HANNAH'S SAY

Hannah is my sister's batch in high school and our team mate, UNIT 4, in volleyball when we became the champion of San Jose High School Intramural 90-91. Her comment on My Lolo Ramon's Story: The Story Continues, deserves a space on this blog. I am grateful for what she wrote;

Hi Lovelyn,

Pasensya kan(Sorry). I took so much room in your comments section. Your post got me worked up gamin. Hee hee. In fact, I have a couple of quotes more that I want to share with you by Terry Pratchett’s “A Hat Full of Sky.”:

“We ARE history! Everything we’ve ever been on the way to becoming us, we still are.”

“’I’m made up of the memories of my parents and grandparents, all my ancestors. They’re in the way I look, in the color of my hair. And I’m made up of everyone I’ve ever met who’s changed the way I think. So who is ‘me’?’‘The piece that’s truly you.’”

We are everything that our family has always been, but we are also a product of our own time. We each love our unique footprints, and it is for the coming generations to decide whether or not to follow according to the context of their own time. Your post is an intensely reflective one, and I thank you for it. :)

~Hannah

P.S. You’re welcome to post this to your comments section, if you don’t mind losing a few more inches of room from your comments page. ;)
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HERE'S HER COMMENT:

There's an unforgettable moment between Frodo and Gandalf in "Lord of the Rings" that comes to mind: Referring to the ever growing threat of the Shadow, Frodo said he wished the dark days of Middle Earth didn't happen in his time. "'So do I,' said Gandalf and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'"

We don’t live in such dark times, but we do live in a different slice of time than our forebears had. Not only are our challenges different, but so are our opportunities---all of which ultimately contribute to our life decisions. Yours brought you away from home. There is no shame in that nor should it cause you to doubt its worth. Life goes on and so your story continues. Continue what you have been doing; that is, making the most of the time that is given you to shape your own story while keeping alive the legacy that your forbears handed down to. Reserve judgment of your own legacy to posterity, and I have no doubt that your own pages will be full of extraordinary stories in the continuing saga of your heritage. :)

I’d like to add that perhaps your grandfather and your other "apongs" are marveling at your extraordinary life now. It is, after all, not ordinary to let yourself be a part of the larger world and still embody the hearts and minds of those who went before you. :)