Family Ties

Jon, my older brother sent me a link to chikka.com which is a site where you can send SMS messages to cellphones via the web in the Philippines. "Chika" is the filipino word for "chat" or "gossip." It seems to work. I sent my mom a text message last night via the web and this morning when I logged on, there was a message waiting for me. It looks like she sent it via her cellphone. This is actually pretty awesome, because I cannot do that on my cellphone using T-mobile's website. It's only one-way messaging using T-mobile.

Mom's message said that last night was the 3rd death anniversary of my paternal grandfather. My grandfather was basically the last family member my dad had left. His mother and my uncle William died when my dad was still in his early twenties. I never knew either of them, I wasn't born yet when they passed away. His older brother Quentin died a few years ago and my grandfather died shortly after. The death of my grandfather affected dad greatly, according to mom. I agree, prior to his death, when I called home, he would be very chatty though brief. Now, when I call, he usually will say "Hi" and pass the phone to my mom.

When AIM first came out, my brother Jon set my mom up with a free account and she would send me IMs at work (during their evenings, it is 13 hours ahead in Manila) and we would chat about stuff and usually she would be chiding me for not being married yet. But after I got the job with Akzo, it stopped because they had a firewall that prevented IMs. Prior to that, my mom would write long e-mails all the time. These days I don't hear from her a few weeks at a time. Probably because we don't write that often. I am not yet sure whether she reads my online journal even though I sent her the link...

I am feeling a lot better today. I am hoping to work on a Business Plan for us. I am thinking about going to the Gay Caribou to work on this.

Peter's LiveJournal is up. Check it out.

Mood| Curious