I always said that nothing is coincidence. What can you say about this.
I like to share my story just to show that money begets money, love begets love, and just maybe, a little luck.
Some 35 years ago, when my dad was struggling with his business and converted the 2nd floor of our shop as our home.
He got a few carpenters to put up some wooden wall partitions to make it one room for my 2 sisters and another room as storage room.
I didn't want to say with the girls so I used that room.
When my cousin Sef, who lived in the province came to Manila to study college, dad converted my room (the storage room) into a guest room by adding another bed and a foldable table (the ones used in Chinese cemeteries that are used to place candles and incense. The tables are folded back and left in the temple after use).
What was surprising was that Sef accepted the offer by dad for him to stay with us.
Surprising, because my uncle who had a Mercedes Benz and a big house could have offered him so much more. I couldn't imagine my uncle not offer him that spacious house, I don't know.
Anyway, I had fun being with Sef because he would put 25 cents in my piggy bank if I promised to finish my dinner. The piggy bank filled up mighty fast. I dreamed of all the DC Marvel comic books the coins could buy... it was fantastic. But I never gotten around spending the money saved. Mom took it. But that's a long story.
After graduation, Sef went back to the province. Years later, it was my turn to graduate... elementary. He came to Manila and did something I didn't understand then.
He told me that he bought this Canon camera which was too complicated.
He said he's giving it to me since he couldn't learn to use it properly.
It was brand new and even had an external flash (top of the line).
The unit cost something like P15K, which I brought almost everyday to High school.
I took utmost care of it, you can imagine.
Years later I got thinking, did Sef gave me the camera on purpose?
He said he bought it for himself but decided to give it to me bec it was too complicated?
THe Canon AE-1 has an auto-program that didn't require any user intervention, just press the trigger.
Did he expect that an elementary graduate like me could learn to use the camera better than he could?
Up to now, I haven't told him that because of that camera he gave me 30 years ago, I have become a photographer.
The camera he gave me was long gone, I sold it for P10K, to go into my computer hobby.
It was a wrong and right move at the same time, but it's a long story.
Anyway, I spent P100K on camera gears upgrade 3 years ago, and earned the money back in less than 2 years.
Yes, photographers earn easy money providing graduation photography packages.
But keep in mind that one does not does not become a photographer simply by buying them expensive gears,
it comes from spending years playing with em!
I have Sef to be thankful for, that's for sure.
Going back to my high school experience, dad couldn't afford the P500 tuition every semester
but tried to cough it up anyway to give me a decent education.
So there's no way I could ask for money to buy film.
I got zero allowance, but I did manage to get a few bucks on special occassions.
So what I did was got 2 of my dearest friends to chip in to buy a roll of 36 shot film and shared the camera.
To make a long story short, one of the guy I shared using the camera is now my kumpare,
who after College was dirt poor and I managed to helped him in many little ways.
He applied for work abroad and became based in Taiwan.
He went though dozens of odd jobs, like technical engineer of a hotel (who's job was to change light bulbs).
He changed jobs and went on to become a certified auditor-engineer of a Taiwan firm,
which later was absorbed by an American firm. The American company is called GRACO.
When I had my first baby, I informed him that he's ninong.
He was too busy to come home to the Phils to see my baby
and instead shipped a top-of-the-line Graco stroller and a crib.
Year after year, because he kept sending Graco stuff,
the nursery room looked like a Graco showroom.
This is a story too long. What am I saying?
What I'm saying is that acts of generosity, kindness, courtesy, sincerity, love and all those wonderful things we see in the movies, they go a long way.
These values are not rare, they are not fabricated or imagined by some scriptwriters.
These values are real.
Generosity, kindness, courtesy, sincerity, love.
Remember, money begets money, love begets love. and maybe a little luck.