happiness is having a brother called Jorick...

... who was my childhood nemesis because he tortured my dolls by hanging them from our ceiling fan (that's traumatizing to a 5-year old)

... who ended up being one of my fave buddies in highschool (since we eventually ended up in the same grade level and barkada --- people for a while thought we were fraternal twins.... i would say he failed a year... in truth, his original school had a grade 7 where mine was only up to grade 6... i do believe ateneo only wants to hijack parents for another year of tuition, but i digress...)

... who ended up being more than a buddy, but a beloved brother --- when life threw curveballs at my face, he was there to take a swing at it (whether it be people who had hurt me, or jobs that had just sucked the living daylights out of me)

... who helped me get by when i had my I'm-an-NGO-worker-and-I-don't-have-money dry spells (which was for most of my working life in the Philippines)

... who is still only one yahoo messenger away, and I know I can drop in for a "hey pangit" - "hey taba" diatribe when I miss home

...who has Helen, one of the coolest sister-in-laws ever!

Happy Birthday Dick!!!