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FROM MY HEART

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To feel again

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - May 5, 2024 - 12:00am

May 5, 1956.

Signs of grief

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - April 28, 2024 - 12:00am

I have been in a miserable state lately.

A widow’s sorrow

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - April 21, 2024 - 12:00am

I woke up at around midnight and found the flashlight on again. Is this you, darling? I asked. No answer so I turned it off. At around 4 a.m., the flashlight was on again. Ok, it’s you, darling, I sa...

Mending once more

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - March 31, 2024 - 12:00am

As you read this I am in Subic hopefully enjoying the hospitality of my kumare — I’m the baptismal godmother of her youngest daughter.

Paciano Rizal’s Caretaker

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - March 24, 2024 - 12:00am

By now you know that I am a descendant of Maria Rizal, the sister immediately before Jose.

Lessons from surgery

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - March 17, 2024 - 12:00am

I am a woman who has surgically lost most of the organs that make me a woman — a total hysterectomy and a double mastectomy. I’ve been surgically redefined.

Brightness beyond dark

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - March 10, 2024 - 12:00am

It was shortly before Rizal’s birthday 2023.

A pause that refreshes?

by Barbara C. Gonzalez - March 3, 2024 - 12:00am

Omigod, is this “the pause that refreshes”?

Two open doors

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - February 18, 2024 - 12:00am

Lately I have been reminiscing about my husband and me since we first met in 2017.

Blessed parenthood

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - February 11, 2024 - 12:00am

My husband Loy had a few strange habits. He never gave gifts on birthdays, Christmas or Valentine’s Day. But he gave no-occasion gifts.

Hospital blues

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - February 4, 2024 - 12:00am

Not too long ago, as my husband lay unconscious, I would whisper in his ear. Sometimes it would be serious, other times teasing.

Alone Again (Naturally)

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - January 28, 2024 - 12:00am

There is this song that reminds me of where I am today — Alone Again (Naturally) by Gilbert O’Sullivan.

Goodbye, my beloved

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - January 21, 2024 - 12:00am

For the past three years my husband Loy has been sick. First, he had an operation, then a stroke that left him with “vascular dementia.

That’s life, isn’t it?

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - January 7, 2024 - 12:00am

This is the first time I type “2024” on my computer! The first time I realize that 2024 added equals 8, my lucky number.

Old friends in the New Year

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - December 31, 2023 - 12:00am

More than 30 years ago I worked at Coca-Cola Bottlers where I had a tall, pale and handsome assistant named Lorie Reyes.

Memories on Christmas

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - December 24, 2023 - 12:00am

Some of you probably remember that during the Christmas season of 1944, the Philippines was immersed in World War II.

A visit to China Bank Binondo Museum

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - November 26, 2023 - 12:00am

It was a beautiful Saturday morning. The sun shone brightly, telling me it would be warm all day. I was decked out in one of my favorite outfits that always made me feel light and airy. Since my husband and...

Mondays and laughter

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - November 19, 2023 - 12:00am

Monday! When I was working I hated Mondays, felt like sleeping right through them. But this Monday was different.

Harrowing weeks

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - November 5, 2023 - 12:00am

It’s almost five in the morning. I am wide-awake, seated at my computer trying to think of what to write about.

Kindness at the Supermart

by Barbara Gonzalez-Ventura - October 22, 2023 - 12:00am

Some little lessons — and touching experiences — due to a twisted ankle.

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