This week August 17-19, Mithi Andrea, Hiyas Isabella and Katha Amiel will be taking their First Periodical Exam without me pestering them to study. Are they relived that I'm not around to pester them? Do they miss my pestering?
Thanks to unlimited call services of cellphone companies, I could accompany my children as they study, eat with them, walk with them through school until they reach the doors of their classrooms, bid them goodbye with a kiss and a "God bless you!" Thanks to Facebook, I could monitor the growth and blossoming of my children from the pictures posted by their friends. I could watch them dance, hear them sing and cheer them up. All these are done from a distance.
At the end of the day, my arms still ache to hold them tight. My bosom longs to have their head snuggle in between my breast. My shoulders are empty without their head leaning on them or their arms wrapped around them. I could no longer tell them, "hindi ako sampayan ng nangangalay na braso, ano!" And even with that protest, my children would still hang their arms around my shoulder. Oh, how empty my shoulders are!
In their absence, I try to become a pastor to the church and be intimate with the lives of the members... I could lend my ear to their endless talks of marital woes (and reflect how I am going to resolve if I have the same marital problem as they have), exchange banters with mothers about our parental glitz, visit with those who are sick, bring communion to the elderly members of the church, struggle over preparing Sunday School lessons, liturgical order, songs which will respond to the current situation of the members.
It is rewarding to be intimate in pastoring the church... and now it is a challenge to mother from a distance.
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