Meet The Thordies

Holy Week will be in April. Before this date, we should take one step back, in order to take five steps forward. It is a good idea for families to have a retreat so as to withdraw briefly from similar surroundings and distractions in order to gain ground in our relationship with God.

A retreat is: a break from routine; fun; relational; active; affirming; surprising; and a step in a spiritual journey. Spiritual maturity requires one to stand back, evaluate and then move forward into new depths of faith. This is a step in the conversion.

A retreat is not: an escape from reality; meaningless fun; isolating; passive; manipulative; boring; and vacation. Frequent retreat goers return feeling good and spiritually revitalized.

I came across an interesting article in INQUIRER.net about parents who are hands-on in helping their children with their homework. It is written by Cathy Babao-Guballa.

Everyday, I remind my Grade 5 student to always thank God for his mom. His mom sends him to me after school during school days but they have a regular tutorial session every Saturday morning. I applaud his mom's efforts to help him in his studies considering that his mom is very busy with their business. As a tutor, I can only help a student with his studies for only an hour or so a day. I think that being taught by a parent brings off better results.

There are many tips in helping children deal with their homework that were pointed out in the said article. I choose not to add it here because of copyright policies so you just check the article out yourself by clicking here. I agree with the tips that were pointed out in the article. However, I would like to add the importance of modeling the importance of good study habits to our children, too. Most children, above anyone else, idolize their parents. I see that clearly in Ralph. He's already eight years old and most of his interests are influenced by his dad's interests. I guess with the limited time that they have with each other, he is trying hard to get my husband's approval of most things. When it comes to music, he agrees on my list of recent pop tunes.

Having said this, modeling also becomes a powerful tool in instilling the value of education and good study habits. Most parents may not be enrolled in graduate school at the moment but this does not restrict them in modeling diligence. We can read a worthwhile book while our children are reading their own school books so reading becomes an enjoyable bonding activity. We can exchange notes on what we have read afterward. Or we can make them feel how interested we are on their school activities and lessons by picking out an activity, say a TV viewing session, related to their lesson for the day. These simple things may unimportant but I strongly believe that they reap out good rewards in the end.

Yesterday was our 34th wedding anniversary. I thank God we are still a pair. We were only 25years old during our wedding and since then I prayed that whoever will be recalled first will give the one who will stay the assurance that everything will be okay.

Since my husband got a stroke, I have always wanted to bring my husband outdoors through a wheelchair. It would be probably a nice gift for our anniversary.

Thirty four years ago at 6:00 p.m. on January 27, 1975 Raffy and I exchanged marriage vows at the Our Lady of Assumption Parish in Malate. (At dawn of the same date was Nora Aunor and Cristopher de Leon's beach wedding in Pangasinan.)

I feel proud to show my children and relatives that even during this trial in our lives, we are still together. For us, it is not the material things that is important in a married life -- but the respect, trust, understanding and love for each other.

Since coming home from the hospital last December 30, Raffy has been sleeping in the living room where a small bed was assembled so that friends and relatives who would come to visit him will not go to our bedroom. Last night, however, Toto and Lucky exerted extra efforts to bring their dad to our bedroom where we slept together. It was a great relief to see him moving his body through his right hand and leg. It was his way of greeting me a happy 34th anniversary.

First of, you may be wondering why we call ourselves "The Thordies". Our patriarch was once part of the population of Overseas Contract Workers (now known as Overseas Filipino Workers) who set out for the Middle East armed with a firm hope of a better future.

Back in the eighties, compact discs were non-existent and the latest techie audio machine was the radio cassette player. Our father had one of those that probably helped ease his loneliness in Libya. He regularly sent recorded voice messages on blank tapes. Being young kids then, it was the next best thing to hear our father's voice compared to expensive overseas phone calls.

Along with these voice recording tapes were his Beatles and Elvis Presley mix tapes. On each side of the tape, he fervently wrote RAFFY THORDY with his signature letter A that looked like a star. He was known as Thordy to his overseas peers.

Fast forward to the nineties....


1996
This picture was taken one night in November while we took a break from our silly scary story telling session. That was also the first time we called ourselves "The Thordies".

I guess we were just so happy with this picture that we still attempt to take a picture of us siblings donning the same pose every Christmas or New Year.



2004


2005


2006


2008 - Lloyd was with our mom in the hospital, looking after our dad.
Gene, Yenne's husband, became the impromptu replacement for his spot.

See how we have changed? We are still a happy family with a bond that became tighter over the yeas. This blog is intended to be one of the elements of this bond. We share a common interest for writing, camera whoring, and the internet. Now with Mom also writing online, we see this site as a melting pot of sorts of the diverse thoughts from our beautiful minds.

Stay tuned for more of our writings. We hope to know more of you, too!