christmas in phuket

i was channel-surfing (as usual) the morning after christmas and i came across a breaking news thing on cnn. i looked harder and i was shocked to see the graphic video taken by tourists in phuket. the island resort was virtually erased from the map and there was destruction everywhere.

suddenly, i remembered a good friend of mine. i got a text from him the day earlier, greeting me a 'merry christmas.' i couldn't have been dreaming because he prefaced his text message with 'greetings from phuket!'

i ran up to my room to get my cell phone to check if my friend abe, was indeed in phuket with his wife rita and daughter, gari. i almost froze when i clicked my message icon and i had to read his message over and over again. i felt so helpless, all i was able to do was to muster a short prayer that they were spared from this tragedy.

i texted my friend to ask him if they were okay. i also texted our other friends to ask if they have heard from abe at all. i did not hear a word from them the entire day so i was growing pretty restless.

the next day, i was awakened by a text message from this friend of mine. i heaved a sigh of relief when he said that they just arrived in hong kong (where they are based) and that they did survive the tsunami and the earthquake. thank god that he spared my friend and his family. i feel sorry for the hundreds of thousands of families affected. at this point, all we can do is pray.