long gone to rest. She died 5 years ago. How could she be here? Then, without expecting an answer, Donna responded to me “Bert is dead”. And she cried like the whole world is upon her shoulder. It was a heartfelt scenario to see her crying so heavily, she was shaking. I did not even bother to ask who Bert is.


As I tread along, a door opens and I was in a separate room. There I saw that it was raining hard outside and I woke up to the sound of the rain drops hitting the metal roof.
It was a morning dream. After taking my child to school; I decided to take a morning nap because I was feeling tired.


Upon waking up, the rain was heavy outside the window just like in my dream. I wonder if there is any hidden message in my dream as it connects to the reality of raining around my neighborhood. I even pinched myself to make sure I am wide awake... 


I decided to give Donna a call and shared the details of my dream. Donna is the youngest daughter of the lady in black that was standing beside the coffin in my dream. I told her about my dream, seeing her mom wearing this black dress, wrapped around her. I ask her if anybody died recently. She said to me “You did not know Bert died”? She confirmed to me there’s truth in my dream. She did not elaborate what caused Bert’s death. How could you dream of me crying furiously, she asks? Did you know that I was crying really hard because my husband and I had a big argument last night? 


I dream of someone dead long time ago, someone dead in the coffin, someone crying and I am separated from the rest until the rain comes...
What do you think of this dream?

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The fruit of SILENCE is Prayer The fruit of PRAYER is Faith The fruit of FAITH is Love The fruit of LOVE is Service The fruit of SERVICE is Peace

If you're a nurse in the Philippines

A nursing student asked me one morning "Sir, where can I find a Urinal?"

Here is my answer:

My dear student, you are not in a private hospital. Be creative. Find an empty plastic IV bottle, cut it and make sure no sharp edges, for urinal purposes. Use the same way when you encounter a sick patient who needs to throw up and you need emesis basin!

If you do not have ampule BREAKER and you are giving IV Meds? I understand it is difficult to open the medicine, therefore use those bandage scissors with you. You might need to saw it slowly on the neck part, maybe it will break easy.

If you need to SUCTION, take a syringe, remove the needle and plunger. Wrap in gauze and have the patient bite for easy suction. Just make sure to remove after use. That will work as bite block for the patient and saves them from too much bills as they hardly had enough to pay for the hospital bills. 

When doing Blood transfusion, you need COMPRESSOR when it stops leaking?  Use a BP cuff and save time from looking for something that is not available.

If you need to cover those IVF bottles because some are mixed with drugs that are sensitive to light? Cover the bottle and tube with a CARBON PAPER ..

No Hot Water Bag and Ice pack? Use GLOVES, and speaking of gloves, sometimes you need to do AUTOCLAVE for multiple uses, until it breaks.

No Hot Water Bag and Ice pack? Use GLOVES, and speaking of gloves, sometimes you need to do AUTOCLAVE for multiple uses, until it breaks.

Now, if you need a FACE MASK for your pedia patient to perform Nebulizer and there is no supply for patients who can’t afford to buy one,  secure a CLEAN BOND PAPER, SHAPE IT INTO CONE AND ATTACH to the KIT USING TAPE. Some nurses use STYRO CUPS, durable compared to a bond paper.!! hehe..

When OXYGEN TANK is outnumbered by the number of admissions, my HEAD NURSE will SPLIT the MAIN TUBE, connect the NASAL CANNULA to two patients. 1 oxygen tank is good for 2 patients!

My superior instructs me to find some wire if there is no available IV stand. What? A wire? How would a wire help? Stick it to the ceiling, with a really good clasp and secured, hook the IV bottle. And so I did while at the back of my mind, praying that it won’t come to a point where we have to improvise the bed as well. Hmmmm… I may have to use the wheel chair first and to stop worrying before I get sick.

Where’s the cardiac board during Code Blue? Wait, here it is. What is this? A plywood? Where did you get this? It was by the window. OMG! And if you have a pedia patient, just pull the wood at the bedside that would help revive the patient.

We don’t really have the power to improvise the mechanical ventilator even if the patient can’t afford one. We are the AMBU BAG (BVM) throughout the day, super nurse to the rescue when patients’ watcher is only one person. I offer to relieve the watcher so he or she can rest or eat, even for just an hour. The sad thing is learning that the patient’s family has to sign up for HAMA because they just can’t come up with the money even as charity patient class D.  Life is that hard!

These are just a few scenarios in the hospital. The orthopedic department might be improvising traction too! The nurse supervisor said to us “you’re working in a government hospital, if you’re idealistic, your patients won’t survive. You have to find a way for the patients to survive without complaining for things that are not available and just be a great nurse!

If you are in a private hospital or taking the board exam, it’s alright to be “ideal” by following all methods from the book. But if you are in a poor hospital taking care of a poor patient, be creative and become skilled with strategies for the book doesn't teach you all the ways to be a great nurse if you’re a nurse in the Philippines.



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The fruit of SILENCE is Prayer 

The fruit of PRAYER is Faith 

The fruit of FAITH is Love 

The fruit of LOVE is Service 

The fruit of SERVICE is Peace