(Photo by Suzette Martinez Standring, Houghton’s Pond, Milton, MA) Thanksgiving celebrates togetherness and family feasting, and perhaps, it also calls for restraint. I am not talking about the groaning buffet and ten desserts. I am talking about not talking about hot button issues. Live for the greater good and show mercy to the poor cook […]
On Veterans Day, the enormity of war speaks. Acres of marble crosses face modern Manila in the Philippines, forever recalling the sacrifices made by American soldiers and Filipino allies during World War II. I was born in the U.S. of Filipino ancestry, and this is a “roots” trip for me. One powerful stop was the […]
From Cebu, we flew to Palawan, where outrigger hopping to nearby unspoiled beaches on other islands is easy. But when it comes to Eden, the island of Palawan is no slouch. Here in Palawan, in 2012 the Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park was ranked one of “The Seven New Wonders […]
In the town of Carcar in the province of Cebu in the Philippines, we visited The Carcar City Museum, formerly, “The Philippine Health Service Dispensary,” where horrific tortures took place on Filipinos by the Japanese during World War II. That’s not what the two-storied site suggests at first glance. The building is painted white and […]
(Photo by Tom Fox/Reuters) Extreme forgiveness brings harsh criticism in the face of rulings, verdicts and sentences that appear unfair. For loss of life, the right punishment or exact recompense is never reached. Therefore, how is forgiveness even possible? Texas police officer Amber Guyger entered an apartment she mistook for her own, and shot and […]