text: The sun was peeking over the horizon as its yellowish rays scattered across the raven skies. Birds spread their wings and soared in the black canvas of the sky along with their chirping music. Eyelids blinked upon hearing the wake-up calls from the roosters in the backyard. Mothers get up to prepare for breakfast while Fathers prepare for the day. In the City Capital of Davao in the country of the Philppines, the day starts the moment the sun rises above their horizons, enough for them to see its glistening beauty. Elders are traditionally and commonly the ones that only wakes up that early, and the rest of the youngsters spend the rest of the beautiful intro of the morning holed up in their blankets. Females are tasked with household chores and males take the responsibility of earning for money to get the through the day. Since old times, it has always been like this, but time itself isn't that boring. The former now gets to choose what she wants as long as she wants it and her husband supports her. Filipino males mostly has driving as their daily source of income. It's not that bad when you start but it doesn't get better even after you've become a veteran. Despite this, mostly still choose this job, aside from the work being easy, it also means easy money. Not in a way that'll make you rich in a minute kind of easy though. Jay, who was before a chauffeur, now drives a tricycle as his daily source of income. He's a renowned professional driver, famous in his line of work. He carries on his shoulder the burden of feeding five people in his family, three times a day, everyday. But not alone. Together with his wife, Rose, they have continued the life they were born with even after bearing three kids. One who always does something unimportant, one who always does something important, and one who doesn't do anything in particular. In that order, the oldest son is already in appropriate age to live by himself but is not permitted to, the middle daughter who is already so-so but still naive, and the youngest daughter who isn't really someone special to begin with, just her parents spoiling her is all. For Jay, the weight of the responsibility he's carrying with his wife isn't that heavy that it was bothersome. In a day, tricycle drivers like him earn up to P700 in maximum, that includes the fuel and the food they needed for the day. The amount left would be automatically for the bills, which is approximately just 1/4 of the whole thing. Despite that he never complains, save for the times that life really got in his nerves. His wife's with him through and through, even in times that she also felt like giving up, the faces of their children with eyes worrying for things they should not be worrying about always gives her the courage to hold on. Rose is the kind who's persistent when she knows that she's on the right and Jay's the kind who never gives up when he knows there's a possibility. For couples that work, it's not always about opposite attracts, sometimes it's about similarities contracts. With his wife earning less than the minimum wage in more than the maximum hours of working, Jay thought that he should be the one to hold the title of the breadwinner of the family. Content was in them for even though their bills were piling, they never once experienced starving. And that's the best thing Rose could've ever wished for her children while they were still in their care. Regardless of the situation they are in, as parents, they haven't forgotten that the best thing they could ever gift their child, if not the ones they want, is education. They managed to enroll all three to a prestigious religious school where the tuition is no joke. With the help of Rose's boss, which is actually just their near relative, the eldest graduated from grade 1 in the school to senior high school, grade 12 and is now a college student at a public university. The middle child got caught up in a situation where her mother needed to quit her current job. Apparently, she wasn't treated well in spite of her 22 years of service for the Buy and Sell Company owned by their relative. Lawyers were called and it was settled in the Local Governments' Office. And as usual, its always the rich antagonists who always pulls up something wins. With that, the case was closed with the door slightly creaking. The creak spread rumors of Rose, everything good and bad, from her boss' mouth herself. The middle and and the youngest had to continue their studies in a public school which unfortunately downgraded into modular education as Covid happened. It made everything hard for everyone, and no one's an exception. During the lockdown, where no one was allowed to leave their respective premises unless necessary, Jay and his family kept everything positive, their walls devoid of despair. They have received a fair amount of amilluration and emergency packs every month, as per the government says. After months of staying put, the local government finally loosened the grip but not totally letting go. With that, they thought everything was back just the way it usually was. But because of the fearsome invisible foe, everything changed in an instant. The streets that were once filled with busy people, was now devoid of any communication sounds. The park that was where kids would run around throwing things at each other was now only harboring pure nature sounds. The roads that were once full was now empty. And the people's faces that were once plastered with smiles, now covered by masks said to protect themselves from others. 'Was this always how it used to?' Would always cross everyone's mind. The scenery, the noise, and life itself took a sudden turn where everyone was left in a jetlag. It wasn't easy accepting it, how could it be easy adapting to it? The work that was once very easy to fulfill was now very hard to reach. If everyone were to move to the cycle of life, lives might be in constant danger, but if everyone were to stay the way they are right now, they would never come to grow and so is the world. That's why people always finds an excuse, to do the former or avoid the latter. Among the ones who chose to move forward, Jay was the probably the most pessimistic and Rose the most optimistic. Jay was demoted, the usual earning had gone down to half which was almost barely enough to feed his family thrice everyday. Rose found a neat job with a neat pay and a neat boss. It was smooth sailing for her but not for her spouse. She knows she couldn't do anything but just stay by his side through whatever happens. Every night they pray, every Sunday they pray, every meal they pray, and every time they get a chance they pray. It doesn't take all the problems away, but it sure lessens it and soothes their being. As the pandemic is still going on, death continues to march in the streets, probably on the way to your door, they have no other choice but to believe in themselves and to the One who made them. As someone as religious as Jay, there shouldn't even be a day where he doesn't make the sign of the cross, from his heart, down to his soul. fin