Today, I was surprised to find my name on the ground. I couldn’t believe it. It said REMI DE UNGRIA and 2013. Then I thought it was my son Remi, and not mine. I stopped, opened my camera and then thought that this was probably when my son Remi, was, like me, a UP engineering student. It happened at around the 9 km mark of my run in UP and by then I was just walking to keep my heartbeat below 130 bpm. I don’t normally pass by the Beta Way, a path between UP Engineering’s Melchor hall and Arts and Science. For some reason I did, and I was walking and looking down. Any other way or time I would have not seen it. After hours of thinking about it, I realized that seeing my name on the ground was not a freak accident. It was a gift, a timely reminder for me of how fortunate I am to still have the time and opportunity to be above ground and not six feet below. Often, due to the hustle of a busy world, I forget how just being able to walk without pain or assistance is actually a privilege and not a right.
Just last month, my sister Cora just survived a fall from 15 feet high and broke her thigh bone, the strongest bone in the body. My brother, Joel, just survived his 2nd hemorraghic stroke with bleeding in his brain. Both Cora and Joel now have to relearn how to walk without pain.
I had to write this to shout to the universe- thank you, thank you and yes, nothing is guaranteed, not tomorrow, not next week. In transformation, we use distinctions like urgency and Life is now.
Seeing my name on the ground today is a gift, a warning and a reminder- Life is now and I will use the gift of my remaining time and my being transformation to move, touch and inspire family, friends, Filipinos. I commit and declare- I am Bong- an Awesome, Breatkthrough, Transformer for God.