Friday, December 20, 2013

Our yearly newsletter

Our 2013 newsletter.


 
As we celebrate the coming of our Lord, we ask that His glorious coming enlighten us with his message of  hope, faith and love during this Christmas season.

This year about to end was both a challenging one but a happy journey for the members of our Joaquin family. Chita continually works closely with our church, St. Clare, the biggest parish in the Diocese of Sacramento made up of 45,000 families from various national strains.  Chita has been actively serving as one of the Eucharistic Ministers and sits as one of the five members of the Finance Council and a member of the Filipino Liturgy committee. Tony on the other hand, when called upon, conducts talks on "How to write a memoir." for different senior communities around the neighborhood.

We never fail to thank the Lord that our children and their families are blessed with good health and are happy with what they are doing. Despite the fact that Cristina and Lizza live far away from us, we manage to see them when their schedules allow. We are happy to spend a few days with Lizza when she visited us in October. We never fail to bond with Cristina every time she has a regular flight to San Francisco. We are glad that Jay and his family live in San Francisco which is a short trip from our place. As for Bobby and Gina, we see them often for they are five minutes away from us.

Our grandsons are awesome: Mikee is now doing choreography based in Queensland, Australia. Nico on the other hand is graduating next year with a BS in Kinesiology and is doing Apostolic work by teaching religion classes to 5th and 6th graders in our parish. Julian, who is 10 years old, was awarded  the "Super Kid" for the month of October for his outstanding academic performance. He also garnered the title of "Athlete of the month"  for his distinctive skills in basketball and Soccer.

In April, we found ourselves in a cruise through the Panama Canal locks.  Chita was able to record this trip on film especially the dramatic opening and closing of the locks to accommodate a ship passing through. During this cruise they were able to tour Cartagenas, Aruba, Costa Rica, Panama and Grand Cayman.

After the cruise Tony's kidney was found to be failing and therefore he had to begin dialysis. He goes to a nearby center three times a week for three hours each time. Happily, the hemo dialysis is doing him good for Tony is now healthier, stronger and in good spirits.

With Tony's regained energy, his doctors gave him permission to travel to Manila in September to attend the wedding of Chita's godson, June Fernandez to Donna Soriaga. Before the wedding, We took a trip to Palawan, enjoyed the city's tourist attractions and its beaches. We also experienced sailing through the famed underground river with interesting rock formations which make river cruise worthwhile.

While in Manila, we were able to visit friends and relatives especially those who were sick.
A happy event was the luncheon that Tetau (Cesar) and Carmen Sison hosted for Tony and attended by fellow Ateneo High School class 1948 at their residence.

The Pandamates (a group of friends we travelled with to China) hosted a luncheon for us. We regret to learn of the passing of Tom Tan one of the Pandamates last Dec. 11 from live cancer.

For the first time, we were able to see the newly constructed house of Cristina and Jowin at Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, a new development of the Ayala Corporation.  We were sorry to hear that Jowin’s father, Honore, passed away on December 15.

An unexpected event was that we were very happy to bond with Zenaida’s son and our nephew Chip, his wife Sarah and his son Soli whom we have not seen for a long, long time. Chip and Sarah are continuing their studies in Cebu. Soli is such an adorable kid.

We continue to pray for the victims of that terrible earthquake and supertyphoon that ravaged Leyte and neighboring towns as the poor survivors painfully try to rebuild their lives and livelihood. We pray that God give them much needed comfort and resignation for their lost ones.

We fervently wish that you have a Blessed Christmas and a more peaceful New Year filled with hope and love.
Tony and Chita
December 2013
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