Now I Get It

Over a year ago, I wrote in my blog (see In Our Father's Arms dated July 30, 2008) about my youngest sister, Gina Navarrete, migrating to Canada with her family. When they left, Gina was the president of Red Ribbon and her husband, Mike, was the SVP and chief financial officer of ABS-CBN. Their two children, Mikko and Joel, just finished 4th year and 3rd year high school in La Salle Zobel. They had a beautiful new house in South Bay which was even featured in Metro magazine. It was therefore incomprehensible to us, our Mom and her 11 siblings, why they wanted to leave the country. Gina said that they wanted their children to have a North American education but didn't want to be separated from them. Also, they had saved enough to live comfortably in retirement. In my letter to her which I reproduced in my blog and read to her during our despedida for her, I talked initially about wrestling with their reasons and about finally coming to terms with their decision as follows:

About two weeks ago, I had my eureka moment while I was in the shower. I think it was divinely inspired. The thought that came to me was that throughout this past year, my prayer was for our heavenly Father to lead you to His will for you. I was also sure countless others were praying the same thing for you. And as you stated in your email when you announced and explained your decision to the rest of the siblings, you had prayed long and hard for discernment before you made the decision to leave. God had one whole year to intervene and to stop you from leaving. But He did not. Indeed, this must be God’s plan for you. So even though I cannot understand your decision with my natural comprehension, I can certainly accept it with a supernatural outlook. And I take comfort from my favorite passage in the Bible (Romans 8:28) which states “…for those who love God all things work together unto good…”

Last week, my Mom and I flew to Halifax from Silver Spring to visit with Gina and her family for eight days. After only two days with them, I told Gina that I finally got it. Not only could I accept their decision with my heart, but I could embrace it with my mind. Because Canada offers financial security. It provides free education up to high school together with bus service and a child's allowance, plus low-cost college education of the highest quality. It relieves you from worrying about medical expenses for your whole family because of their free and universal medical coverage. (My sister-in-law's parents live in Toronto and her dad was confined in the ICU for months. Their only expense was the hospital parking fee!) If you work long enough, you're guaranteed a lifetime monthly pension. And should your own employer's pension not be adequate, the government tops it up to ensure that you have enough pension to live on.

In addition, the living is easy. There's practically no traffic. My sister lives in Nova Scotia which is 3/4th the size of Luzon. Its population? 900,000! Metro Manila teems with 12 million people. The people are very kind and friendly. Most of them are old (average age is 56) and are no longer in a rush. They therefore take the time to be gracious and courteous. And the place is so beautiful with its lush foliage, you-see-them-everywhere waterfronts, lovely sailboats, pretty houses, and very fresh air. See the collage of our pictures at the Tangled Gardens and Public Gardens, and at Peggy's Cove and the waterfronts.





Of course, they have no driver and maids. But who needs a driver when there is hardly any traffic and parking is always available? Who needs maids when you have all the modern appliances at hand? It also helps that they have a beautiful home furnished with all their stuff from their South Bay home:



So after a year of living in Canada, Gina, who practically grew up in the corporate world for close to 24 years and never lifted a finger in the house, is now an accomplished cook. She planned and prepared all our dinners and they were all special and so delicious: seafood chowder, grilled steaks, and salmon; mussels soup and steamed shrimps; pasta with creamy sauce, scallops, and roast chicken; baked lobsters; mirin-glazed salmon with broccoli and cauliflower; and haddock with creamy sauce and shrimp cocktail. Indeed, this seafood lover found heaven in Nova Scotia!



Gina's dinners were even better than some of the lunches we had at various places from fast food places like Arby's and Tim Horton's to the high-end places such as Blomidon Inn and Dundee Arms Inn, shown below:



And she has even grown spiritually. She is now able to hear mass daily. For such a small population, Nova Scotia has many beautiful churches:



Also, since there's very little traffic, it is so easy to take road trips. We drove 70 km to Blomidon Inn in Wolfville in the time it takes to get from QC to Makati. We drove 350 km to our Bed and Breakfast in Charlottetown in Prince Edward Island in the time it takes to drive from QC to Tarlac. And those places are so beautiful.





And everywhere we went, the restrooms were so clean. Even in the Metro ferry terminal! There were some that took my fancy too:



So for all these wonderful experiences, my deepest thanks to Gina, Mike, Mikko and Joel. Thanks Gina for anticipating and taking care of our every need. Thank you for carefully planning our itinerary and lovingly preparing our dinners. They were all so good! And thank you for all the gifts you gave us, fairy godmother! Thanks Mike for preparing Mommy's coffee and my chocolate drink every morning, and serving us wine every night. And thank you for sharing your knowledge and insights about living in Canada. I'm glad we had the opportunity to have a closer relationship with you and learning more about you, and in the process loving you more. Thank you Mikko for serving our desserts and sharing your brand of humor. Thank you Joel for cleaning up after our every meal and making us laugh with your jokes. My love and prayers will always be with you. May God bless you always!

If you wish to see all the pictures, please check them out below. Also, if you wish to see the above collages or the pictures below better, just click on them to see the actual size.