Niceness Re-Emphasized

In one of our son’s CFA homeschooling subject – Reading for Young Achievers, the book asks the students to write about the “nice” things that they received recently from people around them. Fresh from his two month vacation in the Philippines, I guided him in his answers by enumerating all the names of the family members and relatives that he has close contact with during that period. From his grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and even us, his parents, Zek, gleefully and with momentary pauses for a smile or laugh, recalled his fair share of memorable “nice” things.

1. Papa Ben put medicine in my wound. Sabi ko, “Ouch”.

2. Mama Tonette always says, “Mama loves Zek”.

3. Tita Shirley cooked and gave me bread.

4. Kuya Pao and kuya Gelo played karate with me.

5. Tito Jben stops me from playing and touching the puppies.

6. Ninong Jon played Starwars fighting with me.

7. Tita Fides drive for us.

8. Mommy cooks, give me bath, give me circle bread and study my lesson with me.

9. Daddy play and share with me.

10. Ate Eunice lent a Spiderman shirt to me.

11. Tito Rory is laughing with me.

I can’t help it but smile as I was once again reminded by this kid, 30 years my junior, how simple it is to make him happy and for that fact, how simple it is for us grown-ups to also find true happiness in our relationships.

How exactly did I come to that conclusion from Zek’s answer to his subject’s topic?

Check this out.

Papa Ben and Mama Tonette, owns a small grocery store and Zek almost always gets to eat all the chi-cha (aka junk) foods he likes.

It was not nice for him.

Tita Shirley has a big and beautiful house with complete cartoon cables and wi-fi connection for unlimited internet kiddie games.

It was not nice for him.

Kuya Pao and kuya Gelo have hi-tech and expensive toys including PSP that Zek can play with.

These were not nice for him.

Tito Jben has a Playstation and a cool motorbike.

These were not nice for Zek.

Ninong Jon has a black car.

It was not nice for him either.

Tita Fides also has a good car and they went to the malls and other places.

These were not nice for him.

His gorgeous mommy and doubly-handsome Daddy (sorry friends, my blog therefore my choice of adjectives J) brought him to a lot of places and toy-stores. They were not nice for him still.

OK, Ate Eunice is his young cousin girl but she has lots of girlie toys and stuffs.

I am surely glad Zek did not find them nice as well.

Tito Rory is a very busy surgeon who owns a big SUV and treats us everytime we are on holiday.

Alas these were not nice for Zek as well.

Please don’t get me wrong.

All these expensive things and stuffs are useful and nice but in the eyes of my son, they were not that nice to be mentioned compared to the feeling of love he felt everytime these nice persons did something kind, thus memorably nice. In all instances, it was when the other person made a meaningful one-on-one contact, communication or contribution did he remember them and their nice actions.

Simply put.

Nice things = Nice

Nice persons = Nice worth remembering, re-telling and re-living.

Let us all be nice to one another to nurture healthy relationships and build happy memories for us to share around.

From Zek

Everybody has his or her own different highs.


Some people get high when they see their "crushes" pass-by (most especially when they also get noticed :D ) Some people get their high after buying for themselves the latest techie-gadget in the market. Some people get high after watching a superb movie on a high-definition LCD or more so, in a 4D-Max movie theater.


Some people get high when their hardwork earned them praises and kudos from their bosses. Some people get high when their business acumen resulted in good profits. Some people get high when their favorite sports team won a major tournament (Go Lakers :D)


Yesterday was Father's Day and I was in a totally different high.

It was the first time that my son wrote me such a touching letter that rendered me misty eyes. I am sure of lot of my parent-friends have experienced this enormous joy in their heart. Now I join them in this elite circle of proud and loved parents.


Thanks Zek for your colorfully expressed love for me :).
I love you and your mommy too.

Coming from The Blind Side

This acclaimed movie of Sandra Bullock (which won for her an Oscar award for her role as Mrs. Tuohy), is a heartful awe-inspiring true story of Michael Oher who is now an NFL star with the Baltimore Ravens.

Michael, who came from a troubled childhood whose mother during her drug-laden years has borne a number of children from a number of nameless fathers. They lived in a Memphis area where thugs and drugs are a daily sight. And when he was just kid when the social service people decided to take him away from his drug-dependent mother and led to numerous foster-institutions. He grew up with a purposeless, confused and untrusting demeanor until the Tuohy’s showed him kindness and showered him with support that he longed to have since childhood. Not only did he remarkably improved his GPA from 0.6 to 2.52 by the end of his senior year but he also grew up to be a loving and a very protective person who enjoys and love the warm friendship of belonging to a real family.

In the same movie, he also have a good friend with excellent athletic skill as well and yet with nobody taking notice of him, he inadvertently made the choice to stay with their neighborhood gangs. He subsequently died from gun-shot wounds inflicted during a gang-war.

Clearly these kids’ contrasting lives were immensely influenced by the shown kindness of the people around them.

Some of us will argue that the Tuohy’s are exceptional in this case because they are rich and can afford to adopt and care for Michael. But the simple truth is, kindness does not only spring out when a person is able or wealthy. Kindness, no matter how small and simple, affects other people profoundly.

I remember a few years ago when we visited Hongkong and, from the subway train station, we were not able to find an elevator to bring us up to the main road. I was carrying 1 back-pack, 1 big luggage bag, and our son’s stroller so you can just imagine how I struggled to walk up the stairs. My wife who was carrying our then 2 year-old son went up ahead to avoid the throngs of rushing people. A lot of people simply passed me by. Some even just looked curiously and thought how flimsy-looking I was with all those sweats and luggages. “Well”, I said to myself that time,”no wonder the Hongkong government runs media advertisements urging the Hongkong people to be kind and helpful to others because they are just too busy and fast-paced to pause and lend a helping hand to anyone in need.”

I was mid-way through the staircase when suddenly the stroller behind me became lighter. I looked back and I saw this beautiful and smiling caucasian lady with her her friend lifting up the back side of the stroller. What a relief it was and I was so grateful to her when we reached the top. She smiled back and they went their way.

In an instant, my mood changed from exasperation and disappointment to gratitude and joy because of that simple kind act of a stranger.

It reinforced my belief that there are still a lot of kind people to make this world of ours a beautiful place to live.

Whether they are in the office or workplace, in the community, in the church, walking along the road, in the bus waiting area, and just about everywhere, they are naturally on the look-out to come to anybody who needs assistance and help.

Now we must ask ourselves this question – Am I one of them?

Thank you and God bless.