Silver Lining

I bought a lot in Pasig -- a small, 239 sq. m. corner lot facing the northeast, in a small, relatively upscale Sta. Lucia development populated by young, upwardly mobile families. Immediately after the purchase, I began my search for an architect who shares my vision of a sculpturally modern building with lots of air and sunlight. Hubby and I were, at the same time, negotiating the purchase of the adjacent 200 sq. m. property. I was, after the heartache of the past 3 years, finally happy. But, as my luck would have it, not for long.

Ondoy had struck.

It took a month for Hubby and I to hunker down to rethink the future. Though the village itself was spared by the floods, we knew in our hearts that 10 or even 5 years down the road, the Pasig river will most certainly re-claim it, as it did many other villages in the city. Flooding in the surrounding areas and along access routes foreshadow it. Things could only get worse, for sure, and we could not allow ourselves to risk Maia’s safety. She cannot be touched by disaster, I decided. Ever. So after much dithering, we abandoned the dream of building there.

We were heartbroken, of course, not to mention P4M poorer. But in the end, we were lucky Ondoy happened when it did. We hadn’t plunked down any more money on the adjacent lot and hadn’t started building. Ondoy spared us the immeasurable heartache of spending all of our hard-earned savings on a sodden future. Ondoy allowed us to cut our losses … and count our blessings.