Penamoli

  I’m a May baby and the 24 th day of the month has always been very significant for me as always. My family has always made me feel special on this day and given me the strong root to always stand on my feet and appreciate my life. I learnt life early- self-love and appreciation; gratitude and contemplation was ingrained since I was a child and I must thank my parents, ‘maami’ and sisters for it. I am a firm believer Birthdays should be celebrated; loved and always love celebrating people around me. When it comes to my birthday, my way of celebrating as always since my twenties are for me reflecting on the lesson life has taught me (I do have diary notes written every year on this day-the eve of my born day). Since the birth of my sons, it’s even more special. I have never been ever more privileged than to celebrate my life for them by celebrating them, my little world.  This year, 2021-I felt even more special: I am turning 45 and officially hitting middle-age. Surpris...

  As I write this (21st of May, 2021), I am 10 days past my second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. While I know the pandemic is far from over, I’d be lying if I said I’m not sleeping a bit better at night. Based on the evidence from clinical trials, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),   the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 95% effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 illness in people without evidence of previous infection. Although we don’t yet know exactly how it will perform under real-world conditions, the odds are very good that even if I get sick, I will not get as sick as I might have prior to the vaccine. Better yet, I may not get sick at all. That knowledge is giving me a peace of mind that I have not had since the pandemic began. How I got my appointment so early? The most common question people were asking me was how I managed to get it so early since I’m only 44 years old and not a healthcare worker? Because adults in...