Update on my Lola and fam

Last month my mom traveled back home to the Philippines to visit her family in Iloilo.  Building had finally begun.  Carpenters had to tend to their own families before helping out ours and others affected by Typhoon Haiyan. My mom traveled with one of her friends here in St. Mary's County who also had family to visit back in the Philippines.  

Hours before my mom was going to be on a plane, she got a phone call from her nephew saying her mom, sister, and brother-in-law were in a bad motorcycle accident and were in the emergency room.  There were no details about how they were doing other than they were in bad condition.  My mom called her sister in Canada to see if she had heard anything (the wife of the brother-in-law).  She had heard nothing.  Because my mom was about to board the plane, she told her sister to call home right away.  My mom spent the next 24 hours traveling halfway across the world wondering and worrying what had happened with her family.  Upon arriving to her home country, she had another flight from Manila to Iloilo and then went straight to the hospital from the airport.  What was supposed to be a happy homecoming started with my mom spending a week at the hospital taking care of her family.

The accident happened when my family was going into town via motorcycle.  Meanwhile a tree was being cut down.  No one was blocking the road and to make sure it was safe.  When the tree was being cut down, my family was just approaching it and had no idea.  The tree fell right in front of them/on them.  My lola and tita, both were knocked unconscious.  All of them were taken to the hospital.  My tito was taken to ICU.  He suffered a spinal cord injury and couldn't feel his legs.  He recently had surgery, but won't be able to move for many months and they suspect it will be years until he can even walk!  My lola got stitches in her arm and my tita got stitches in her head.  All of them were covered in cuts.  This was definitely not the trip my mom had in mind.

Finally my mom's sister in Canada was also able to return home to see her husband and her family.  The whole family hadn't been home together in 5 years. Unfortunately, it was this terrible event that brought them back together. 

Sorry for the melancholy story… Really puts things in perspective. On the upside the houses are coming along well!   

Below are pictures of the roofs/houses being rebuilt. Thanks again to all who donated money to help rebuild my family's homes! It means so much to me as well as my family! 

<3,

Cookie 

Tita Elma, my mom, Lola, my cousin Ellery aka Noynoy after coming home from the hospital

Having a meal after a few of the relatives donated blood for my Tito Raymond

The new roof in the family room of Lola

The roof up close

Working on the roof in the back of the house above the kitchen

Brand new structures for the kitchen made of hollow blocks and cement (not finished yet)

Another shot of the kitchen

The old structure of the kitchen

The left side is the new structure of the kitchen.  The finished outside of the roof with gutters. Almost done!

My Tita's brand new house (almost finished). Her house was completely destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan.

 And the highlight of my mom's trip.. visiting the mall where I still have an ad for Big Apple Express Spa! Joke lang! (Kidding!)