ANGEL'S PAGES: 1-3

Oona's Nanny Ate Rina has a very pretty, bright and talented daughter, Angel.

She's years old, in and wants to be a when she grows up.

She's also her mother's very special girl. It doesn't look like it in these pictures, but Angel suffered from hydrocephalus as a baby.

At three months old, she and Ate Rina journeyed all by themselves to Manila to seek medical attention and financial assistance that was not readily available to them in their small hometown. Angel made the _____ hour journey on a pillow, riding a boat and crowded buses.

With a fierceness born out of a mother's love, Ate Rina fought for everything she could get to have Angel treated. She tells me of long lines at , fearlessly walking up to Malacanang on her own and patiently waiting in charitable institutions for her turn to plead her daughter's case. Her tenacity bore results as Angel was admitted to for a series of operations that would drain the fluid in her head through a shunt. At just a few months old, she has had operations and had spent in the hospital.

After months, Angel's prognosis looked good and they were finally allowed to go home. However, she had to have regular check-ups, childhood illnesses needed to be carefully monitored (no matter how mild it seemed) and the shunt needs to be replaced as soon as Angel reached a certain age and height.

Given the iffy survival rates for a neuro-surgical operation on one so young and the complications during and after the procedure, Angel is living proof that miracles do happen! She is now a bubbly, precocious little girl doing well in school and has a talent for singing.

Although the second series of operations are looming nearer, Ate Rina and Angel are confident that something will turn up to help them through it. For now, Ate is saving everything she can for that time and praying everything goes well for her little Angel.

This series is an album I made for Angel when she won a little pageant in school. Enjoy!

{Credits: Smilebox Spring Chick}