A Happy Valentine with Lessons from Last Year

Kyle with Orangutan Jenny at Ark Avilon Zoo.

It all seemed like yesterday. It was also Valentine's Day. I remember he spent his V-day inside the hospital bed, wailing like crazy from deep pain he's into. Time really flies fast. It’s been exactly one year since Kyle had met that accident.  God knows how grateful I am that he’s still alive and kicking without much trauma from the said incident. In fact, he enjoys a lot of things he’s doing now: being an altar boy serving during mass celebration in our parish, painting and drawing, practically playing around and biking (a skill he’s learned on his own)—the gift of being able to still walk, kick a ball and run freely.

With a colorful bird whom he calls Adarna Bird.

Still the same brave boy with an albino snake in hand.

Kyle acknowledges the gift he’s given. “It’s another chance to show my ability, share my talent, develop my potential and learn new skills,” he would often say. “I know there is a reason why I am still here. I may not understand it yet, but I know in time I will. For now, let me show my gratefulness for giving me yet another chance to live through what I do.”  With such words said in vernacular, I would sometimes think he’s born not just differently but he must have been born in the wrong body, because more often than not, he speaks like an adult. He seemed like an adult in a kid’s body. He voices out his opinion almost all the time, sometimes even without thinking of how some people would react. But that’s just him. That’s simply a part of his personality.

He loves birds.

 Nowadays, Kyle prays to God and continuously thanks HIM for the life he’s been given. “I thought it was really the end of me,” Kyle recalls.  “But I guess I’m supposed to do other things here on earth so here I am,” he tries to figure out in from the perception of a 9-year-old.  He will forever be grateful for the new life and for all those who prayed for him. “Please thank everyone on the Internet and the blogosphere who prayed for me. I never got the chance to thank them. I hope that through your blog they will know how much grateful I am to all of them, whoever they may be,” adds Kyle. 

A bird couple on his shoulders.

At the end of the day, we must all learn our lesson. My Kyle’s more careful this time when crossing the street (he’s trying his best to be more careful this time), he tries his best to also listen to the elders and more importantly he’s learned to look at life in the bigger picture. He says that LIFE is indeed gift. He pities those who commit suicide. “I do not condemn them but they do not realize they are wasting such a great life if only they would see all the blessings.” 

Kyle and me happily sitting at Crosswinds Tagaytay in January 2012.

Ah, time must have flown so fast! For how can I not see how he’s grown from the former terrible toddler I once had…Kyle’s definitely grown after almost a year. For one, he knows what to wear and not to wear; he understands the word “baduy” (read: doesn’t fashionably go well) now. And when he figures out it’s baduy, you can’t make him wear such clothes no matter what. When I prod him to wear it, he’d say he knows his style now and that he’s serious, “You must be kidding me, you can’t make me go out in those clothes,” he’ll utter. He's still the same Kyle, still brave than ever, but with some distinct variations now. Perhaps he's grown mature this time around.

This Valentine’s Day, Kyle and I would be going out on a date. Yeah, not a romantic date like most couples would do, but more of a day of more bonding for an aunt-turned-his-mom-and-a-little-grown-up nephew-kind-of-thing. We will celebrate that he’s still alive and kicking. We would be planning for his summer activities like we always do and make sure that we spend time together happily.

After almost losing Kyle in an accident exactly last year, there’s nothing else that truly mattered to me but him and my family.  So, I don’t really care if I’m still single at my age? As long as I’ve my family complete, we all get along fine, I know I can survive being single on Valentine’s Day. Happy Valentine’s Day guys!

Enjoy your day!

xoxo,