Joy Ride

I wanted to go to St. Clare Monastery in Katipunan, Q.C. I didn’t know how to get there so my mother agreed to accompany me last Saturday (which I learned, coincidentally, was St. Clare's feast day). We didn’t push through though since she said we weren’t prepared to go –not without dozens of eggs that we would normally offer. I was bent to go that Sunday with or without chicken lays after all I have contracted someone to drive me. Sad thing was, that early morning, I could hardly move my body after a workout the previous day.

By some stroke of luck, I was able to go to St. Clare in the afternoon taking the LRT and a short cab ride with my Aunt Mel and my nephew, Ainon. The last time I was there was in my teens with another aunt and my cousin who was diagnosed with a scoliosis and was told to be needing a medical operation. She was young then and it was quite abrupt to correct that curve under a knife. Heavens answered the prayers for her healing with some help from the monks in the monastery.

When I arrived, I made petitions in two small papers. Then while having the eucharistic celebration, the thought of so many parents seeking help surged - single/guilty working moms, battered mothers, parents with disrespectful children, parents with ill kids, desperate OFW husband with cyberspace hooked wife and the rest who opt to suffer silently. I went back to the basement and wrote a longer petition (read: 10 font size in single space, crosswise paper) beating the three-minute closing time. I quickly wrote all the names I could think of including their families and their wishes.

Going home was a thrill. I asked the MMDA in their aquarium-like office on how to get to LRT and she directed me to cross the street and assuringly said that a few steps will get me there. I was spellbound to realize how easy it was to get to the monastery all along. LRT, on a weekend, was a respite of sort as there were few commuters around. It was such a great trip I knew could go there more frequently with eggs next time.

The trip was a breeze with an interesting tale to tell. I caught sight of a disconcerted grandmother who seemed to have run out of patience for her grandchild who was restlessly wiping up and down the windowpane while the train was in motion. It reminded me of one ride home when a child in school uniform was endlessly narrating stories to her mother and I was quite displeased to see that her mother looked half asleep and not responding to her child bursting with energy. The child just didn't stop talking about her day and her old teacher. Until finally, the mother could probably no longer suppress her emotions and twitched a smile that revealed (vamp bite looking) fangs. That's why she was not reacting to her child at all. Of course, I pretended not to see. ;0) My disappointment to the mother turned out to be a comic relief!

There is absolutely a joy in any winding road. On a hassle-free day, one gets to see that every ride is worth a story and every single trip can be fun.