Sad

My mom and I were on the phone for a couple of hours today. She was telling me stories about friends and family in Manila and I was trying to get caught up with all the happenings since I left - all those things that I missed.

I have been posting a lot about babies recently and one story caught my attention again. It seems like a distant relative on my father's side's adopted daughter fell in love with a guy who's a drug addict. She got pregnant and eloped with the guy when her belly grew too big to be hidden. When she was about to give birth, she called up my Mom and pretended to be sick, she was asking for money for a goiter operation that she claimed to need. Mom, unaware of her situation, agreed to help but wanted to bring her to the hospital to make sure that she gets good treatment. She refused and never showed up to claim the money that she asked for.

Eventually, we found out that she was trying to raise funds so that she could give birth. She now has a daughter who looks a lot like her, her parents have since found her and convinced her to come back home. The bad news is that the guy she was with has influenced her to use drugs and she is now addicted. Her family has put her in one of those rehab centers and hopes that she can get out soon.

I feel so bad about her and am wondering what happened and how things progressed to this point. She was doing so well in her studies and even graduated from her Physical Therapy course with honors - Magna Cum Laude - and made her (adopted) family so proud.

Back when I was still based in Manila, I would see her once a year during All-Saints-Day when we made our rounds to visit the graves of our relatives who have passed away. She always struck me as a sensible girl and the last time I saw her, she was telling me about her plans of going to medical school and immigrating to the US eventually.

Now, she's in rehab :(