Former Octo star happily settled in US

Remember Mikee Villanueva, the OctoArts contract star who junked possible stardom for marriage?

"Mikee made the right decision," said Aster Amoyo (who served as Octo’s PR executive) who visited Mikee and her family in Las Vegas recently. "She’s very happy and has no regrets at all. I don’t think she misses showbiz at all."

Well, if you have a husband as nice as Chris Cadiz and two beautiful children (Brenden, three, and Stacy, one), with a third one due anytime now, you would feel the same way, according to Aster who helped build up Mikee.

Mikee started her career as a member of German Moreno’s That’s Entertainment where she easily shone because of her singing/dancing/acting talent. OctoArts was about to launch her to stardom when she crossed paths with Chris, a Fil-Am based in California.

"Chris swept me off my feet," Mikee told Aster. "I readily gave up my career for him."

The couple has known each other for six years and got married only in 2000. They first lived in Los Angeles and are now based in Las Vegas.

Already a degree-holder (Business Management), Mikee is now taking up Law, a course that requires her to do a lot of reading and research. How does she balance her studies and her family?

"Time management," said Mikee. "After putting the kids to bed, I start doing my lessons. I take all sorts of exams and quizzes every now and then. Hindi sa pagyayabang, I get high grades. After giving birth, I plan to work in a law firm."

Chris is into real estate and is himself taking special courses related to his work.

"I’m lucky to have a husband like him," said Mikee. "He’s responsible, very caring."

Aster observed that Mikee and her family lead a quiet, simple life.

"Days pass without my even noticing it," said Mikee. "In the Philippines, life was so complicated. In Las Vegas, it’s hassle-free. Walang maraming distractions."

A Story For Father’s Day

Father’s Day will be celebrated on Sunday, June 20, so I want to share with Funfare readers a touching story about a father and a daughter bidding each other goodbye at the airport, sent to me by Peachy Guioguio (former PR girl of GMA 7).

"It was e-mailed to me by a friend," said Peachy. "It’s too good not to be shared with your readers."

Here it is:

In an airport, I overheard a father and his daughter in their last moments together. The plane’s departure had been announced. She was standing near the door. She said, "Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Daddy."

They kissed goodbye and she left. He walked towards the window where I was seated. I could see that he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude into his privacy, but he welcomed me by asking, "Did you ever say goodbye to someone knowing it would be the last?"

"Yes, I did," I replied.

That simple statement brought back memories of how I expressed my love and appreciation to my own father for everything that he did for me. His days were numbered and it took a while for me to muster enough courage to tell him how much he meant to me.

Thus, I knew what the man beside me was going through at that moment after his daughter had left. I asked him, "Forgive me, but why did you call this your ‘last goodbye’?"

He answered, "I am old and my daughter lives too far away. There are challenges ahead. The painful reality is that her next trip back home might be for my funeral."

"When you were saying goodbye," I reminded him, "I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough.’ May I know what that meant?"

He began to smile and said, "That’s a wish handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone."

He paused, looking up as if trying to recall everything in detail. He smiled. "When we said, ‘I wish you enough,’ we were wishing each other a life filled with enough good things to sustain him/ her."

After another pause, he smiled at me and shared the following food for thought, reciting it from memory:

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright/

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.

I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough "Hellos" to get you through the final "Goodbye."

And then he began to sob and walked away quietly.

I thought of my friends and my loved ones and I wished them enough.

They say that "it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate him, a day to love him and an entire lifetime to forget him."

How true, isn’t it?

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