...that the family is back home after 5 days of stay in the hospital. We could have gone home after 3 days but because of power blackout in the entire Luzon province due to a typhoon, we were forced to stay longer. It was early morning of Wednesday-Sept 28, 2006 while my daughter was undergoing a C-section, we were experiencing strong rains and winds due to a typhoon named MILENYO, strongest to hit Manila in 11 years. The typhoon was expected to arrive that afternoon. At 7:00 AM after my daughter was wheeled back to her room, hubby and I decided to leave for home to freshen up and to get some things that she, her husband and baby will be needing while in the hospital. Wow, the streets on our way home looked like a war zone with fallen trees, poles and rising floodwaters. As we reached home, there were a lot of leaves and plants scattered in our front yard. During this time the electricity had already been cut. Shortly after 10 AM, the winds became stronger so we decided to go back to the hospital. At 2 PM, the eye of the typhoon directly hit us and for more than an hour there was so much rain and winds causing many objects from roofing materials, wood materials , etc to fly in all directions causing a lot of damage to buildings and homes all over our place. Since the hospital had its own generator, we had power but NO INTERNET. NO TV. We then decided to remain holed up in our hospital room for the next days enjoying the company of each other and our new bundle of joy. We left our house in the care of our two maids and my mom. They were without electricity but we were lucky to have been able to fill up our water tank so they had water while the rest of the neighbors didn't. Although there was no power, we still had a gas range that would enable them to cook for a candle-lit dinner and my mom still had her good old reliable radio which became their only source of information and link to the outside world. Now, after a week, there are still many areas without power and reports have shown that this typhoon claimed many lives and have caused damage to millions of pesos worth of crops and infrastructures but I am still very grateful to God for the safety of our family, a strongly built home, ample food, fuel and water.

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