Angel Cuala: Blogging Family Style

(This is the continuation of Angel Cuala: Humane Blogger At Large)

Angel Cuala: Blogging Family Style

By Alexys Fairfield

Part Two

Angel was in turmoil. Though he was working his fingers to the bone and going to school, his family was still living below the poverty line.

"We lived in an old house in ruins where rats and cockroaches were common sightings. The worst place we lived in was a house made of carton boxes because they were once our source of income. It was very hot and sticky and all 5 of us were crammed into in a 25 square meter hell," he recalls vividly.





Fraught with added pressure Angel made the difficult decision to drop out of school and work full time. He got a job fetching water for neighbors. Having such a slight build made it more of a struggle and often times it took a toll on his small body and limbs.

His indomitable spirit never let him down. He was determined to do whatever it took to supplement the family’s livelihood and attain a state of stability. In addition to his job of fetching water, he also sold cigarettes in Cubao, where the Araneta Coliseum stands - the biggest dome in Asia.





Here he was a kid not even old enough to smoke - selling cigarettes to the privileged who got to step inside the dome, where the price of the ticket was equivalent to a meal for his family.

It would take him three years of doing all that a young boy could do to survive before he was able to go back to school - a bare necessity he had sorely missed.

Then something happened that knocked him for a loop - and that same loop was able to help him land on his feet. That same loop would defy his uncertainty in a way that only his destiny could define.

It was in his third year of high school, by now he was 18. Angel had become an officer in the Citizen Army Training.

After a female cadet shared her own experiences about searching for her father, a wonderful twist of fate moment that stops us dead in our tracks and assuages any doubts we may have about serendipity transpired.

The cadet went on to tell him that she met one of her aunts who knew the whereabouts of her father and she happened to mentioned her friend Angel. When she blurted out his full name, her aunt almost fainted.


“Her aunt was my mother’s oldest sister and she told her that my mother was hiring people to find me everywhere. Since we were transferring from one place to another, they failed. This means that we were first cousins right from the start, and we were so stupid that we never realized the possibility. My middle name and her surname is exactly the same – Valentin,” enthuses Angel.

“I met my mother by accident, or should I say a blessing,” he cheerfully adds.





Finding his mother not only gave him the piece that had been missing from his life, but the peace that had been missing from his Soul. After catching up on what she had missed, his mother even helped to finance his education.

His childhood strife culminated after he graduated from the University of the East in Manila with a degree in engineering. Spending 15 years of engineering brought its own rewards, but he traded his numbers for words when he got bitten hard by the blogging bug.

“I started to blog because I realized communicating with people is what I do best. At this point in my life, I know I have many things to share, especially when it comes to family. I feel it is my responsibility to inform others about having a family. I do not want children to suffer the way I did,” he points out.

“I have two Blogger blogs, Happy Family Matters which contains tips about different aspects of family life such as parenting, marriage and others; and Humane Blogging Tips, where you can find unique and useful tips about blogging.

Two months ago, I decided to buy my own domain -
Father Blogger dot Com, which compiles the best of my articles about family and blogging and new posts not found on my other blogs.

This is a dream come true for me - to provide a site that deals with families, parenting and marriage concerns, as well as useful tips on blogging how to blog like a human. I also plan to have a forum where people from all over the world can connect with each other for free. This is a new dimension for my blogging career as I am working hard towards becoming a professional blogger," the humane blogger explains.

This doting father of two children has been happily married to his wife for 12 years. There is nothing that drives him more than his family. They are the spokes in his wheels. They are the smile on his face. They are the love in his heart. They are the reason he gets up in the morning. They are everything.

Angel Cuala knows that with a good family, you can overcome adversity and accomplish anything. They are a part of you - your past - present and future. They help to mold you into your own being in a way that gives you strength of character, integrity and the signature of love.





He sums it up this way,

“Life is the most precious gift we can receive from our Creator. All of us have different purposes and we must not stop until we find it. Before our lives end, we should leave a legacy to our family, society and to the next generation. I consider raising my own family and teaching my children how to be good people as my only success. Inspire before you expire. Failure is never fatal. Success is never final.”


Please visit Angel's blogs and give him some love. Thanks to everyone who participated in commenting. Thanks again to Angel for exercising patience and trusting me with your story.

You all are awesome!