New Beginnings was first posted close to three years ago.  Today, the sequel.

I have found that the month of April is like a January of sorts for me and my family.  Most of the milestones in our lives happen around this period.  At one time, we had four reasons to celebrate on a single Sunday in April.  That would have been the child dedication of my eldest daughter Bea, my birthday, the housewarming of the first house my wife and I built as a couple, and my wife's entry into a new job with the Department of Justice as a prosecutor (often commonly known as a fiscal) in Bacolod.

Today, while technically still in March, it certainly feels like April.  I feel like a Dad who is so giddy to bring his first child to school on the first day.  Only this time, I will be bringing my wife to her first day at work in her new job.

After close to eight years of serving the Republic of the Philippines as a prosecutor in the Department of Justice, she moves on to work as a lawyer with the Development Bank of the Philippines.  The time spent as a fiscal has allowed her so much legal insight into the nooks and crannies of life in the Philippines.

A concrete example would be that for a considerable amount of time, she has served in the family court of Mandaluyong, which is the venue for annulments, adoptions, and other family-related cases within the city's jurisdiction.  There, she has found that money is never indeed the elixir to happiness.  Annulments arise from the residents of a highly prominent subdivision in the city over the strangest of circumstances.  These stories are an attestation to the notion that "truth is stranger than fiction".  The plots in the cases she handles would put the writers of 'Marimar' and 'Maging Sino Ka Man' to shame.  I told her that when the time is right, she could be a consultant to scriptwriters of telenovelas. LOL!

She has also discovered that the law school one hails from merely provides "badge value" when lawyers are in what I'd call "marketing mode".  One's law school is hardly an assurance that they will perform well in court.  This causes us to smile whenever we're in this certain mall situated within walking distance to a well known law school.  The kids must be deluded into thinking that studying while sipping Starbucks coffee will enhance their performance in court in the years to come. 

As it was, the career with the prosecution has come to an end at the same time work drew to a halt for Holy Week.

A new chapter now unfolds.  And as I think of the fact that we are both in the neighborhood of 40, indeed, life truly begins here.