GottaLoveMom

Dear Older Me – A Time Capsule Present for all ages Birthdays are special days to celebrate life. It’s the day you’re showered with best wishes, love and presents. You quietly make a wish as you blow out the candles. One tradition we recently started is the “ Dear Older Me Time Capsule”.

 A few of my favorite things at the Oscars

Fashion was the farthest thing on my mind as I was growing up in the Philippines. I wore a school uniform from Kindergarten to College.   My play clothes were shorts and t-shirt and my Sunday’s bests were mostly sewn and designed by my mother. I was thrilled to own jumpers made from chicken feed sack or rice sack fabrics. When I migrated in America in the 80’s, I was 20 years old but my clothes were a mishmash of designs, bargains and samples from my parents’ garment clothing company. When I got my first paycheck, upgrading my wardrobe wasn’t in the budget. Only recently did I show interest in browsing through fashion magazines.   Spring and summer seasons are easy to dress for because I enjoy wearing flip-flops. On the other hand, fall and winter seasons are a challenge because not every outfit goes with Uggs boots – and let’s face it, I need multiple layers of clothing from head to toe because it doesn’t matter that I’ve lived in New York/New Jersey for 30 years, my Filipino

Twenty years ago, we planned a wedding in Staten Island . The day was cold, but our hearts were very warm. How exciting that day was. We were growing as a family. We were a family of four. By the time noon rolled around, we were a family of seven, and my son became a husband and father.   What a happy day that was.   Before we knew it, we quickly became   known as "The Furer Nine." And those wonderful family parties, where two families from different cultures, moved to the beat of the same drum and became one. We had so many family members at our parties, we couldn't count them all. So much fun, and so many wonderful memories for us, and our children. How exciting those times were.

"It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”    - Mahatma Gandhi I volunteer for Advancement for Rural Kids  (ARK)- an impact organization that feeds and gets kids from poor rural communities to school. I met the co-founder during one of the production of   Makilala TV , a Filipino-American television talk show in New York. Part of what I do for ARK is to mentor the scholars and one of them is Engel Lord. She grew up in the poor rural communities in the Philippines. She graduated from High School last year and because of her passion and community service, she was awarded a college scholarship. In one of our conversations, I asked her, "Why is college impor

My Dad used to say, “Don’t give up. Fight for what you believe is right .” Last month, I was devastated about a transaction I had on eBay. When an eBay buyer used an unauthorized credit card to purchase the camera lens I sold on eBay, I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t fathom the minutia of deceit people go through – and for what? I made multiple calls to eBay and PayPal…and yes, a lot of anger, frustration and tears. "I can't believe there are bad and fraudulent people operating within eBay and that they don’t protect their honest users from criminal behavior." I exclaimed. "There's a lot of bad people everywhere - not just on eBay!" the eBay representative replied. That exchange of communication left me more devastated than losing the money I lost. Giving back $600 was a lot of money and I was beating myself up for my ignorance. My husband has always been the first person I vent to because he’s the logical one. He pointed out tha

I was born and raised in the Philippines. I came to America right after graduating from college. I am married to a Jewish American who was born and raised in Brooklyn.   I live in a town where there are only a handful of Filipino-Americans.   My children learned about the Philippines – its tradition, values and culture – through their interaction within the family.   Only in the recent years did I get involved with the Filipino-American community in New York.   Through my involvement I learned of the many activities sponsored by various organizations in different venues.   (NaFFAA 's Steven Raga, Dr. Aida Rivera, Merit Salud, Jen Furer (that's me!), Consul General Mario de Leon, Jr., TNO's Myrna D. Santos)  On Jan 31, 2015 me and my co-hosts of Makilala TV (Rachelle Ocampo, Cristina DC Pastor) were asked to moderate a panel discussion organized by the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) of New York.   The first annual symp