kaladkarin

if this word has all the negative connotations to you, let them all fly... high!

i am proud to be kaladkarin.

i lived my life as cloistered as possible, that is from elementary to high school. not by choice mind you, err, it must be by authority. you see, we grew up with a father whose mistress is politics. the best dad ever minus the time constraint. so my mother took it upon herself to discipline the 7 lot, her 6 boys and 1 girl. to say that nanay was strict is an understatement. boy, i had the time of my life looking at them trying to explain so hard why they had to come back at 1am when they were told to so by 12 midnight. hehe, the cinderella boys. coupled with the fact that they all studied at de la salle green hills where boys would be boys, how hard could it be for them? if my brothers were under her strict baton, i graciously accepted the fact that her ways would be even 3x harder for her unica hija. of course there were some lapses. but the acceptance was there... as if i had a choice. *wink*

nanay was elected mayor of barotac viejo come 1992. the brgy captains who made the signature campaign to push tatay to make her run for office were happy. the TUPAS kids were even happier. we had the grandest times of our lives. if before we were allowed to go out only with a yaya and a personal driver with us, nanay's leadership in barotac would mean freedom. and freedom we got. manoy, the eldest among us and should i say the most scholarly, would get so frustrated with me: with my non-stop disco weekends. fortunately for me, i chose friends according to my mom's choice. responsible ones who just know how to have clean fun.

fast-forward to me getting married. life was a blast with parl. add to that, with cousins like Beej, Jiffy, Cindy and Bechay, how could life ever go wrong? i enjoy our late nights. our girls nights out. our cousins bonding times. that's how kalakarin i got now. a simple text, a late call or even a spur-of-the-moment decision would lead us to such happy moments. none is different when i have my brothers and their respective fams here in iloilo... or everytime i'm in manila. how do i go about getting the whole Tupas fam together? simple. i text them the time, date and place. perfect the attendance and usually ask the congressman bro to pay. hehe. i'm sure glad being the only girl in times like this.

nico and m are now 11 and 8 years old respectively. they're growing up with more freedom and understanding than we had ages ago. they are allowed to decide on some things. and they are asked to reason out every time we have an argument. what makes me bulge once in awhile? when they ask for permission to go out with their friends, or when m tries her luck for a pajama party with her girl friends. oh no, i have truly come full circle!

now the realizations set in. nanay's way of disciplining us made us what we are now. the values she and tatay instilled in us kept us away from harm during our college freedom years. their constant reminders are shaping our lives today.

my solution? let the kaladkarin word be exclusive to adults! i am proud to be one... at this age!

it's time to say goodbye... for now

every time i encounter some bumps on the road, i stop and count my blessings.

the kind of family i have is one that lives by the dictum, "all for one, one for all." the success of one is considered the success of many; while the grief of a member is equated to the need to comfort one another.

life was not easy for the family for the past nine years. our political opponents made sure that we lived a very controversy-filled life. it was traumatic in a way. we were in power, but it seemed the gang of four were out to hurl intrigues against tatay to eliminate the TUPAS clan from the political arena. they devised ways to come out with scenarios and employed paid hacks and block timers to attack us. we were advised to hire the same to counteract such as early as 2001, but my father refused. he stood by his principles. he finished his three terms with unprecedented lead. so despite some creatures' best efforts to destroy the family, it even made us stay grounded the past years.

now that our life at the capitol is soon to end, i can honestly heave a sigh of relief. sure i'm not that far from the maddening crowd, with 4 of my sibs embroiled in politics and with my hubby parl jumping off the fray the second time around, but it has its advantages now. somehow along the way, we can start to live an ordinary life. well, as ordinary as it can get.***wink*** i now have the freedom to say what i honestly feel about certain events, people and situations. my self-declared gag order is about to finish with the term. i'll devote a whole chapter on this. ang tamaan, well, matatamaan.

i'll be missing a lot of people... from those i get to say "good morning" regularly (our security guards, utility staff, and employees) to those i bonded with for the past 9 years. there are people i feel i can live without, and there are those i will sorely miss. we were taught by tatay to treat others equally, so it is no wonder that i am even close to those identified with the past administration.

thank you. and goodbye... for now.