A Fight For Life

I find myself thinking about what it means to fight for something. I kept digging deep into the recesses of my mind and soul until finally, I found "something".

You see, I came from a family of big people with equally huge appetites. Suffice it to say, most of us are obese, have high blood pressure, and most of the ailments that people with heavy weights normally have to contend with.

So let me introduce you to Daddy Boy, as we so fondly call my uncle. At 48 years old, he weighs in at 250 kilos and has 43 inches for a waistline. And that was before disease struck him.

Diabetes is like a silent thief, robbing you of important elements in your body, until it completely devours you.

And devour, diabetes did. My uncle came back to the Philippines a ravaged man, almost unrecognizable. He was full of scars and open wounds, his hair and stubble unkempt, his fingernails a half inch long. It was truly devastating to just look at him. Miraculously, he managed to make a recovery.

I couldn't help but ask him then, "How did you overcome all this?" And he smiled at me and told me this: "When I think about all the aches and pains, I really want to die. But when I think about my family, I can't help but feel that there is still hope for me. And then, I fight."

So when I find myself thinking about what it means to fight for something, I think about my family, and how life would me blissfully sweeter with them.