Goodbye, ‘23; Hello, ‘24!

As we bid goodbye to tumultuous 2023, we hope and pray for a better, more peaceful 2024. The year 2023 has certainly given us poignant lessons in humanity that must be allowed to resonate in our hearts. Hence, let us take a brief moment to review the frazzled, devastated year that was 2023, even as we usher in another year in diapers this 2024.

My family in particular has been blessed with God’s bountiful graces. We cannot ask for more. Our littlest one, grandkiddo Buchi, is growing up to be a fine young lad, having outgrown his ‘No, no’ tantrums of 2 years ago. Our son, Josh, is lucky to have met Toai, who has allowed him to grow and mature steadily. Our globetrotting daughter, Aly, is on a work sabbatical, having just finished an enlightening stint in Tokyo. She just came from Costa Rica to visit her friend, Carolina; and Frisco, to be with her boyfriend, Mike. Son Carlo and his lovely wife, Freedom, are keeping tabs on the developments in our simple Balay ni Charing project in Tagbilaran, while ensuring that the young tyke, Buchi, grows with much love and proper guidance. And eldest daughter, Bianca, has moved back to Manila, where she has taken charge of the family’s Manila concerns.

My wife, Wit, continues to busy herself with the family’s cacao business. With business opening up, we are hopeful for the prospects of Wit’s Sweets and Savouries, as well as the Gran Verde Farm in Davao. Wit has reopened her distribution points for her granola and tableya business in Manila, Davao and Tagbilaran.

I too have taken a brief work sabbatical, bidding adieu to a most memorable and fulfilling time with Udenna and its security arm, the Aegus Management Inc (AMI). This new year will find me trying out new fields, and I pray for your support and kind guidance as I take on this new endeavor.

But even as we thank God and pray for more blessings for the new year, my heart goes to far-off lands: to Gaza, to Ukraine, and to other areas where hate, oppression and injustice continue to prevail. While we are lucky to enjoy abundance and tranquility in our neck of the woods, there are brothers and sisters in these distant frontiers whose pain we must reflect on. Let us pray for brotherhood and peace, for patience and understanding, for love and compassion, to soothe the scorched earth. In our own small way, let us provide what little cheer we can, and try to undo the hatred, the pain we as a collective humanity continue inflicting on one another.

Let love prevail over hate. Let patience and understanding reign. Mine is just the smallest of voices, but together, we can certainly make a difference.

Pictures courtesy of the Holgys, CNN, Rand Corporation, Politico, Foreign Policy and AP News.