'You feel incomplete when you don't see your family...'

Reina de Padua-Tingson.

Telling the truth is difficult sometimes, especially when doing so could have dire consequences. However, being caught lying could also backfire and land you in hot water, as Reina de Padua-Tingson has found out.
The Filipina marketing coordinator cited an incident from her college going days when her little fib led to an embarrassing episode.
"While talking to my mum over dinner, I sent a quick text message to a friend. The text read: 'I already informed my mum I'll have a group study with my classmates over the weekend. See you at the beach. Cheers'."
"I nearly died of heart attack when I realised that I sent the message wrongly to my mum. I burst into tears and apologised. It was absolutely embarrassing. But I was totally surprised when my mum didn't tell me off, instead, she handled the situation with full maturity and understanding," related Reina.
"It was at this point that I realised that not telling the truth is not honourable and I must strive to be honest."
A virtue the 40-year old tries hard to regularly practise and which has served her very well, both in her personal and professional life.
A principle that she also plans to pass on to her three-year old daughter Sam, when she finally gets to come and live here. Sam is presently living with Reina's mum and sister back in the Philippines.
The calm and easy-going mother has been living in Al Ain for the past eight years with her husband Jofel who serves as her "voice of reason" when her judgement seems hazy.
For now, Reina's aspiration is simple. "To live a meaningful and fulfilling life with my family by exploring different ways to make all our moments matter." And for this to happen, the couple intends to "complete the family" by having Sam join them permanently next year.
"You feel incomplete when you don't see your family on a daily basis. It's so hard to be apart, you never know what might happen the next day. I want to know everything that's happening to my daughter every minute, every hour," said Reina longingly.
olivia@khaleejtimes.com
Interviewed by Olivia Olarte-Ulherr Street talk is a weekly column to get a glimpse of people's lives in UAE.

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Olivia Olarte-Ulherr

olivia@khaleejtimes.com