Food Diary and the Phone Calls

Dear mouse,
Yesterday, I received a phone call from a fellow blogger Kiwipinay from New Zealand. We have been communicating thru e-mail and our comment boxes but that was the first time that we talked over the phone.
Like Lorena, she was also taking care of her mother. The only difference is that she does it thru “remote control”. Her brother is the fulltime caregiver.
I thanked her for the call. Having a sick mother myself who died of cancer made me appreciate the talk. I used to call my mother even in her sick bed and tried to humor her.
It was kiwi who answered the question that has been bugging me for years.

When I was in the Philippines, I used to wonder why an old person would die after someone he/she cares for leaves for abroad or never to come back.

My MIL died weeks after I left San Francisco to work in Los Angeles last year. I have been religiously calling her everyday but some problems in the workplace made me missed a week.
When I called her again, my SIL told me that she’s asleep. Days after, she passed away.
She was well when I left. If she was sad when I told her of my relocation, she did not show me. She said that I was the only one who remember her. I know she just wants me to feel guilty or to convey how she appreciated my calls. The in-laws were always abroad.

Kiwi said that the old and sick people must have felt very sad and lost the will to live. According to her, she observed that her mom feels good when she talks to her over the phone more often. I know that her mom doesn’t only worry for herself but also for kiwi.

Lucky mother, lucky daughter.

Food Diary

Breakfast: One plantain banana and one glass of Lactaid.
The banana supplies my calcium requirement but it has lots of sugar that is bad for my blood glucose. Isn’t that funny. The Lactaid is a milk that is not a milk. Kung baga sa Tagalog, nagkukunwari lang siya. Salbahe. Because I am lactose intolerant, I drink this lactose-fat free milk.

I remember my grandparents’ place. The banana trees had dual purpose. To provide us with the fruits and to serve as fence to the property.

Lunch: I never really eat lunch. But for yesterday, before I went to the Post Office, I ate the
left-over gamehen. Salamat naubos din.

Dinner: I cooked noodle with imitation crab, left over beef steak strips and lots of the stir fry vegetables–green peas,button mushroom, celery, carrot, broccoli.

For soup, I prepared the Japanese miso soup. I put two pieces of seaweed that’s used for california rolls.

I did not have appetite because I drank milk again after the long walk I did. Just too tired and fell asleep without eating.

Dreamed with a nurse. Last night I remember, I dreamed of a small fat pink pig. Wala siyang kamukha. Coincidence lang siguro ang dream ko and the article I wrote about a columnist.
hehehe

The Ca t