2013: The year that was

Time usually flies pretty fast. Normally I feel there should be more than 365 days in a year. 2013 was not one of those years. Don't get me wrong though. I am not bitter and I do not hate last year. 2013 was a very humbling year, and I have learned so much. The three very important things I have learned last year, are that family is important, that there are some things which are far more important than money, and that I should really take time out to take more pictures!

No matter what, how I will choose to live the remaining 364 days of this year, the decisions I will be making, etc., is a reflection of the events that have transpired in 2013. There are a lot of things I am really thankful for. The last six months of the year I have spent doing one of the things I really love, which is playing tennis. I am now closer than ever before to my family. I have been to, and revisited, some amazing places here in the Philippines. I am now a dog owner, and also an owner of a Fujifilm X100S, a camera which takes my breath away with the pictures it takes, and has breathed new inspiration to my photography. More importantly, love has once again knocked on my door this year. And, with a battle-scarred heart, I let love in, albeit cautiously. But I am happy, and thankful, to have met someone who likes me for who I am.

Of course there was one negative thing in 2013 that overshadowed most of the good things that have happened last year: my sister Blanche getting diagnosed with cancer. The first half of the year has been, to put it mildly, very tumultuous. But the family, trying to keep a positive attitude, has taken it one day at a time, thankful for the small miracles happen each and every day. In between chemotheraphy sessions the family made it a point to have as much quality time as possible, going on trips and just having fun.

Last new year's eve Blanche was at the hospital, barely conscious, and new year's eve 2013 is her first new year's celebration with the family since that fateful day. To be able to hug her, and greet her a happy new year while standing in the street outside our home, looking at the fireworks, is one of the most joyous moments of my life.  I am eternally grateful for this. I am not a very religious person, but I thank God and pray that we will be able to spend more new year's eve celebrations like this for many more years to come.

She is, lest we forget, the reason why I came back from Norway in the first place. And I never regret that decision for even just a tiny bit. Of couse I might end up working in Manila this year. But it is better to be just a 2-hour bus ride away and see her every weekend than to be ten thousand miles away and see her (and the rest of my family) every other year. Money is not that important. But family is. This is, like I mentioned, one of the most important life lessons I learned in 2013.

So we said goodbye to a very challenging year, and celebrate the family's triumph over the trials that we faced in 2013. Last 2012 we didn't have fireworks or even a "media noche" (a late dinner, as Filippinos usually eat dinner close to midnight on new year's eve). In 2013 we invested in some fireworks to make the welcoming of 2014 extra special. For us, it was not just the coming of a new year we are celebrating, but also my sister being alive and well and almost back to normal. And we continue to keep praying that she becomes completely cured of cancer in the near future.