A slap in the face...

Sam & I have been promising the kids a trip to Hong Kong Disney soon. We postponed it in order to travel to Malaysia during Halloween instead. But, we have a school holiday coming up, which means a long weekend & thus the perfect time for our much anticipated Disney getaway. However, I might have waited a bit too late...

I had all the details ironed out... great flight, perfect hotel & even a promo on the Disney tickets. (Buy a 1 day pass & get the 2nd day for FREE! Can't pass that up!) Sam & I sat down last night to determine our budget & I was given the green light to start making all the necessary purchases.

However, we ran into a snag almost immediately. We discovered that there is now only one airline flying from our destination straight to Hong Kong & that particular airline does not accept American issued credit cards!! I was asked if I had a Philippine issued credit card or if I had a friend that could purchase the airline tickets for me. Ummm... NO! It seems our only other option was to go through a travel agent. So, today, I traveled to Clark to pick up Sam from work so we could go purchase our airline tickets at a travel agency in Angeles. We asked the travel agency to go ahead & book our airline tickets, along with the hotel rooms. Come to find out, the perfect hotel at the perfect price I found online is perfectly booked solid this weekend! Long story short... we have no idea what our long weekend plans will be. The travel agency is exploring other options, but cannot give us any answers until tomorrow. I sulked back to our car, got in, sat down & started crying. Just due to the fact that I had it all planned out so carefully & it still didn't work out like I wanted. Woe is me!

So, on the way home, in the midst of my pouting, we arrive on the scene of a massive car accident. There are 2 SUVs involved, one of which is a camouflaged military truck. Both vehicles are flipped over and crushed beyond repair. We had to stop driving until the policeman could direct our car through the middle of the accident scene and therefore had a very up close & personal view of the destruction. My heart stopped. My breathing stopped. My eyes teared up again. There were bodies dressed in military gear laid out next to their vehicle. There were more bodies crumpled inside the second upside down vehicle on the opposite side of the road. The policeman very solemnly looked at Sam through my passenger window and instructed him to please drive carefully.

In an instant, all my pouting and petty frustrations came to a screeching halt. It was as if God slapped me in the face and once again reminded me of how blessed my life is and how much I have to be thankful for. My "perfect" vacation plans may be altered, but I am alive! I will go home to 3 kids that love me unconditionally! My trivial mourning over a trip is absolutely nothing compared to the mourning I suspect many Filipino families are currently experiencing. Life is just too short...