Heaven

Today, I woke up at 6am. As I got down from our upstairs bedroom for my coffee, I saw the message indicator of my cellphone was blinking. Suddenly, I felt uneasy. Ano naman natabo kay Nanay?

My mother lives in our ancestral house, while I live 25km away. My mother had a near fatal stroke 12 years ago. Since that time, she has a hard time moving around.

As I looked at the blinking light of my cellphone, I remembered the time I visited some relatives during a fiesta. When I left the house of the 8th relative I visited, I noticed that the message and call indicators of my cellphone, which I left in my car, were all lighted. When I opened the flap, I read that I had 7 missed calls and 8 unopened messages. The first message I opened was from my sister. Drtso ka na lg CT. Sakay kmi ambulanc. Was this message for me? Wr ka? Bring namon Nanay CT. Sa ambulanc na lg kmi sakay. Then a message from my nephew. To wr ka? Ri kmi Ramon Tabiana hosptl. Dala namon Nanay. I didn't open the other messages. I called my sister. She informed me Nanay had another stroke.

Ano naman natabo kay Nanay? Then I gingerly opened the first message. Basi ma-stroke ako.

The message began,


Long time ago,

It was not about Nanay. I heaved a sigh of relief. Ah, it's going to be a good day. Then I scrolled down the message, as it was typed a few words in a line, in a strip tease manner.

persons who
sacrificed
their spirit,
their life,
identity,
wealth,
laughter,
wer called
Saints.
Today,
they r
called

Before I continued scrolling down, I anticipated the next word would be Heroes as it is now Arroyo-bashing season. But I was wrong as the next word was

Husbands!!

And the kicker,

Happy
FATHER'S
DAY.:-)

It was from my banker friend. And the other messages (more were still coming) were greeting me the same.

Then my daughters came down, kissed me, and greeted me with the sweetest HAPPY FATHER'S DAY.

I was so delirious, I nearly had a stroke. It was heaven.@