"Pagbabago"

This is a true story. Goldilocks has been part of our family for years. In whatever occassion, my mom and dad would buy Goldilocks for us. This is a story that I want to share with you, Goldilocks and whoever is reading it and may you know how many lives you've touched through all these years.

In my head, I have an image of two fathers. No, it's not that I have two but rather I have one but I know him to be two different people. The first one is somebody from my earliest memories. Imagine a 6-year-old hating her own father when he was supposed to be the image of a young girl's security and hope.You see, my dad used to be an alcoholic, a wife beater, and a "barkadista". I remember he used to come home smelling like beer and my mom would help him puke. My mom would usher me and my sister to go to our room and we would readily comply. It was something normal in our day-to-day. My brother was still a baby then to remember. My mom would held him puke and afterwards he would spontaneously lose his temper and get into a fight with her.We couldn't see it but we could hear it. We could hear something heavy hit the cabinet annexed to our room's outside wall. My sister would hold my hand and we'd just cry in silence. We suspect he threw her again. He's already starting to hitting her. Their voices where not loud but we could hear the angry cries from my mom. I can't remember what they were fighting about though.

The next day we would just expect the bruises on my mom's milk white skin. She would try to hide them and give us that optimistic smile. I secretly wished for them to separate. I was just 6. Almost always, my dad would come home the next night from work bringing home a box of Goldilocks mamon. He knew it was our favorite and it was his way of trying to reconcile with us for what he did the night before. We'd share Goldilocks mamon together, as a family. He'd crack a joke, my mom would laugh but for sure she still felt the pain from the bruises he gave her. But that's my mom. She doesn't want to ever be bitter for us. We forgave him but the cycle went on. On my birthday, I only wanted one thing more than my presents: A box of Goldilocks mamon. I guess you could just say that I associated it to being happy, "To take away the bad things that happened before". I wanted my birthday to be perfect and imagine life was just perfect.

One day my dad lost his job. That was the most difficult time for all of us. He used to be very prominent in the company he was working at, a VP, but he lost his job with out a warning. Until now I'm not sure what happened, we never talk about it. This is where the second image of my dad comes in. I guess you could say he was humbled by what happened and because of that, he realized the value of his family and the wife he had taken for granted and abused for so long. On the day he lost his job, my dad brought home a box of Goldilocks mamon again. He didn't do anything wrong the night before so we were confused but still instinct told us there was something wrong. He called of us as one family to share dinner and he told us to pray. Of course I was probably 8 or 9 years old then, so I did what I was told with out questions. I just wanted to eat my lots Goldilocks mamon. I didn't notice if my mom knew about it but after we had a fill with dinner and enjoyed our yummy mamon dessert, Dad broke to us the news. He said that since it happened we would have to give up a lot of things. Magtitipid na daw kami. Gone will be the nights of expensive dinners, clothes, travel, club house and hotel swimmings. We were not going to be as well-off as before. He was confident he would find another job and my mom was also working so will get by, according to him.

It wasn't just those material things that were "sacrificed" because he lost his job. His "barkadista" days were over too. His rich friends had no time for him anymore and he doesn't have enough money to go with them in their expensive trips. But one thing he never sacrificed, it was his time for us his family. In fact, that time doubled. He entered into a religious organization and became a spiritual man. Also, though we can no longer afford expensive dinners, he could still afford to buy us a box or two of Goldilocks Mamon since it was cheap. This time buying it is no longer because he wanted to make up for something he did but because he just wanted to make us smile. Like how we shout "Yey! Goldilocks mamon again!" everytime he says, "I have something for you!" when he comes home. Eventually he found a job, though not as prominent as his job before, it was a better job for us because he was taken away from the bad influences or corporate life. He changed for the better.

A lot of things happened since then. My parents are more in-love and happier now. Yeah, "Away" here and there but still they are my model when in comes to love and marriage. I appreciate my Dad, for how he changed for us and my Mom as to her undying commitment to her family and husband, that she never gave up on him and he was worth it in the end. Life, I guess, is like that. In the 24 years I have had, I know your time with the people you love might not always be good and there would be a point in time that it might have gotten worst. But even if such is the case, Life goes on and will eventually introduce you to the sweetest things that are free that will make the bad things not matter anymore. Like my Dad, who he was doesn't matter now because what matters is how we are now. A whole family. I wish I could tell you more about how Goldilocks cakes and pastries has been part of every family celebration that we had but I think, if you're a Goldilocks lover too, you would know what I mean. I think the new Goldilocks look is good and it is to keep up with the times but the memories we've shared with Goldilocks on the background is something words cannot just describe. This blog is my way of showing my gratitude and love for the best in the world, second to my family. :P Thanks Goldilocks! Because life is just as sweet as you.:)