7.09.2004

THERE'S STILL A NEED FOR SPEED

Eleven years ago, my friends and I put up a student organization in Ateneo when we were just freshmen. The first year was really the toughest to bear. We were all friends, so discussions about the org became personal and not all of us were really commited to the cause. Some of us were really more interested in setting up the org rather than helping the kids we visited every week.

That org was, and still is SPEED. The Special Education Society of Ateneo. Sespite all our mistakes, we must have done something right. A few years later, we received Ateneo recognition as an official member of the Council of Organizations and haven't relinquished it since. There's now an org-room, countless alumni e-groups and a current membership more passionate and commited than any I have ever seen. 11 years later, we've outlasted many other orgs that appeared at the same time, and even later than we did. Last year, SPEED won an award for being the Most Improved Org and this year, membership is at an all-time high (139 members and counting).

It's nice to have a legacy...it'll be nicer still if there'll always be a need for SPEED.

7.06.2004

FADING AWAY
My Grandma has Alzheimer's Disease. This was a lady who lived and breathed Emily Post's guide on etiquette and always carried herself in a dignified manner. Nowadays, her proud walk has been replaced by a shuffle. The wide eyes that would make anyone cower in fear now look at one without a trace of recognition or brilliance. No words escape her mouth nowadays and she lets her finger do the talking. She throws tantrums and on those rare occasions when she does say something, it's nothing but drivel.

This has been extremely hard for me, especially since I've been home all the time and I have seen her condition degenerate with every day. My grandpa takes care of her most of the time and I have to admire his patience with her. That's love for you.

Sooner or later, she will have completely lost everything. I think I'm one of the only people in the family that she still remembers, and when that goes...

I look at grandma and I barely recognize her. I guess she could almost say the same.