As of this writing, I still haven’t slept much. We had to rush Pa to the ER of Makati Med around 11 p.m. last night when he complained of chest pains and after suffering from hives. He accidentally ingested aspirin and he’s highly allergic to the stuff. Docs had to treat him with IV antihistamines and steroids to bring the swelling and allergic reaction under control. They had to inject it to him twice because of the severity. Thank goodness he’s okay around 5 a.m. and we finally got the go sign from the ER docs around 6 a.m. to take him home.

We all gave a collected sigh of relief and prayed thanks to Him for looking over our family.

As for Papa, he’s now in deep slumber, resting.

Love you, Pa.

I was in a meeting when I got the text message from my cuz S which said, “Ate, kailangan namin number ng vet. Mamamatay na yata si Micmic.”

For a sec I thought the text was a joke from my cheeky cousin. How can that be? I knew she was about to give birth to her litter of kitties and she was fine when I left the house this morning, I told myself. Before I can text back the contact details of the animal doc, my phone beeped again and a second text arrived.

“Ate, patay na si Micmic,” it said.

That cannot be. She’s too young to die. She’s barely three years old.

A profound sense of loss washed through me. I wanted to leave everything and take a cab home and be with my pet. I felt my eyes water. She was more than a pet to me. My sweet, sweet Micmic.