April 1st is always a special day for our family. It’s not because it is April Fools’ Day, but because it is our mom’s birthday. Eleanor Funda-Sardual was born in the hills of Casala-an, Siaton, Negros Oriental during World War II. Her parents, Joaquin and Umnui (nee Sinsook) Funda, with dear friends, Dr. Robert Benton…
Author: Eric
A trip to Yosemite National Park
Yesterday, our family was in Yosemite National Park, because a niece who was visiting from Dubai had not yet been to the Park. On the way there, a conversation on family outings started, where each one recalled childhood memories. One mentioned yearly trips to Calamba, Misamis Occidental, where her mom’s family hailed from. Another mentioned…
Childhood Value Series: #5 STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE
This is a series on values that I learned growing up which I still keep to this day. This series is six blogs long. We are on the second to the last of the values, value #5: STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE. (In case you’re interested, #1 was INTEGRITY, #2 was DOING CHORES, #3 was FINISH WHAT YOU START, and #4…
Childhood Value Series: #4 THE GOLDEN RULE
As mentioned in the last three blogs, this is a series on values that I learned growing up which I still keep to this day. This series is six blogs long. We are on childhood value #4: THE GOLDEN RULE. (In case you’re interested, #1 was INTEGRITY, #2 was DOING CHORES, and #3 was FINISH…
Childhood Value Series: #3 FINISH WHAT YOU START
As mentioned in the last two blogs, this is a series on values that I learned growing up which I still keep to this day. This series is six blogs long. We are on childhood value #3: FINISH WHAT YOU START. (In case you’re interested, #1 was INTEGRITY and #2 was DOING CHORES. You can read…
Childhood Value Series: #6 KEEP THE FAITH
This is a series on values that I learned growing up which I still keep to this day. This series is six blogs long. We are on the last one, value #6: KEEP THE FAITH. (In case you’re interested, #1 was INTEGRITY, #2 was DOING CHORES, #3 was FINISH WHAT YOU START, #4 was THE…
Childhood Value Series: #2 DOING CHORES
In my last blog, I mentioned that I was doing a series on values that I learned growing up which I still keep to this day. This series was going to be six blogs long, with the first on INTEGRITY. This week, we talk about childhood value #2: DOING CHORES. But before we jump to…
Childhood Values Series: #1 INTEGRITY
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to teach my toddler so that he is equipped for the challenges he’ll face down the road. Yup! The project manager in me is already planning things. Don’t get me wrong! I am very well aware that Ari is still 2 years and 5 months!…
“What’s in a name?”
I used to teach English I for freshmen students at the Ateneo de Zamboanga College (back then!). And to help my students write something interesting and what I thought would be meaningful to them, I would ask them to write an essay about the story behind their name, using these questions as guide: What was…
“This is the truth!” (my version of it, that is….)
The other day, I came across this true story submitted by Edward Oppenheimer to Reader’s Digest titled, “My Newspaper Was Different”: A customer walked into my clothing shop and asked to see the pants that were advertised in the paper that day. “We don’t have an ad in the paper today,” I told her. She…