Letters to Gracielle: The Journalist as a Family Man

the 19th of June 2010

Dear Gracielle,

Thank you for letting me drive the truck this morning—that maroon pick-up we always used to navigate the mountains when we lived in Baguio. I remember you asked me a poignant question: “Do journalists usually have happy families? They often seem to be on the rush and do not seem to have time for themselves and probably their families.”
Remember how I told you with that blank, I-dunno, not-quite-sure look, that I don’t know; maybe not. See I never really met a journalist who openly told me that what matters most to him is his family. They do not seem to openly talk about it.
But finally, I am in a class with a caliber editor (he is he country editor of Yahoo Philippines) who openly told me his main goal in life is to make his family happy. Most journalism professors just talk about how journalism should be revolutionized, or about how bad the corruption in the profession is. At least that is my impression from those that I am privileged to meet.
Wearing jeans and a shirt, he looked just like any other journalist I knew. With a black frame for his glasses, he looked just like a rock star and a geek at the same time. Well, he must have been a geek—I mean, he is very techy. He said he loves to write about technologies and innovations.
He has achieved much in his career. Imagine being the country editor of Yahoo Philippines. You must know how big “country editor” means. He is big time.
But it is not his achievements that matter most to him. He told me it was seeing his family happy.
Now that is good, sound advice for the two of us. Since we were in the adolescent stage of our wonderful life, we have always been talking about marriage. It seems that as I talked to him I get the affirmation of what we have been taught since we were young—No other success can compensate for the failure in the home. Maybe he can join our club. Do you think I should ask him?
He has sound advice for us, I mean for marriage. Just do it, he said. Now that is really strange, isn’t it cousin? Remember how we often get discouragement from intellectuals whenever we tell them we want to be married?
He also gave me a glimpse of how it is to be a father. By the way he has two daughters, one’s 8 and the other’s 9. While I was talking with him, I saw him breathe an air of responsibility and an air of cool-headed gentlemanliness. I am led to believe that commitment, responsibility and fun make a good dad.
I’ve learned more things he did not intend to teach the class. I went there to learn how to write for popular audiences but I learned something more valuable than a writing skill to peddle in the market someday. I learned and had a glimpse of how it is to be a journalist and a father at the same time—and to excel in both and to never compromise.
I bet his wife, Myra, is very happy with his achievements and how he seeks for the happiness of their family. He has other plans and goals—like be a rock star, yes cousin, he is the lead guitarist of his band. But then all of those do not matter. What matters most to him is what matters most to us: family happiness.
Well, it is time for me to travel home now. I will write you more about what happens in our class. And maybe he will teach me more about marriage and journalism next time.

Till next mail cousin,
Royce Jr.

PS: He is Erwin Oliva. Just check facebook. He is bound to have one. :)