03 February 2023

Anaclita

Manila ASF

979460

Dear Sir Thomas and Jan,

A warm greeting to the both of you! I wish you the best of health. As for us, my family and I are
all in good condition. We always thank God for giving us a healthy mind and body every day.

I am still spending most of my time at our “sari-sari” or mini-store. My husband is opening our
store from 6am till 9pm but I am going there usually at 8am since I still have chores to do at home like
cleaning, doing the laundry and washing the dishes. We are also taking care of a few chickens in the
empty lot near the store hence I’ve been busy feeding them and cleaning the place. I am thankful that
my husband and I are both hands-on on all these tasks and have been able to do it as our daily routine.
They say that we have to constantly be thinking and doing tasks to avoid being forgetful or having
Alzheimer’s disease which is common in senior citizens like us.

My goal for this year is to continue to be healthy. That's why I make sure to eat a lot of fish and
vegetables. Luckily, we still have planted some vegetables in a pot at home like small tomatoes and bell
peppers. We also have medicinal plants for cough, fever, sprain and we even have aloe vera and
oregano. It is helpful for us to take these vegetables and medicines instead of buying them on the
market. How’s your herbal plants? I hope they are growing well too.

Also, we will be having a medical check-up on the foundation for diabetes which I am looking
forward to as it is important to be checked annually especially due to our age. Having these programs
will really help us a lot to monitor our health. In my younger years I was not able to do a regular annual
check-up since it is quite expensive here. How’s your health? Do you do a check-up annually? They say
that prevention is always better than cure and I hope that you both are in great condition.

The time is fast approaching, as of now my grandchildren are having their semester break at
school and soon it will be November and December again. I am very happy as I see my grandchildren
grow up and see that they are rising to be good children. I would love to spend more time with them,
especially during the holiday seasons. This year my wish is to have more bonding time with them in a
park where they will ride a bike or just play outside. Do you already have plans for the holidays? Days
are really coming fast and we didn’t even notice it. I do hope that this year will be a better year than last
year.

I have attached photos in this letter. The first one is with my granddaughter at St. Paul Parish
Church. My family and I went to church to celebrate my birthday. I am very happy since we are
complete but I only got the chance to take a pic at the front with my granddaughter Jazmine as the mass
is about to start already. By the way, at that time we were still required to use facemasks outside but
today it was no longer required by the government. The second photo is our New Year celebration. My
daughters manage to give us a family t-shirt for 2023. We celebrated it with simple food and waited for
12 midnight to see the fireworks in the sky. We usually use pots and pans to be able to create noise for
the new year as we do not use any fireworks at home. We are not complete here as my eldest daughter
is at work at this time. Last photo is my youngest daughter with her cat named Ollie. She is very cute and
pleasant, which we are taken care of at home. He is usually just sleeping or playing with my
granddaughter.

I would like to thank the both of you for still sharing your blessings to us. I am still receiving my
monthly sack of rice which my family is sharing. As you know, rice is an important part of the meal for
Asian families like us as we eat this every meal. Do you eat rice too? My children say that it is not usual
in Texas to have a rice meal but for me I cannot imagine not having rice for a whole day!

This is all for now and I do hope that you enjoyed reading my letter. Again, thank you and we
hope that God continues to bless the both of you as you’ve been a great blessing to us!

Your Sponsored Aging,

Anaclita