housewarming

i'm supposed to have written this several  weeks ago but i just can't make out the words to write. 

she's back, the wife, after several months of sojourn  in a foreign land. although she is not saying it, i suppose she is equally sad and happy to be back.  sad, because she had left exciting places where she was able to live wonderful moments that only a few people in our country were able to get the chance to experience; happy, because, well, she's back with us again.

there is this old filipino adage -- "ang ina ang ilaw ng tahanan" (the mother is the light of the home).  well, she's only been with us for some weeks and already this adage is once again proving to be so true. i always thought that i am doing well in terms of keeping the house in order. i am wrong. a woman's way, a mother's touch, is really sooo different.

where i found order, she found disorder and fixed it.
where i found comfort, she found discomfort and fixed it.
where i found light, she  found gloom, and brightened it.
the inconvenient spots in the house i am not able to see,  she saw them and made them convenient.

she came back to the same small house she left behind for me to tend. well, all i can say is i did the best i could.

it is the same small house the three of us, my wife, my daughter, and i, calls home -- the peeling paintwork on the walls, the old tiled flooring, the leaky ceiling, the tv set that sometimes work but most times wouldn't --  yet, i must admit, it feels so much different now that she's the one tending it.

our home. it is so much cozier. it is so much brighter. it is so much warmer.

it is, "homier"!

the food tastes better. the coffee is superb (it's the same coffee brand, the same old coffeemaker).  my daughter's smiles and mine are genuine proof. even the old guitar sounds much more melodious.

i agree. a woman's, wife's, mother's touch is way, way, of a different class.