Officially an "author"

I finally got last Saturday my complimentary copy of the book A Treat of 100 Short Stories published by Anvil through De La Salle University’s Academic Publications Office.

The book was launched last June as part of the 17-volume Centennial Series produced by La Salle for their 100^th year anniversary. I attended the launch event at the Metropolitan Museum and got to see the nice green-colored hardbound set with the DLSU campus façade printed on the cover pages. I forgot to bring my camera that time so I didn’t get a photo.

While seated at the Academic Publications office, however, I spotted the set displayed on a table. I still don’t have a camera with me but I have my mobile phone. I stood and retrieved volume 7, the hardbound version of A Treat of 100 Short Stories and took a picture of the cover page with my phone. I turned to page 11, and there was my story. I’m officially an author, hehe. In fact, the guard at the DLSU gate and the staff at the publications office referred to me as "author" and it warmed my heart a bit -- even though it's only for a page and a half. LOL.

This one here is the book cover of the paperback version, which is my copy.

I'm in page 11.

In “Residency,” I related a true incident involving my sister Sherstine in Madrid, who one morning feared that her employer might have died during the night while vacationing in Javea near Costa Blanca. He had promised to help her process her residency application in Spain so she can secure a work permit for office employment and be able to go in and out of the country. She was, after all, an HRA graduate of UP and hopes to eventually land a job in the hotel/restaurant industry somewhere in Europe. To get that resident visa, she needed to stay in Spain for three years, as required by law.

When this incident happened, Shers had already lived there for one year and had worked for her employer’s family for several months. If he died, she would have had to restart from scratch and look for another employer who can help her process her papers. She related this via e-mail so I presented the story in almost the same way she related it to me, including the exact words she used.

I’m excited to let her know that the book is finally out. Perfect timing, because today, Monday, September 5, she will finally sign and affix her fingerprint on her official residency documents, which were approved and released last month. She will also get her resident visa card, which shows that she is allowed by government to stay there and avail of certain benefits open to citizens and immigrants of Spain. Above all, she now has the freedom to return to the Philippines to visit us and go back to Spain whenever she wants. I miss her so much and I can’t wait to see her again.

I’m so happy for Shers and so thankful to God that He made her survive all these years without us, and for giving her a substitute family there. The funny thing is, the employer in my story was not the one instrumental for Shers’ resident visa. On her second year in Madrid, she realized that this person was too burdened with his own problems (he and his wife had a divorce) and doesn’t seem to have any intention of taking care of her application. She eventually left him and his children, looked for another tutoring or nanny position, and found a nice young couple with a toddler son. The couple liked Shers and asked her to take care of the child. They also promised to handle her application, and they kept their promise. While working for this couple, Shers also found a part-time job with Filinvest Madrid. She works there during her free time.

I also know that she’s back to serious dating and seems to be quite cozy with a Castilian guy. Finally, I think my sister is her old self again.

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