filthy rich

We would often blame ourselves for everything. We barely had enough for our wedding and yet we optimistically pushed through with it. We chose to get a place of our own to rent instead of living with our parents despite our limited resources. Hence, we have rent, electricity, water, groceries etc. to pay every month. We don’t regret it though, the whole set-up has made us feel like we’ve been married for years. We’ve adjusted beautifully to being married to each other without outside influences which can sometimes complicate a newly-weds’ life. We’ve learned so much more about each other because we are almost never apart (we are also workmates). And yet, we couldn’t get enough of each other. For this we consider ourselves rich.

Our life is made even more complicated with our unexpected blessing. We didn’t really plan to conceive as early as now and we have to admit, we were apprehensive at first. With the desire to give as much and the best to our baby, our almost negative net worth seemed so much more glaring. But as the months passed, experiencing our baby’s development together, we grew confident that this is actually a silver lining amidst our cloud of financial difficulties. For this we consider ourselves rich.

Even before we knew we were pregnant, our parents continued to look after us after the wedding. Ramil and I are both from QC and since the school where we teach is in Antipolo, we moved to Rizal. With the sky-high prices of gasoline today, we can only afford to visit our parents at least every other weekend. These visits would always result to us going home looking and feeling like refugees, hehe! We would have numerous pabaon before leaving. They would cook special meals in larger quantities. My mom would give me clothes or bring me shopping after learning that I am very kuripot in buying maternity clothes. We would even sometimes get things for our house or simple necessities like bigas, hehe! As early as now, our parents are even volunteering to baby-sit (meaning go all the way to Rizal) everyday if I decide to go back to work next school year. My mom even told me she would supply our baby with diapers and that she’ll be the one to buy a crib. Even my sister treats me with little things such as a pedicure. For this we consider ourselves rich.

Despite being so far from our families, God sends people to look after us. We have our ninang & ninong (who are also our employers but treat us like family), our co-workers, our students, and even our students’ parents. One particular student’s parents have been continuously giving me ensaymada, fruits, puto, kutsinta, etc. after learning that we are having a baby. These parents have been treating us like part of their family. For this we consider ourselves rich.

In one of our conversations last week, I asked Ramil, “Yayaman kaya tayo?” He answered me with “What do you mean by yayaman?” Then I realized, we might not be able to have the new car that we want or a house of our own for our growing family or to be able to eat out anytime and anywhere we want, but yes, we are already filthy rich.