"Good Morning, Mr. Ramos!" One teacher greeted Justin as he paved the way towards the faculty. He nodded and saluted to him. The elementary students rummaged their way towards the classroom as the bell started to ring. The wind breezed through the surface of Jacob's Elementary School, and Justin felt the cold air. He opened the faculty office's door and walked straight towards his table. "Mr. Ramos, do you hear the news?" Ms. Santiago asked him. He looked towards her while putting his backpack on his chair and organizing his lesson plans for the first class. "What news?" Justin asked her while scanning the papers. "We are holding a valentine's event on February 13, this Saturday, on the Biñan Town Plaza. And you will be the host," Ms. Santiago said to him, giddy about it. Justin halted and looked at her. "What? Why me?" Justin asked her, surprised. "You are the love expert here. You know, you are the only Values Education subject teacher here that is praised by the children. They

***THE YEAR 2001“Happy Birthday, Justin! Happy Birthday, Justin! Happy Birthday, happy birthday! Happy Birthday, Justin!” Everyone is clapping and singing happily to a birthday song. Justin smiled as he saw his mother on his right side and his father on his left side. He observed the whole kitchen and saw the birthday party hats on his uncles’ and aunts’ heads. His cousins are also wearing one, even though they are playing in the living room, and don't want to disturb a celebration that is happening in the kitchen.Justin, a 2-year-old boy now, blew the candle on his square-shaped cake designed with a logo of Superman completed with red and blue icings. He grinned as his relatives clapped.“We can now eat! Enjoy!” Jane exclaimed and passed the plates onto the table. They started to scoop some rice from the large bowl, rolled chicken meat seasoned with minced carrots wrapped around in a wonton, meaty spaghetti, cordon bleu with mayonnaise sauce, and vegetable glazed with butter. The c

"Sir, so how can he read and write if he doesn't know the alphabet?" "Yeah. How can he spell out his name?" "He can talk but he can't write?" The questions from the class erupted again as Justin explained what is the learning difficulty disorder called dyslexia. As they talked upon the story, Justin shushed them softly and the noise calmed down a bit. "He needs to get therapy. It costs a fortune, so his mother, Jane, cannot afford it. How can they sustain their daily needs if you will have to add it on? The question is, how can Justin survive from being like that forever?" Justin asked the children. *** THE YEAR 2005 "How much is the therapy, doc?" Jane asked while darting her eyes from Justin to the doctor sitting across her. The doctor sighed and said, "You can receive special treatment for him for a one to two hour time from teaching professional. It costs about 4,000 pesos per hour. If you want to go for therapy for him, it would cost at least 8,000 pesos per day." Jane wi

*** THE YEAR 2006 "I don't want to be with him that brings so much pain to us. The unbearable pain that Mom cannot overcome," Justin mumbled while his back is facing his Grandpa's. The door opened silently, and Jane peeped with her one eye and saw that his father was talking to his son while laying down. Jane saw that Justin was covering his whole body with the comforter. Jordan looked at the door and sighed. Jane's tears fall once again, her eyes were now puffy. Jane decided to open the door wide and entered. She sat down beside Justin who is covered with the comforter and put her left arm on top of it. Jordan patted her daughter's shoulders, brought his cane, and went out of the bedroom. "Justin," Jane called out to her son. Justin didn't even make a noise, but Jane heard him sob. "Justin, tell me why you said that to your father," Jane said softly. She removed the thick comforter slowly and saw that Justin is crying on his pillow. Jane sighed. Jane patted his back, lay down, a

*** THE YEAR 2007 Inna held Justin's hand as she guided it towards the kitchen to drag him along with her. Justin looked through his mother who is walking fast towards the other hallway and out of his sight. He looked down and shifted his eyes again towards Inna. Inna looked at him and smiled. "Where are we going, Inna?" Justin asked her while they are walking towards the wide kitchen that holds a 10-chair white, porcelain dinner table, a kitchen counter, the upgraded and high technology appliances that he made him amazed by the richness of the Sy. "Just stay here at the kitchen, hmm. I will help the cooks out there," Inna said when they stopped at the entrance of the kitchen while she was crouching down. Justin nodded at her even though he didn't understand why he would be all alone in the kitchen of the Sy's mansion while the cooks are roaming around the counter, cooking different cuisines for the family. Justin observed the cooks, maybe some of them are multi-awarded chefs beca