It was a gloomy, humid day when i arrived at the NAIA on Thursday, 14th June 2007….when i hurriedly flew home upon knowing that my beloved father was already on a very critical condition. Before i took my plane, i called my Dad to make him promise to wait for me. He was almost comatose but still, he heard and understood what i was telling him coz with utmost effort, he tried to answer me, “Oo, uwi ka na..” With just a small and almost empty luggage, i took the next possible flight to Manila. My brother who fetched me at the airport took me straight to the hospital where dad was confined since June 6, 2007. The person i saw lying on his bed looks like a stranger to me. He lost too much weight, his yellowish eyes open but uncomprehending and the mouth covered with oxygen mask was grasping for air. My heart tore upon seeing him that way. I couldnt help but cry out my pain, feeling so helpless and useless not knowing how i could help my poor father to release him from his suffering. His breathing was hard and deep, the intervals sometimes too long that i panic thinking that the next breathing might not come again. After a long deliberation with my family, and only after a doctor and a nurse relative of ours promised to accompany us, we decided to bring Dad home, which i promised him to do once i arrive. “Pagdating ko Dad, iuuwi na kita sa bahay…yun ang gusto mo di ba?” was the promise i gave him on the phone.

Armed with an oxygen tank, his dextroses and infusions hanging and circulating through his shattered veins, we took Dad in an ambulance with my doctor cousin and nurse attending to him, to start the journey back home. Two vehicles accompanied the ambulance, a car infront with my brother driving to show the way to the driver, and following the ambulace was my Mom, an aunt and me in a van. The travel from the hospital to our house seemed like eternity although the distance between the two was only about 40kms away. When we were just about 2km away from our residence, we were stucked in a heavy traffic which forced us to wait for almost one hour till we finally reached home. A mixed feelings of fear, anxiety and impatience wrapped my being during the entire trip unknowing in what condition my father was in that vehicle before us. As we finally reached home, i run to the garage where my brothers started to disembark Dad from the ambulance to transfer him to his comforting matrimonial bed. When they finally laid my father in bed i touched his face and told him “Andito na tayo sa bahay Dad, nakauwi ka na…” He responded to me by moving his eyebrowes..but then i noticed that he is not breathing anymore. So i yelled to my cousin who was setting his dextrose to put it in proper place, “Kuya Ruben…ang Daddy!” Suddenly my Dad took a deep breath. I was watching him intensely while waiting for the next breath to come…till i noticed that no more was coming. “Kuya Ruben…ang Daddy di na ata humihinga!” My cousin checked his pulse, heard with his stethoscope for his heart beat, then he touched my shoulder to tell me, “Let him rest Malu.” That was the most painful words of reality i heard in my life. “Daddy..Daaaddddyyyy!!!! I was yelling, hugging and kissing my father, denying and not accepting the truth, i was floating, dreaming, hurting, agonizing, kissing and hugging my Dad….kissing and hugging…kissing and hugging…..My brother took me in his arms and told me to let my Dad go, that he is resting now, that he doesnt have pain anymore, that he is now in heaven, that…that…that….

The Palais des Papes

“The most beautiful and strongest house in the world”. The Palace of the Popes, built between the 14th and 18th century is the biggest existing gothic palace in the world. It was the official residence of nine Popes when Avignon was then the capital of the christian world. 25 rooms were held open for public to discover the splendour of this Pontifical domicile.

Saint Benezet Bridge

Legend has it that the young sheperd Benezet heard divine voices instructing him to build the bridge. It was the only crossing point along the Rhone River, the natural boundary between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Germanic Empire. The bridge was destroyed by Louis VIII during the Albigensian Crusade and was rebuilt in the late 13th century. But raging flood waters damaged it and was definitely abadoned in the 17th century. From the 22 original arches remained only 4 today.

The Popes that Reside in the Palace

The Palace is primarily the work of two Popes, Benedict XII and his successor Clement VI. From the 9 Popes, i can only take the pic of the 8 coz the 9th was nailed at the corner wall on the right side.

Palace Roof Top

To reach the uppermost top of the palace, one must be of good health and really fit coz the winding stairs are quite steep and real high. You can see at the background the golden statue of Mother Mary.

The Bell Tower

Just one of the numerous towers of the palace where it used to hang a voluminous bell. After a big fire during the late 18th century, the palace was almost to 70% ruined. It was restored to its original form only after the the middle of the 19th century.

More pics next post. Got dizzy resizing these pics to fit my blog. Am still not satisfied, have to learn more on how to place the pics in some places rather than just the far left side of the blog. Anyway, im improving i think…