There are more than 100 of ways, why he is a big brother to me! and to the rest of the siblings.
My brother whom I can trust 100%. For everything he is entrusted
for will be done 100% . He is trustworthy, kind, very generous and very responsible.
We have been good friends beside being brod and sis who were trusting each other ever since we were small, my brother and me.
I remember when I was around 22 (and he was19), this was in 1980, when i got my first "real" job as bank-teller. I was earning so much more than my brother who was a welder at young-age at my grandmother's welding-shop, run by my uncle. My brother used to come and visit me at my boarding house in the weekend and will give me money for the cinema. I remember his words! "Do you like to go to the cinema today? Here is P20 pesos for the cinema and for snacks" I used to tell him back, no thank you brother, i don't go to the cinema today, besides, I have money myself.!
But for two times, i took the money and he was extremely happy for it. And I went to the cinema.
"He is one of a million " i thought!
Today, after so many years, and now we are getting older, I still can say, I am so lucky to have a brother like him. And it is not actually only me who recognized him for what he is. Thank God for that! The others respected him too. We are 8 children in the family. I picked him as my trustee, and everybody respected that decision for good reasons. No other in the family would ever take such a responsibility either.
My family. I have two brothers who are older than me, then myself, as eldest of the 3 girls, then this wonderful brother of ours, a girl, a boy, then a girl and the youngest, a boy.
This big brother of ours, now (being 54) with a girlfriend working abroad, is taking in-charge about everything in/for the family. from administering, supervising, acting upon, following-up, supporting, into conducting. etc. And when it concerns money, he is second to none. He is close to perfect, if that is possible to say, yet he is very humble and almost invisible. In such a manner that he never want to be on the front-line so people can see him. So private, and very down-to-earth. I call this person a phenomenon!
Who is he? He was born in 1960, my brother Mario. My mother used to say when we were small, that this boy (Mario) is going to be a very good boy" (his nickname is Boy) I asked my mother why she said that, and she answered: Firstly because he was born in May (or Mayo, means "maayo" or good) Secondly, he had, already as a baby shown remarkable personal traits as being very good boy he was, mother said!
Boy Mario was very good at school, a valedictorian in his primary school. Then he moved to another school to start with his 5th grade, when my grandma who lived in the city, has started to put-up a repair-shop for cars in 1967 and it was ran by my uncle. My uncle needed all the boys in the family to work there to complete the workforce as a start. So all the boys were being pulled-out from school. one after the other. Boy Mario along with the two elder brothers of mine and cousins were taken to the city. My grandma had the authority and she has to be followed. But she didn't know better. And nobody in the family tried to do something with it either. So every boy in the family started to work there. The sight and the taste of money was greater than anything else for the young boys, I was the first one who broke grandma's rule so I became the black-sheep of the family, i heard that too! " But I will go to school, i told her and the rest!. She gave in but I had to follow strict rules and regulations for 4 years, like no make-ups, no dates, no boyfriends at all as long as i was a student. And i together with my cousin, had to rise early at 5:30 to shop food for 40 people, cook food every single day, 7 days a week, morning to noontime, in the evening. I went to school to study BSC, taking up accounting as major subject, starting at 14:30 and the class lasted around 20:00. I had to pendle between jeepney and tricycles for transportation for almost 2 hours. Reaching home, I was tired but had to do the assignment for 2 hours. Then I would go to sleep and wake up at 5:30 the next morning to work.
I felt very sad for all the boys in the family.But nothing I could do, I was only a young girl and was feeling all alone with my thoughts and dreams. My parents live in the province.
Grandma paid my education and I worked hard for every penny she paid for me for 4 years.
My brother has not been able to enter high-school but his knowledge and wisdom exceeds any professional that I meet in my life. He reads privately. His knowledge is solid. He can discuss with anybody if he want to and tell the relationship between the bible and the world history. My ex-husband was so amazed about this remarkable person. When my brother writes a letter, he makes it perfect and it looks like typewritten. He communicates clearly in such a way that gives no room for misunderstanding. He is a wonderful communicator.
A responsible man. He is the one taking care of our aging parents. He is the one taking care of my cottage (a house) after he build it up for me 5 years ago, doing it whenever he has time day and night. He was pendling between Cagayan de oro City where he is working, a distance of 285 km.using his bicycle. Pendling from point A to B + inter- island boat to come to our place of birth, where our parents are in Camiguin Island. He is using his bicycle for transport for two reasons, to save money and to get his exercise. He is observing health and he doesn't smoke nor drink. He has been saving every penny he can save, and use the money he saved to help any member of the family who is in need. Yes absolutely everyone in the family. Everyone respected him!
He is keeping records for absolutely everything he spent the money for I am sending some amount from Norway everymonth to help the family an for the maintenance of my cottage. These records were my brother's idea, in-case i need to go back and see the records for reference.
But all these years, i never needed any control for i trusted him. But for my curiosity one day, and for respect of his work, i opened one of the notebooks, to see and there i saw everything was in order, the receipts, the dates, everything! I was speechless!
Our communication. Before, we called up long-distance to talk.
Today we use FB as our only means of communication, this, after he was convinced a year ago about using it which he was reluctant about in the beginning. He is chatting mainly during weekend when he is done at his job. They are working Monday to Saturday in the shop, in the same shop he was working ever since 1967, my grandma's machine shop. He knows that FB is a social media where we can meet people and friends. yet he use FB primarily to contact the family. He has only a handful of friends at FB.
I respect my brother, that much ! I respect him more than i would be able to respect myself and for many reasons!
For he is the person who really deserve it! And my children adores him, my brother and my children's uncle. I am happy that the rest of my family in the Philippines is in unison, into respecting this man. He is for me a human institution, a remarkable human-being with high-integrity, very humble person with a great heart! :)
He doesn't know, how deserving he is of our respect and love, He is just a simple man he said, who hasn't finished school, so he can't be a better person he said. My heart was crying for him.for he could have been a very successful person in career if the fate had let him. And i thought, that with a good education he could have a good job that pays good and thus live a good life wihtout so much stress i thought!. And if our parents and grandparents knew better and had sent the boys to school. But we cant change the history. My task is to relate the story around him for he deserves it, everyone deserves to hear the story which has not been told before today.
My brother Mario is a great man. He is a unique individual he is, a loving, respectful, tactful, caring, wise, humble and very responsible person, I can't say it often enough for him to know and for the world to know, how happy, thankful I am as a person, a sister and a mother of my three children, who adores their uncle. They know him and have seen him how he is doing things and they know what he stands for, their great uncle, a humble man with a great heart !
Today the 25th of Sept, i chatted with him and told him, "Brother, please take good care of yourself" this as a reply for I was worried about him when he told me that he forgotten to eat his meal today. he has been too busy doing different things and the concern around our father's coming hospital operation tomorrow. My brother has been preparing and working on this matter already for weeks !...
 |
| thanks imagesbuddy.com |
A especial thanks and love to my younger sister Erna for her wonderful help and care for our parents from the very beginning and to the present. She and my brother forms the teamwork also with the support of the other fsmily members. Thank you so much everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment