Dreamer

• Posted by Hera Zulueta, 

(Disclaimer: These are innocent visions of a dreamer. This was an excerpt from an essay required for us to make for the 9th Ayala Young Leaders Congress last year. A sneak peek of the kind of life want for us 15 years from now. This was actually the essay which made me realize my vision for myself and my passion for business... and my desire to balance my career and family.)

It’s a crisp Sunday morning. I wake up realizing how this will be a long day. The previous evening was a blast. I threw a party for three major reasons. It’s the opening of my restaurant co-owned by my cousin-in-law. Two, it is only two days before my 34th birthday. And three, I am now a lawyer, as the result of the bar exams that was released yesterday prove. After years of incorporating units in law bit by bit in my married and career driven life, I am finally a CPA slash entrepreneur slash lawyer.

Seven o’clock in the morning. I walk towards the sound of the kids screaming. Wonder what got them energized this early. Despite the mixture of screams and laughter, I can definitely sort out the voices into three, each corresponding to each of my adorable children.

Laughter # 1: The subtle and calm voice. It belongs to my 10-year-old son. Unlike me, he is quiet. Skipped kindergarten and loves math like me until that fateful day I entered the University of the Philippines. I suspect that fascination in math was due to the financial reports I used to deal in my early years as an accountant.

Laughter # 2: The hoarse and loud one. Belongs to my 7-year-old girl. I cannot help but smile whenever I hear her laugh, she perfectly sounds like me. She must have heard all the boisterous laughter I made during her tenure in my womb and thought that the voice and the way I laugh is — music.

Laughter # 3: Cute and fun chuckles. This is by my 3-year-old girl. At her age she already knows basic addition and subtraction. At one point she would get really hyped up, but on some occasions she is just the type who would stay in one corner. Her siblings take turn looking after her, which explains the dual personality.

It took me less a minute to reach the living room. And it took me another minute to reach the scene in front of me. Their dad arrived 20 years ago. Initially planning to surprise me for my birthday but eventually got busted when the kids saw him. He is carrying a huge cake and a dozen red roses. I’ve never seen him since two months ago. At this point, I know that this will be a great Sunday.

One o’clock in the afternoon. The five of us dropped by an ice cream parlor to get some rest. We spent the morning around the city after attending mass. Just as if it’s the first time the kids took us out to play. We are waiting for mom and dad and Lisa, a scholar I’ve been sponsoring since her first year as a nursing student. We are going to a play organized by a local foundation we have continuously supported. A fund raising theatrical presentation for orphans.

We took dinner at an Italian restaurant this time with my partner/cousin-in-law. The kids never seemed to get tired despite the events that transpired, perhaps because they have their dad with them. While the kids talk about pasta and pizza, my husband, cousin-in-law and I discussed the success of our new restaurant, our expanding travel agency and pharmacy.

We arrived home thirty minutes seven after driving mom, dad and Lisa home. The children were just as restless this morning. They pleaded to play at the mini playground I gave them out of the first bunch of profit I acquired from the earliest business deals. Parallel do its is a garden and a small fountain in between.

I wake up, and I realized that everything was a dream… and that this is the day the dreamer in me starts working for that dream.