My Ate Dok

"A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves 

and very much not ourselves --a special kind of double." 

~Toni Morrison

Meet my special kind of double, Ate Am.

Ummm...errr.... Oh gosh. 

I'm running out of words to describe her. Haha!

And I'm not going to push myself to do it because If I did,

this whole page won't be enough.

Aaah, ganito na lang. I'll just give 12 things 

you do not know about her.

Ready?

=)

12 THINGS YOU DO NOT KNOW ABOUT

DR. AMHERSTIA

1. Her name is so unique. Sa ka-unique, her teachers 

and professors before had a hard time pronouncing

 her name and have it spelled.

That's actually from a tropical tree with flowers which 

have an exceptional beauty. My Papa graduated with a degree

in Forestry. So siguro, he find this name cute 

when my Ate was born.

2. She was 7 years old when it was my time to enter this world.

And the whole family welcomed me---except her.

She admittedly rejected me when I was a baby.

She bit and pinched me not because I'm cute (wahehe!)

but because she hated me. How could I blame her? 

When all of the attention was on that cute 7year old kid,

suddenly the newest member of the family took the

spotlight away from her. Oh yeah. That's according to her.

  But don't worry. Naka-overcome na xa.

She eventually learned to love me (thank You Jesus!). 

Paano ba naman din kasi, I'm lovable naman talaga. Ahaha!

3.  She had a middle child crisis.

Again, according to her, palangga daw sa akong 

grandparents akong Ate Hazel (the eldest), 

I'm the fave of my parents, and she's left with nothing.

What a BIG LIE from the enemy, right?

My momsiepops did everything they could 

just to explain to her that it is not really true.

By God's grace, she learned to listen and 

felt she's super loved by the whole family.

4. She was the most brilliant among us three 

especially when it comes to Mathematics.

When I was in elementary, she was my patient tutor

in Math. I could remember her using some flash cards

just to teach with simple addition, subtraction,

multiplication and division. And it was not a

surprise for me if she was a consistent honor student

way back in elementary and high school. She also

graduated from UP Mindanao with a degree of BS Biology.

We are all proud of her.

5. She was my full-time coach with my Jolen and

Lastiko tournaments when I was a child.

Literally, she was by my side when I had my

jolen, cards, pogs and lastiko games with my 

kababatang neighborhood sa una.

She was still my number 1 fan even 

if talunan ako minsan. Wahehe!

6. Just like any other siblings, we also had fights before.

Ganyan daw talaga ang magkasunod, 

usually sila yung nag-aaway. Kalmutan, sabunutan,

bangayan, name it, we did it! We were so harsh

with each other then. Good thing we're 

matured now and grew up more loving this time.

And no, the TIME didn't changed us.

My GOD did. =)

7. She was my room mate since I was born until

she decided to go to MedSchool.

Even though I enjoyed having a bigger space in

the cabinet and so luag na kama, I did missed her.

And I missed her BIG TIME.

For 5 years she was in Ilo-Ilo to pursue 

her dream of becoming a doctor. But whenever

she's home, she still sleeps with me...ganahan pud ko

kay naa koy humok na tanday! Hehehe.

8. She's my human alarm clock!

She's the only one who wakes me up with

the loudest "good morneeeeng!!" right through my ears.

Then she kisses me dala gitik! Kinsa'y dili makamata ana?

Ayyyy....Is there anything sweeter than that? Ayeeeh!

9. She used to give me my baon when I was in college.

Several times, gipit gyud sa finances ang akong family.

And I'm blessed because she was the one giving me

my allowance everyday. All I have to do is 

mutabok from San Pedro College to

San Pedro Hospital (because at that time, she was 

already working as a Resident 

Physician in Internal Medicine Dept.)

10. She was my playmate in Sonic Boom.

Speaking of my college days, we used to play basketball,

car racing, hockey, etc. in Sonic Boom, G.Mall. 

When she's tired with her hospital duties

and me with my nursing studies, we text each

other and voila! We just find ourselves 

playing in that fun-filled place.

11. She never had boyfriend ever since she broke up

with her first highschool sweetheart.

Naku, naku, naku...lagot ako 

pagnabasa niya to. Ahahaha!

 Kidding aside, lipay lang gyud ko knowing 

na we're both waiting for the right man

at the right time. Ang iya lang gyud request,

paunahon lang jud daw xa...Hmmm... titingnan ko 

lang ha? Hehehehe!

12. If you think I'm already sweet and thoughtful, 

try her. She's the sweetest and 

most thoughtful member of the family.

Promise. =)

I'm the sister, so mas nakabalo gyud ko.

If you'll ask me, why am I blogging about her?

Well, happy lang gyud ko because she's home just

this morning from Manila. Yehey!

(BTW, She's with the National Kidney Transplant Institute 

for an Oncology training and helping the Cancer patients.)

Mama and Papa fetched her from the airport

and while I was preparing for work and taking a bath,

I just heard somebody shouting, "I'm home! I'm home!"

Without a doubt, my maingay, bubbly, makulit and 

sweet na Ate Dok is now home. For breakfast,
we prayed and ate together.

=)

She brought with her one big box full of pasalubong.

Sulod ana kay kani nga shoklet, groceries, cakes, etc.

So masaya na naman my parents including me. 

She handed me this purple Starbucks tumbler. Ha!

Love't!!

I was hoping my Ate Hazel (I'll make a blog entry about her next time),
and my pamangkins could also join us as we celebrate
the New Year's Eve para kumpleto.

But they just went to Cebu City a month ago, 

so dili gyud sila kauli for the holidays.

Sige lang, ako na lang mubisita sa Cebu next year!

For now, me and Ate Dok are planning kung

unsa2x na lutuon for the new year celebration

(she's reaaally good in cooking!)

Tapos unsa-unsang klaseng dates among buhaton 

for the remaining 4 days na naa siya dinhi.

#SistersAreGiftsFromTheLord

#JoyUnspeakable

So Thankful To Have Her Sisters,