I wrote many of these words on a Friday night.
September 11.
It’s a sad time.
Joy left the house today, September 12, to go home to Leyte.
I decided not to publish this immediately out of respect to Ate Joy. I also didn’t want to jinx her boat’s schedule that left Mandaue City a little after 7 p.m. instead of the scheduled Saturday noon departure.
Ate Joy is not on a two-week paid vacation just like 2018.
This time, Ate Joy is going home.
For good.
It also means her employment with us that spans seven years, including the years that we weren’t based here in the Philippines, has come to an end.
She needs to go home and be with her family. She needs to grow and charter a new path for her future. She has grown and changed so much in the last seven years.
We’ve prepared the children for her imminent departure since last year. The last two weeks, Ate Joy and I have constantly mentioned and explained to them that she will be leaving Casa Ruffolo Uno.
The plan was to leave on the last week of September. But she got the news Thursday (September 10) morning that a boat is leaving on September 12 and that the town of Merida in the province of Leyte has given her a permit to return home.
Antoinette cried a bit when she left. The boys didn’t.
I was the most emotional one.
I hugged Ate Joy and thanked her. Oh how I wish she can be with us forever. But all good things come to an end, at some point.
My heart is sad. Ate Joy is a part of our family. When my children draw family portraits, she was always in them. They don’t even know the term “yaya.”
Ate Joy came into our lives when the twins were barely a week old. Together, we learned how to change diapers and bathe newborns.
She is Nicholas’ first Ate. When we came home to the Philippines with a seven-month-old Jeffrey Jr., she embraced our resident cutie pie with the warmth and comfort of a mother. She developed quite a relationship with Antoinette especially during the school year when I had a full-time job. I was absentee Mom during that period and Ate Joy took on the responsibility of reviewing their lessons for exams and making sure that they were well-fed and well-dressed.
Jeff and I traveled together with peace of mind because we knew Ate Joy guarded and protected our children like her own.
It’s hard to imagine life without Ate Joy. She has kept this house running in the last three/four years that we’ve made Liloan our homebase.
With Ate Joy’s departure, a stay-out helper is coming in to take care of the laundry, cleaning, and everything in between. I’m hoping she’ll do a good job. I’m praying we will click. I’m wishing that she also has Ate Joy’s patience, hardwork, and dedication.
I’m scared.
How do I even begin to reconcile with the fact that Ate Joy won’t be around anymore?
Ate Joy, our door is always open for you. I’d say “Come back whenever” but that would be too selfish of me.
I know you also have promises to fulfill and dreams to reach. We don’t want to stand in your way to accomplish them.
Please keep in touch.
I still have so many questions to ask about K-Drama and K-Pop.
