Taking the Likes of Joker Seriously

On weekends, I open my eyes in the morning and Borjie greets me with a smile and a sweet “Good morning, Mommy!’ He then asks me if I want to eat rice and invites me to come downstairs. When I am eating, he gets a glass of water and places it on the table.

When it’s workday, Borjie gets into the room and check if the AC is on. He then goes, outside, peeks through the door before closing it, and says, “Mag rest na ka Mommy ha, mag work pa ka unya.” When night falls, he goes inside the room and, lays down by my side closely and says “Good morning na Mommy” as signal for me to start my day, which is actually a night. He then watches me get ready for work, and when I go down the stairs, my sandals will be waiting for me at our doorstep, prepared by my little boy.

I could not emphasize enough the importance of a good and healthy marriage. How a husband treats his wife will be noted and mirrored by the children. I’m sure my 3-year old Borjie would not have understood care and affection if it was not something that he saw from his dad.

One of the highlights of my visit to Manila was my chance to attend a marriage seminar conducted by Victory Church, and speakers emphasized the role of healthy marriages in the society. It is through healthy marriages that we produce healthy families, with healthy children contributing to a healthy society. In most cases, the deviants of our society come from broken or dysfunctional families, as in the case of Joker in Batman. Well, yeah, I know Batman is a fiction, but the underlying truth to that is that most of those we consider being black sheep in our society are usually those who lacked the emotional support and nurturing from their parents.

I never forget to thank God for giving me healthy and emotionally secure children. But more than anything else, I thank God for giving me a husband who shares my vision of creating a happy home with a hope of contributing to a better world.