Christmas Eve 2011: Research Update, Walk around Town, Midnight Mass, and One Lovely Chat

Before I begin writing about the day and night, MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!  Although not many folks read my blog, I am grateful to those who did and have left comments.

After sacrificing all the mice necessary for an in vivo portion of the experiments, I have been feeling quite awesome since yesterday evening.  Spending four hours, from 2:30 to 6:30PM, in the animal facility was not too pleasant with the smell of murine urine, but I am glad that the work is done and that I get to relax a bit.

Today was pretty sunny, and so I walked around town starting at 11AM.  ‘Twas fascinating to see people walking up and down State Street, since Madison was empty during the previous few winter holiday seasons.  Perhaps people were staying home a lot more due to an increase in travel costs…but I was even more amazed when I went to the mall this afternoon.  When hopping on the bus, I thought that only foreign students and I would be the ones in the mall…but I was wrong.  I went to Target to pick up some light bulbs for home improvement, and ’twas crowded with people shopping for last-minute gift items.  The parking lot was full, and people were even fighting with cars to cross lanes.  I then went to Sentry’s, a grocery store, and boy was it filled with humans aggregating around the entire store!  Lines of carts and groceries paraded the check-out area while customers fought for the ham and turkey.  ‘Twas just amazing for me to see Madison being so heavily populated around this time of year!  I am glad that I am not the only one walking around too 🙂

I later walked around the mall hoping to find a good-looking sweater for clearance at Macy’s.  I saw it on the website, but it was nowhere to be found in the store.  Oh well…I then walked all the way to my lab while enjoying my time and the sun, and soon I was done collecting serum samples from the blood I drew yesterday.  When leaving lab at 4PM, I bumped into my Thai friend Tawin, who was going to his lab.  I always bump into that oncology graduate student in the weirdest places at the weirdest moments, but now we are planning to meet up for lunch next Monday.  ‘Twas nice to see him too.

I went back to my place and took a good nap after getting some food.  I was really tired from the walking, and I looked like a zombie 😉 I did however remember to go to the midnight Mass.  I walked to the church and arrived at 11PM, prayed for a bit, and enjoyed some of the preludes.  I am always fascinated by the organ with its majestic tones, and the shape of the church made voice float around the air, making tutti sound so grand.  That always reminded me of the churches in Germany, where the voices of so many can strengthen the community and unite one to another.  I also love the incense fabreezing the entire church and my clothes, and I was surprised to see so many families, including one with six children!  The bishop of Madison was responsible for the Mass, and there were quite a few folks!  On my pew that was about ten to twelve feet long, a total of eight folks sat on it!  I was in the middle since I was one of the earliest folks to arrive, but ’twas nice to see so many folks coming to church NOT to just receive the “free cookie” as my dad would put it, but to pray and celebrate.

The Mass ended at 1:45AM, and I immediately thought of text messaging some of my friends a Merry Christmas.  I of course sent M the first of the messages at 1:45AM since I have been thinking of him and even thought more of him after Mass…and he replied!  So below is our conversation, with J being Joe (me):

J: Merry Christmas, M___!  I just got done with the midnight mass and thought of you.

M: Thanks, that’s sweet of you 🙂 Merry Christmas to you too!

J: Lol thanks…how come you’re still up?

M: My family went to midnight Mass too, now I’m buying Kindle nooks for my parents.

M: Books, not nooks.  They make awesome instant gifts.  Haha I’m waiting for Santa to come of course 😉

J: Glad to hear that you’re spending quality time with your family. your parents will be so happy to receive those kindle books! lol do you see something wrapped like an ipad?

M: My parents were still getting out all the Santa gifts when I went to bed, so I’ll have to wait until tomorrow. 🙂

J: Hehe cute…well, dont be disappointed if you dont get one…family moments are more precious…or else i’ll get you an ipad…made of chocolate chip cookie dough!

M: Lol, that sounds like a delicious idea. I learned long ago not to get too “wrapped up” in Christmas gifts.  I like getting and receiving gifts that are thoughtful and unexpected, regardless of the size or cost. I will be happy and grateful for those gifts more than an iPad anyway.

J: You’re a good man with that thought 🙂 I hope that you’ll have an exciting xmas morning nonetheless too!

M: Thanks! I think I’ll try to get some sleep now. I hope you have a chance to talk to your parents on Skype tomorrow. I’ll give you a call, too. 🙂

J: Thanks, M___. I talked to my parents yesterday and the day before when ’twas xmas eve over there. i’m going to my tutee’s place for dinner at 6, but would love to chat with you and hear your voice…iff i wont take away your family time. may you sleep well and have sweet dreams 🙂 good night.

So that conversation ended at 2:11AM.  My fingers were freezing and shivering when I was typing, but I enjoyed the chat with M.  He is such a wonderful guy, and I was glad that he offered to give me a call!  I’m loving him more and more, even just as a good friend…and I hope that I’ll be able to spend more quality time with him before he leaves Madison for a job…

With this idea, even a simple thought of word can produce warmth during the holiday season.  A special holiday, such as Father’s Day or Mother’s Day…or even Christmas when people noticed the presence of family members…should occur everyday in our lives.  We should not forget about our dad after Father’s Day, and we should always cherish the moments we share together.  ‘Tis true that giving and receiving gifts can be joyful, but one thing I noticed is that many of my friends, including Eric and Chuck, were happy enough to receive a card from me without any elaborate gifts!  My conversation with Matt drew me closer to him because he is happy to receive anything from anyone!  He won’t be pouting if he does not receive an iPad, and that made me smile.  Instead of making holidays into materialistic or hallmark holidays, let’s be glad for the joyful tidings!

Bed time calls…and yes, I am invited to go to Duncan’s place tomorrow for dinner at 6PM.  His mom left me a message earlier, and I’ll have to call back within a few hours to thank her for the invitation and to confirm my attendance!

Facing Hardships in Life: What if the Grinch stole Christmas?

I went to choir rehearsal and Mass this morning, and on my way I bumped into Kevin and his friends.  They were skipping the choir rehearsal to go grab breakfast together, and I was glad that they asked if I would like to join them.  I talked to Kevin and co. for a bit, and ’twas nice to see them doing well in life.  I soon hurried to the choir rehearsal, and ’twas a great time with Doug, James, Nikki, and others!  The music sounded really beautifully in Mass today, and I also heard a beautiful homily.  I got some ideas for this entry through the homily, so I am crediting Father Eric Nielsen here!  Also, I do not write like Dr. Seuss, so please bear with me here!

The story began when my professor approached me in February if I would like to go to a conference in May.I was working on submitting a paper by then, so I declined.  Seeing that there will be a conference in June 2012, my professor indicated that I should aim to attend that conference, so I have been working on experiments to submit an abstract by January 2012.  Things were going well in the summer with some data collection and discussions, but my professor and I never heard back from the board certified pathologist that collaborates with my lab.  ‘Twas until November when I heard that the pathologist had lost all of the hind paws I sent to him in June.  My professor and I were furious and frustrated, but there is not much else to do other than to move forward in life and redo the entire experiment since the pathology results go hand in hand with other data I have.  After sharing my thoughts on what I should do, I got approval from my professor to conduct a series of experiments, and so I quickly ordered all of the necessary materials and was open for business again.

I was working hard over the weekend and gathered some data last night.  When looking at the numbers, I felt funny since things do not add up, and something seemed wrong.  There seems to be the presence of the main culprit for problems of any sort in biosciences: contamination.  I noticed the high readings might be due to background, and I felt uncomfortable presenting the data in a paper or even a poster. Since I followed the protocol step by step, the inconsistency from number to number also made me wonder about the reagents and equipments I used.  I looked at the data closer this afternoon and realized that my ideal goal to go to the conference next June for a break away from Madison was turning into bubbles.  The devil in me told me to fabricate data or look at the data in an unjust way.  It was tempting, but I emailed my professor this afternoon indicating the bad news with errors I saw from the data collection at the end.

We have the urge to feel cheerful from time to time, whether ’tis spending time with friends and significant others, speaking to family members on the phone, dining out or going to a concert, and making progress in life.  However, the Grinch or the devil would take these goodies away from our lives.  Of course, it is human tendency to feel sad or frustrated under this circumstance, but the worse appear when we are pitying ourselves and isolate ourselves from others without sharing thoughts with one another.  When being by ourselves, we looked for other sources of instant pleasure i.e. a gallon of ice cream and would go in the wrong direction.  Without others to raise us up, we would soon fall into depression and turmoil, and would not find the urge to accomplish tasks and to become sloth.

These are the toughest of times when we are put to test.  Instead of avoiding these times or reflecting upon the past and ponder why we did not take the other road, we should not shove ourselves in the present but plan about the future and move forward with life.  We are not alone in this process, for we have many around us who suffer from the same event everyday.  We need to present and face the truth, or else lies will be unveiled one day as seen in the media.  We need to be similar to those in Whoville, who live simply and purely with a kind heart that opens to people around them even if all gifts vanished overnight.  Never worry and quarrel about the smallest concerns in life, but have the love to serve instead of establishing tolerance and coexistence in humanity!  Also…laugh and smile in life too!  Laughter can be the best medicine, and ’twas funny that a child can laugh 300 times for a day where an adult would laugh for 20.  Those who struggled and improve bit by bit to make life better during the toughest of times are the ones who know the precious values of happiness and even success and survival.

At the end, I felt better.  Although that portion of the experiment was kaputt, I will begin another set of experiments tomorrow until a few days before Christmahanukwanzaa.  There is no use in worrying either, and many people told me that writing an abstract is easy and can be done before obtaining results.  Even if I do not go to the conference, I can always go to the location of the conference some other time without paying $200-300 per night for a hotel room.  I guess I just prefer to use that money on research, food, and other areas 🙂  I can also turn that “abstract” into something better while focusing on presenting what I truly observe.  Even if the Grinch wants to steal this vacation trip to the conference and other materials away from me, I will continue singing my heart out and spread joy spirits to people around me day by day while making even more progress.

I went to lab after Mass and checked on bacterial cultures.  After then, I was walking on the road and saw a familiar face.  ‘Twas Aaron, who is one of my co-TAs, and his wife Stephanie!  We chatted for a bit, and ’twas great to see them with smiles on their faces.  I got some work done, and now I will be off to the gym soon!

Thoughts on dating and relations from a PhD student’s point-of-view…

I have been busy with research and have been moving forward in order to make progress.  I have finished working with cell cultures and had begun the other portion of the in vitro project with fourteen ninety-six well plates.  It took me more than six hours to finish the first half today, and I felt as if I were battling with a huge fleet of the Spanish armada!

Other than research, my first semester as a PhD student is coming to an end.  There were people to see and catch up with, parties to attend, and things to accomplish.  Despite all the items to do, I came across this article and thought more about dating and relationships.  I do not know why, but I have been feeling lonely when walking back to my place after finishing lab work at midnight for the past few evenings.  I felt tired and great for finishing a portion of the experiment, but I just felt that I would like to have someone to talk to or cuddle with…

I am by no means an expert on dating and relationship, since I have never been in a relationship (short or long termed) and I have only gone on dates with six different folks since November 2011.  Although my own dating and love experience is limited compared to others, many of my friends would come to me for advice as if this is a “Dear Joe” column in the papers.  I am glad to offer my thoughts, and many folks even told me that I would make a lovely boyfriend!  I was disappointed after most of those dates I had though, but not because I was an arrogant fool.  I simply did not feel the connection, and that most of the folks do not seem to have a goal in life.  Of course, spending time with a twenty-year old can be a mistake if he or she does not know what he or she is looking for, and having a twenty-seven year-old joke about vaginas and tomatoes all the time ain’t too fun for me either.  With my latest date or “bonding experience,” I felt that there was just too great of a disconnect between the person and me.  The relationship with a barista who did not have a college degree, is nervous when meeting people, goes to bed at 1-3AM, and have some financial barriers can be hard with my character.  Being a graduate student, I have to be independent, even financially, since I would be doing research or teaching most of the time, and I learn to be more confident and loving with myself.  I could not stand text messaging too often, especially between midnight and 3AM since I would prefer to get some sleep…and maybe that is because I am no longer eighteen.  I am not trying to complain here, but I actually agree with most of the tips in this article.  I know that many folks would be scared of graduate students since people think that we are in our own world most of the time…but the tips offered by the article actually apply to any dating and love relationships–gay, straight, or bi.

I. Getting to know your partner or date is an important rule, even if you have lived together for ninety-nine years.  A date or a relationship should not be one-sided or single serving, where one floods the table with his or her agenda for the day, but we need to show care and love towards our beloved by asking them about their mood, complimenting them on their appearance and tasks, and showing interest in their lives without being a stalker.  Of course in a relationship, there must be interest of some sorts, even for friends with benefits.

2. Giving each other time and personal space is something that seems to be lacking in many relationships.  I have seen many ladies glueing themselves onto their male partners, and I would feel sick if my significant other keeps standing around me all the time.  Yes, I would feel comfortable introducing my significant other to my family and friends, but following me to the bathroom all the time or looking at my computer every five minutes when I was typing my Master’s thesis last November/December can be awkward.  The truth is that it can be hard to spend each minute with your loved ones, for you have friends, parents, work, and other items on your lifelong agenda that you should take note of, or that you should spend time with or on…with some of my dates, I really get ticked off when people would think that I did not reply to their text messages because I was ignoring them or that I was dead.  I was simply focusing on other tasks in life, or else I would not receive a pay check and be in good relations with friends!

3. Although we should not be glued to one another 24/7, cherishing the times spent together and making time to meet (ranging from chat with coffee or a short walk around the lake to a vacation/trip planned in advance) regularly can maintain the relationship.  Even when I meet with folks once per month or two months, every session is so special for catching up that ’twas more of a moment to renew the relationship.  People do need to take breaks from time to time to re-energize themselves.  However, meeting too often in something that is not serious yet can be disastrous, and many folks fail to take things slowly and not personally.  ‘Tis true that some people might get bored after the second date, so move on in life if this happens.  Maybe the person is no longer interested in you or that he or she has seen enough of your muscles, but there are many other lovely folks out there.  Even for me, I rarely meet folks and go on a date with them, and yes–I did feel dreadful after not hearing from those folks or after ignoring them since I would feel that I should look out for the next person.  However, I always tell myself to be patient since the right person will be in my life one day, and I should improve my own life situation (go to the gym to be healthy and sexy, get my PhD as soon as possible, be financially secure, etc) so that I would be able to enjoy my time with the one person in the future.

4. Do not be a sloth or be passive.  When seeing someone who is interesting, take the courage to send a message or say hi to capture the person’s attention.  Going on a date or being in a relationship takes the effort of many kinds.  Even for a sugar daddy or cougar, they would need to take time off and spend money to maintain their relationships, or else things might end if there is no interaction of any sort.  Waiting for someone to hook you up with a fishing line will not get you anywhere.  Even from Glee, Coach Beast should have made her love known earlier so she would not be regretting her loved one kissing an opponent.  I do love Coach Beast and would date her, but we just cannot sit and wait for others to give us signals on love.  We have to be active in pursuing love without forcing or crushing others.  This does not mean that we should actively take people home to bed though, since some folks like me would feel uncomfortable with that without knowing a person too well.  Asking a person out and realizing that he or she is not interested is fine.  At least you have the courage to be active and letting the lucky one know that you like him or her.

5. Voice your thoughts/opinions in a kind manner.  Be a German!  In many life scenarios, we are not direct with one another and would have miscommunications problem.  We should make our presence and desire known if we want to go on a date or be in a relationship.  If you dislike something, be direct and make that known in case if your date or partner keeps doing the things on your list of pet peeves without knowing the list.  If the partner asks you about your favorite restaurant or type of food, make your preferences known!  There is a reason for him or her to ask you…and if you are trying to not dominate the relationship, ask your partner about his or her favorites after you mentioned yours, and then you can decide where to go together.  Being too passive, even in bed, could be frustrating for the other person too!..and so, you do not need to be a German in order to do this.  You just need to be a German at heart 😉

A date or relationship can be tough.  Especially if you did not grow up in Asia or a large house hold where children share bedrooms with one another, it can be awkward to share a bed with another person.  We have to learn to give and be given, and we should not fear on making mistakes on each date or in each relationship.  The important thing is to learn from the mistakes and to continue getting to explore in life, so that we would end up with a loved one in the future.  For many, being loyal can be tough, and we often think that we will be able to meet someone better in the future without cherishing the present.  For me as a twenty-five year old, I always think that I will never be able to find the person I love and get settled due to my semi-workaholism and professionalism.  I fear that I will not be able to spend enough time with a person, but I also learn that I am not by myself in this progress.  There are many like me who seeks to be in a better scenario or even location in the future, and we are working to make our lives better for our future partners too.  There are many gays I have met who get into relationships quite often, and I would hear stories about the guy’s kindness and great sex in the beginning of the relationships…but those relationships are short-lived for a week to six months and would end with a quarrel, disinterest, and/or excommunication.  Perhaps ’tis cause being gay is tougher than being straight, since gay folks can only choose from a small percentage of the population and that straight folks can have an easier time since there are most of them out there.  For my straight friends, some of them would be the same, but many of them actually have longer lasting relations…maybe because they are Catholic.  For a week-long love relationship, that seems quite pitiful to me…but perhaps ’tis cause I am seeking for something a bit more than only having sex and instant pleasure.  Who knows?  However, remember to…

6. Be patient in life!  I have read and told stories of failed relationships, and patience is a virtue!  Perhaps a cutie will be showing you signs of love with chocolates, kind words, attention, roses, house cleaning (men–we need to work on this), and others.  Perhaps we will meet the right one later and know when he or she is in front of us.  Do not hastily get into a relationship with anyone, since that might hurt you even more.  In magazines, we kept reading about celebrities getting divorced quite quickly, with the most famous case being that of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries.  However, there are stories where even gay folks in their early thirties would meet a nice guy and establish a relationship with love and not solely sex!  Time could mature and age things…and perhaps a man in his early thirties with an establish career or goal in life could be viewed as fine wine when compared to a seventeen year-old in high school with numerous uncertainties in life.

The Couple Almost Be Wed, the Brazilian, the Mexican, the Blood Related, and the Half-German Half-Chinese

Perhaps after going through some hardship in lab since mid-November when news that the pathologist I collaborate with has lost all of the more than thirty paws I sent to him in June of this year, I have been moving forward in life.  I will be done with the in vitro portion of my experiments by next Sunday and the in vivo portion by Christmahanukwanzaa.  Yes, I have been a bit occupied and under the pressure since I need to repeat a huge portion of an experiment, which I would hope to have known a lot earlier, and that the year is ending soon.  However, today has been filled with surprises in different ways.

I. The Familiar Voice

Being a Catholic, I went to Mass and sang in choir as usual.  After Mass, I was carrying music back to the music room, and then I heard a familiar voice calling my name with excitement.  I recognized the voice, and soon saw Kevin in front of me!  His fiance Jenn was next to him too, and I got to chat with them for a bit.

I first saw Kevin last August in the 11:15AM Mass choir, and initially we did not make too much contact due to my “German coconut” nature.  More specifically, I am usually shy when meeting a person for the first time without prior interactions (email, text messages, chats, etc), but I would soon open myself after getting to know someone…and so I did open myself to Kevin.  I then noticed that he and I were parts of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults last September, and we soon we began chatting after I made the initial “hi, were you not the guy from Mass choir?” opening.  He turned out to be a nice guy who can be shy at first too, and he became one of my few good pals from church.  So yeah, we hung out in Mass choir, talked about our week in RCIA sessions, walked together for a bit after the RCIA sessions and chatted more, I got baptized and we got confirmed in the Easter vigil of this year, and then Kevin graduated but got a job in town.  I was introduced to his fiance, Jen, during the first time when we went to the Indian lunch buffet aka the “impoverished nation cuisine” after Mass, and soon to their friend Bob.  After being in the real world, Kevin lives a bit far from campus, so I rarely see him.  I was surprised and shocked when I saw him too, and I was still in the “being shocked” mode when I was catching up with him and Jen too.  Later, Kevin and Jen went to lunch together and I hurried back to my place to finish grading all of the lab reports I have since I need to return them back tomorrow.  Although ’twas a ten minute conversation and I was freezing since we were standing by a door with people coming in and out, ’twas nice to see the two lovely couple who will be married early next June.

 

II. The Feast

My friend Rogerio invited me and Marco, another friend, to his place for dinner tonight.  After grading the lab reports, I took and nap and headed to Trader Joe’s to purchase something to bring to the dinner event.  I ended bringing a marzipan stollen since ’tis the winter season.  I arrived by 6:10PM, got to Rogerio’s apartment, and was greeted by Marco.  Marco was cutting brie and Genoa salami, and Rogerio was preparing salad and pasta.  Surprisingly, Rogerio bought everything from Trader Joe’s too, since ’tis the closest grocery store from his place.  We chatted and mingled with good food too!  The salad was tossed lightly with black pepper, extra virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.  The brie and Genoa salami was a delicious combo with bread, and I never had salami this thick!  Before in sandwiches and parties, the salami would be so thinly sliced, and I guess that I am just a fan of bigger things.  Perhaps size does matter for me in some cases 😉

Throughout the event, we drank some Italian Chianti and a mix of orange juice and carrot juice, which Rogerio claimed to be a Brazilian thing.  The bow tie pasta was covered with a special sauce made by Rogerio, which included diced tomato, lemon pepper, beef chunks, green olives, and capers.  The sauce was so unique with a generous portion of beef, and that it tasted a lot better compared to any other pasta sauce I have tasted in life.  Perhaps ’twas the beef chunks that did the magic since I would prefer those over meatballs or ground meat…or perhaps ’twas due to Rogerio’s half-Italian bloodline!

After dinner, we had dessert with the stollen I brought with dark chocolate ice cream and mango sherbet with grated orange soaked in sugar from Italy.  ‘Twas quite a treat, and soon we were talking about different topics, ranging from Marco’s family migrating from Mexico to Pennsylvania to work in a mushroom farm and then to Delaware, cooking, food, church, exercising, Madison, Brazil, research, and more.  We ended in the living room seeing pictures from Rogerio, and the event was ending at 10:30PM when Marco needed to go home to get some sleep.  Rogerio and I spent an extra thirty minutes afterwards chatting in front of his apartment complex, and I left at 11:05PM.  ‘Twas a great dinner event with two great friends, and I look forward to hanging out with them again.

 

III. The Lesson on Responsibility

After leaving Rogerio’s, I noticed that my parents from Taiwan had called me at 6:30PM and three times around 9:30PM.  I called my mom and talked to her for a bit.  Things have been going a bit funny with my family since my parents seem to be a bit disappointed at my brother for not being able to graduate from college within four years.  Now, my brother is staying for an extra semester due to some conflict, and my parents were not too happy since my brother was initially graduating in December and they were considering attending his graduation ceremony.  For me, I allowed my brother to move into my one-bedroom in September since he was going to graduate in December.  I honestly have not been too happy with my brother too, since he usually left the place quite messy and would never do house chores.  He also got into a relationship with a lovely girl, but having her around the apartment 24/7 also made me think that I do not have any privacy here, and that they two were in the “OCCUPY MY APARTMENT” movement.  He also did not seem to be too responsible as a person too…and so during Thanksgiving when my parents and him had been emailing everyone in the family with emails about thoughts, I laid out my thoughts for the whole thing.  I feel that my parents should not be frustrated since they were the ones who have been a bit too relaxed with my brother when he was in high school.  Even when my brother is in college, they would always tell him to focus on his studies without thinking of other things in life.  I indicated that I would request my brother to be a lot more independent in life, to get a part-time job and have some work experience, to purchase groceries and start learning to pay bills, and to start acknowledging other responsibilities and tasks in survival.  My brother seemed to have taken that message seriously, especially after I asked him to move out in December and January a week ago after seeing him and his girlfriend around occupying the entire place AGAIN…my brother perhaps was shocked and a bit sad…and so since then, he spent the weekdays mostly by himself studying in front of his computer or books.  His half-German and half-Chinese girlfriend did not stay here overnight until last night, and that was fine by me since I indicated a long time ago that she can stay over for one evening at most per week, and that she can come here to study too.  My brother has also gotten a job this week working in a restaurant and came home late last night with his girlfriend (and that was why she stayed over last night).  Although my dad would be furious with that since he prefers my brother to work in the academia setting, I believe that is a good experience for my brother and influenced my mom to agree.  Even if my brother is a bartender, he would learn many different skills that can provide a back-up plan during the worst of times.  Even if he is a bus boy, he will learn ways to collaborate with others and that earning money is not easy.  To my surprise, my brother and his girlfriend bought some items together tonight, including some groceries for the house.  Below is the bowl of frozen kefir and berries that they shared with me tonight:

So yes, even if I think that my brother has tons of room for improvement, he is still a family member and we apparently do love and care for each other.  Even if I am too strict to him, he knows that I am coming from a good point of view and that we would share our thoughts too.  Even if we are not too close as other siblings who get along 24/7, we still support each other from time to time.  I just hope and pray that my brother will continue learning to be responsible in life, and that he will even be more successful than I am in the future.

 

Most importantly, today is a day where I feel loved.  Kevin and Jen could have simply left after Mass and not even wait to say hi to me.  Rogerio and Marco could have left me out of the dinner event, and my brother and his girlfriend could have eaten by themselves without sharing a bowl of frozen kefir.  I am grateful to know these lovely and holy folks in life, and I pray that I will be able to spread joy to people around me similar to the joy they gave me today.