I haven't seen her for nearly 2 yrs now except in the pictures. After I left to US for a 6 months onshore assignment last July 2005, my sister flew to Dubai the following month. When I came back home on January 2006, she wasn't already there. I felt so gloomy without her on my side. She's not just a sister for me; she's more of like a mother and a good friend. Most of you might probably know that I grew up without our parents with us. Both of them worked and are still working in Saudi Arabia for some demanding reasons. As part of the Filipino culture, as the eldest, she had to take good care of us. She cooks for us, she always does the household chores, she does the budgeting, etc. She's a very domesticated sister so to speak especially during those times that we don't have nanny with us.

But time is running out for her. She can't just stay at home looking after us. She has to work and find herself as well because sooner or later, she'll be having a family on her own. She chose to work in Dubai, UAE because she thought that it would be easier for her to find work there and my cousin may help her find a job as well. So we took a risk and bought her a tourist visa hoping that she could be able to find an employer there the soonest possible time. But it didn't turn out that easy. She struggled a lot and took her 4 months after getting a permanent job. There were a couple of opened jobs but not related to her course. She was then looking for something fits to her skills as a therapist since she took up B.S. PT. Now, she's working as massage therapist.

I wouldn't say that my relationship with her has been smooth ever since. I remember when we were still on teenage years; we keep on fighting almost every day. I still have scars that remind me of those troubled days. But when we got older, we became so close to each other. I began to respect her as my older sister. I began to love her even more. There were still moments that we argue but no more hitting and beating like I used to do to her before. Probably the maturity in me made me realize how important she is to me.

We also treated each other as good friends. We shared a couple of common friends especially her school friends whom eventually became my friends too because they always slept over our house before. We even watched porn movies together with our friends! Of course none of us was serious, we’re all just laughing about the movies as they’re comparing the sizes! Hahaha. But it was a funny experience.

I felt that I've always been a big influence on her love life. Or should I say a big hindrance? Haha. She had her first boyfriend at the age of 15 named Jet (Thomas). He was a good childhood friend of mine. They stayed together for almost a year I guess. But apparently, my parents didn't like her to have bf that time so they broke-up. Her second boyfriend was Julius. If I am not mistaken, they stayed together for almost 5 years. They were classmates in internship back in college. At first, I really really don’t like him. I didn't allow him to step inside our house or even phoned my sister. I will hung up the phone when I hear his voice, and likewise. It was just on their latter years when I learned to accept him. But then again, for some appalling reasons, they didn't stay together for good. Currently, she has an Arab boyfriend named Hassan. I talked to him once and I was surprised that he can speak Tagalog. He even called me kuya (older brother) where in fact he's older than me! Haha. He’s already 36 by the way. This time, I am letting her to decide. If she thinks he's the right guy for her then no problem with me. If she thinks that she already wants to spend the rest of her life with to this guy, then go. I don't stop her from doing so. I will just be here to support her for all her decisions.

Last Monday morning, around 2am here (10pm in Dubai), I saw her online in Yahoo. She was still in the clinic (evening shift) and just testing the computer. We didn't talk for long because it was already closing time for them. But she said she'll go to a nearest computer shop so we could talk more. And when she came back online, we chatted for like more than an hour with webcam! I really missed her so much! And an hour of conversation seemed so fast because we never run out of topic and stories to tell.

I can't explain the happiness that I felt seeing my sister again after such a long time. It's very tedious to explain the feeling as I ran out of words to describe it. I can’t wait to see her on May!!! But somehow, it makes me ponder how times goes by so fast… really fast…

LOVE YOU ATE WHENG!

Date Scribed: March 12, 2007