Gilas Pilipinas and Philippine Basketball

I do not play basketball, but I love this game so much.

As a child, basketball was nothing. I see my kuya wear his jersey and play basketball on different courts, but it did not ever interest me. Later, when I was already in Isabela, friends introduced the game to me and the basic rules which I consider harder to understand than the lessons in school. I played several times, but I was not really into it; my height being the biggest hindrance.

The last time I played it, as far as I can remember, was last May with the youth in our church. I was challenged, and I agreed, not because I couldn't say no but because I want to enjoy the time.

Today, our own Gilas has even made me love and appreciate the game more. It was in the 70s when we were topping basketball in Asia and even playing in the World Championships. However, as years passed, we were outlasted by our counterparts. We declined, but the good thing is, we never let go. Filipinos embraced the game since the beginning, and we never lose hope seeing our country regain its lost glory. August 10, 2013 is now recorded in the Philippine timeline as the Philippine team made it to the FIBA Asia Final Four, defeated South Korea on the way, and reached the championship match against an undefeated Iranian team.

But no matter what happens on the finals -winning, of course, will put the icing on the cake, we're now qualified to the 2014 FIBA World Cup which will be held in Spain. Yes, after years of hoping and trials, we made it again.

Maybe it's too early yet to celebrate, but I am now assuming the Philippines will defend Iran today. It is not impossible for us to achieve this feat. We can, and we will do it on our own court with the support of our whole crowd.

Thank you Gilas, coach Chot and everyone who deserves this credit.  You made us prouder Filipino fans. You placed Philippine Basketball on the pedestal. Mabuhay!

"It’s The Heart Of The Filipino." -Marcus Douthit, national team
***

Photo is lifted from the Smart Gilas Pilipinas 2.0 Facebook page.

The Eggs

It was a pleasant morning and there's just a lot of things to do. My cousin Vincent called me to accompany him. 

We went to their kalapaw and enjoyed the lovely view of Karayan Laud (a river). We sat under a damurtis [camachile] and exchanged some jokes.

The weather became hotter so we tried to roam in their kalapaw. We saw that there were ripe sineguelas already. He climbed and gathered some of them. The kalapaw was unorganized, but it is a decent nipa hut good for resting. So we stayed there until we got bored and decided to go back to the sitio.

As we followed the trail we made earlier, we noticed a small camachile tree and a nest on its center. We got curious and pulled the nest. There were eggs on it - five white maya eggs. As much as we wanted to bring them home, we left them on the lower part of the tree so we can easily get them the second time. We hurried home for lunch.

I ate at Tita Sinang, again. I enjoyed eating with their company. I used to eat there when I'm too lazy to go to our house. Mother would always expect that when I did not go home for lunch, I previously had it from another house. Well, I don't feel any shyness or doubt when they offer me lunches or even dinners. That's not in my vocabulary BEFORE.

After lunch, we rested and went back to check the eggs. We frolicked on the bed of the river and even kicked our feet on the sand. Excited as we were, we jumped into the tree to get the egg, bring them home and boast them to our friends.

Then...

Plastic Balloon

       Bliss of childhood,

       Memories flashed back.

       What kind of a past

       Did we likely had?

       A small plastic balloon

       Has brought us there.

       And we danced with it
       Like a child again.

       

Grandpa Proved that Heaven is Real

Somehow, writing this one will be my humblest tribute to the greatest person I’ve ever met. I do not fear that those memories we had will be the one to bring back again those times that I came to know one of the harsh realities of life. I wrote this short story for my grandfather and about that “wonderful” December of long ago.

One of the best experiences I had with grandpa other than our laughter was every morning we sip our coffee together…

The chilling air of November signaled the coming of December. The cool breeze froze my body as I sat on the sofa watching TV shows in the cold, silent night. The end of the school days was slowly arriving. Waiting for it was my only choice.

One morning a news was relayed by a relative from Manila. Grandpa was getting weaker because of his cough and colds. I was worried but I knew grandpa will wait for me to see him in the coming Christmas and together we’ll have our coffee and bread for the morning, the very special thing we had cherished when we were still together in our old house in Ilocos.
We went to Manila to see him. He was asleep when we arrived. My aunt opened the door for us and we took our rest afterwards.

I was awakened by a loud cough. It was grandpa’s. I sat by his side observing him and I didn’t know that he noticed my presence. Surprisingly, he asked me this question, “Apo, nabannugakon, palubusan nak kadin?” (Son, I am already tired, please allow me to go there.) “Do you want me to have my rest there?” he added. I understood what he meant. Tears fell down from my eyes spontaneously. With courage, I told him to fight and be strong for us for more years. He remained silent. After that conversation, I slept by his side.

It was Sunday morning and all relatives from Ilocos and Isabela were present. We took our breakfast sharing each other’s experiences after the long time we haven’t seen each other. The worried souls were gone for a while and happiness was in everyone’s heart. That was the time I saw grandpa smiling but after that merry day, then came another series of challenging days…

My lolo woke up early and awakened us all surprisingly. At that morning he was very happy. And his sickness, which I thought was getting worse, seemed to be totally gone. And we’re happy too on that day. We were laughing as we shared and cracked jokes to everyone in the room. We forgot our problems for awhile.

But we didn’t expect what came next. After those laughs, we were so worried because of grandpa’s silence. I turned to him and asked why. He faced me with a smile and I was puzzled for I noticed that he was thinking deeply. I asked him again and this time he answered, “Ay-ayabanak dagiti gagayyem kon apok.” (My friends are now calling me.)
Out of curiosity, I still got the chance to ask some questions to him. I was even eager to ask him why I always see him raising his right hand as if reaching for something.

He told me that he saw his brothers and sisters who already passed away. He saw a place where there is a bright light in the middle. He saw friends and people dancing and singing. He heard the voices of his friends, calling her. He saw God. I even asked him to describe how God looks like but he couldn’t answer me. I asked him again, until he told me that what he only saw was a bright light in the middle of that place, in the center of those people out there. Yes, indeed, he saw God.

Few days later, he couldn’t utter any word at all. But we still prayed for him and we knew that he will be on heaven soon.

On the 19th day of December, grandpa took his last, deep breath. He passed away leaving us no hard feelings because before he left us, he tried his best to make us happy. I did not feel lonely but as I went back to the memories we had on my childhood until he died, his memory still remained vivid in my heart and mind. The memories of those moments were imprinted in my heart.

As I reminisce all those days, I know that grandpa wanted me to know that he was already with the Father, that he had already finished the mission God gave to him so it was already his time to receive the golden crown of true God’s children.
…………
I miss you grandpa.

This article was also published in Definitely Filipino™ Blog Network:

http://definitelyfilipino.com/blog/2012/02/11/grandpa-proved-that-heaven-is-real/