Kamusta!

See my awesome paint skills, everyone? ^_^

Hello, people of Steemit! My name is Albert and I hail from the Philippines. I'm an 18-year old guy who likes to play the violin, piano, ukulele and guitar whenever I'm alone (and let me tell you a secret, I frequently go out at 3 AM and bike my way to the nearest bridge from our house while carrying my ukulele or violin just to play some music or practice my voice. Strange, isn't it?). Aside from music, I'm also an avid fan of video games (especially Dota 2 and CS:GO) and sometimes make money by joining some competitive matches.

Typical stuff for a guy with my age, right? But actually, I don't consider myself normal.

I envy normal people. It's very ironic because they envy me and I don't even know why.

I was born and raised by a middle-class family. My father works in a TV station as a lighting programmer while my mother is a housewife. Pretty normal setup for a typical Filipino family: the man works to provide for his family while the woman tends the house and takes care of the children. Everything was normal back then. Also, life was simple, no financial problems, family problems–almost any problems a typical family encounters. We were happy for a long time, but it ended abruptly when my father started gambling.

This is the actual place that destroyed our relationship with our dearest father. :/

Amidst the troubles and problems going on with our family, I'm still a consistent honor student during my grade school days (most of my medals, certificates and awards were kept by the school. A portion remains in my possession, but because of the typhoon Yolanda, most of that were washed away by the flood.)

I strove harder, persevered, studied well for the sake of his attention and to remind him that "Hey! You still have your children to think about who is willing to give their all just to make you happy!" That was my motivation; it kept me going for the rest of my grade school years. I succeeded, and I'm proud of myself at that very moment..

But all I ever got from him was a cold "Congrats, anak. Pagbutihan mo pa." (Congratulations, son. Do better.)

It broke my heart so hard but still I kept on adoring him.

--

January 7, 2013, when I got a stiff neck. At first, I thought that it was just another simple stiff neck, so I did the conventional approach: exercise the stiffening muscle to help it heal. I still went to school given my condition at that time, and I even finished my third year at high school with that bugging me. My teachers were making fun of me, so are my classmates and schoolmates. I felt like I'm the biggest joke they've ever seen in their whole lives, and that experience taught me to distance myself from other people, and try to keep my self from socializing.

Those events damaged my psyche pretty bad that even up to this day, I don't socialize that much in real life.

July 2013 when the doctors diagnosed me of having Pott's Disease. I can't eat on my own, and I require the assistance of my mother to do all those things for me. Much to my dismay, my father seems like he doesn't care at all. He still continued his gambling habits, which simply made me mad at him.

On the day of my birthday, July 24, 2013, my high school classmates paid me a visit. We only live in a small house (well, just a little room actually) and there were 20 of them. I tried not to cry even though I know for a fact that that day might be the last day that I'll ever see them due to my condition worsening each passing day.

Also on that same day, the teacher who always throws insulting jokes at me, messaged me via SMS (non verbatim, since I've changed my sim card a year ago):

"Greetings for your special day, Albert!

Kamusta ka na, stiff neck boy? Siguro masakit pa rin yung leeg mo hanggang ngayon no? Sorry kung naging masama ako sa'yo kahit may karamdaman ka na. Pero alam mo sa totoo lang, naiinggit ako sa mga trivia na bigla mo na lang naisusumbat sa history class natin. Karamihan sa mga iyon, sa'yo ko lang nalaman, at tinanong ko yung mga kapwa ko teacher at totoo nga na nangyari lahat ng sinabi mo. Natutuwa din ako kasi kahit na may nararamdaman ka na, pinipilit mo pa ring pumasok sa school para matapos yung 3rd year. Hanga ako sa'yo, stiff neck boy. Sana magkaroon pa ako ng estudyanteng katulad mo. Pagaling ka, at pagkagaling na pagkagaling mo, ililibre kita nung paborito mong halo-halo dun sa may Linear Park.

(How are you doing, stiff neck boy? It seems like your neck is still aching up to now, am I right? I'm sorry if I have been bad towards you even though you already have that condition. But you know what, I envy your knowledge and instant trivia that you tell us on our history classes. I don't know most of those trivia before you said it, and I ask my co-teachers about it and all of those indeed took place. I'm also happy because even though you have that condition, you still try to go to school just to finish your third year. I admire you, stiff neck boy. I wish I would have another student like you. Get well soon, and after you recovered, I will treat you your favorite halo-halo that they sell on Linear Park.)

-Julio

Looking for a hot summer's treat? Try a halo-halo and help refresh yourself!

For over a year, I simply just lied there in my bed and thought of several things. Having an internet connection was a plus because I got to help myself educated even if I'm a paraplegic. December 2013 is the time when I started learning about bitcoin and its usefulness for people around the globe (but let's not go deeper yet with bitcoin.)

Going back to my story, on March 2014, I captured this picture:

During that time, I regain my ability to walk again. Up to this day, I still can't believe how was I able to do it when in fact, I haven't visited the hospital for proper medication, only check-ups and free medication tablets given by the government. Everyone was so happy that I finally recovered and got to get back at school on that same year. The disease left me with a limited neck mobility and a damaged spine similar to this:

Because of this, I receive numerous teases and jokes. I learned to cope up with that and just laugh at it. :)

I've fully recovered from the sickness, and right now, I'm currently looking for work and about to send my applications again on Monday. I'm currently helping my mother and 3 siblings with our daily expenses by being a dishwasher on a "carinderia" during the day and being a computer attendant in a computer shop at night for the mean time while I'm finding a stable job to provide for my family's needs.

Thanks for reading my not-so-cool story. Also, feel free to upvote and comment to my first post. I'd love to hear from the members of this community, as I would love to be a part of this too!

And for those dudes who's having a hard time in their lives, believe me, everything would be alright in the end.

Salamat sa pagbabasa, Steemit!

-Albert

^That dude is me, btw. ^_^