Kodaikanal, Southern India: Summer 2010

I call it Summer 2010. It's June. Monsoon starts in the Philippines and so do the classes. But it's summer vacation for my job.

Resigned a few months back. Job or no job. I was determined to move on. So I broke my contract and paid a hefty amount for taxes.

My father's near death experience brought me to this place, just as my mother's near death experience in year 2000 brought me to India for the first time.

I always had a dream. To be able to support my parents both with their basic needs and needs to celebrate and enjoy life. We are a family of hedonists, you see. Life has been good to me. I am almost there, and their lives were spared a few times, as if, waiting for me to fully realize my dreams. That's just my narcissistic perspective, of course.

I'm home every few months or so. Jetsetting for love, flying from the heart. Mushy as it is, I am a romantic by heart and feel fortunate, that my husband supports my sense of drama and adventure in life. He may not always find it practical, but at least, I don't meet resistance from him.

There is this fork that we made for the next chapter of our lives. Yet, another requirement for courage in facing the unknown. Our days have been filled with it, but our future feels set and secure whichever way we go. I feel blessed having two other jobs waiting for us - confirmed. How did I deserve all these? I ask at times. I can only think of one reason - Maybe I have always made love and growth a priority. I've never been desperate for anything. My only daily desperation is to live without regrets. Today, I live without it. Yesterday, I did too. I pray tomorrow, it will still be so.

I never hoarded money. Was never afraid of the lack of it, whether my bank balance is empty or not, many times it was empty. But I was never afraid. I've been bankrupt many times, but I always bounced back. My self-efficacy is high when it comes to the Universe providing for not only my needs but also my wants.

Now I am able to give, not only to pay for my parents' bills, but to also pay for their little vacations and shopping. I feel good. It's a dream realized. My husband and I are even ending the second chapter of our lives with a little savings in the bank. I'm still waiting for my father to get off his anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills so that we can bring him to new continents with us. It's looking good.

My simple joys this summer are few yet profound. One is when I see my father get off his bed and hit the mall for a walk. There will be lucid days when he would visit the office. And there are great days when he would come with us to the beach. The dinners out are awesome, it revitalizes him. These are rare days, when he agrees to get out of bed. He could just sleep morning, noon and night and the next morning again. Every drizzle of energy on him for a few hours is a joy to see. This is far from the motionless father I saw with tubes and respirator in the hospital, even far from the bedridden dad I had a few months back in diapers at home.

Then there is my mother's laughters and chatting time with my daughter. She adores her. They adore her. I knew she was my greatest gift to them. That is, let her know them and let them know her. It only happens when they are given the opportunity to be together, physically, spending days and nights together.

So, my life is simple. Maybe not in what we do, or where we go, but the basics are simple. "Eat, Love and Pray" like a title of a book.