today's special: LOMI

Somebody asked me today how come my firstborn's name is Lomi.
Well, actually it is his nickname.
Why on earth did we choose a nickname reminiscent of the popular Filipino noodle dish?
Let me tell the story.
I was a medical intern doing community medicine rotation at the farming town of Laurel, Batangas. It was beautiful there really. Coconut trees towered, fields of corn as far as the eye can see and the wind rustling through them somewhat orchestrating a very calming sound. The people were simple, easy to chatter and opened their lives and homes to us generously. It was an area quite untouched by the excesses seen in Manila which I guess, in some part, was due to the still very rough roads there at the time. Motorcycles and horses were quite in vogue.
At this time, I was 16 weeks pregnant. Jun was driving me back after a weekend spent in Manila. The huge craters in the road was a difficult terrain for our Toyota sedan to conquer but my husband forged on, determined to bring me to my destination at least in air conditioned comfort. Now there was this particularly huge pothole in the middle of the road that Jun could not possible maneuver around so the car literally dove into it and we heard the chassis grinding sound with the earth. It was nerve wracking! In that instant, I had my quickening, the very first time I felt our baby move!! The baby probably was stirred by all the racket going on. I let out a gasp and Jun looked over to me in deep concern. I told him I felt our baby move for the very first time and he quickly placed his hand over my belly. It was an exciting time. Just by the roadside was a carinderia -- a little eatery. There was a sign out by the window. Today's special: LOMI. We thought, how appropriate. It was a special time and place. Right there and then, Jun and I agreed that if our first baby were to be a boy, he was going to be Lorenzo Miguel, Lomi for short.
Now as I look back, I had no idea how prophetic that signage was. Lomi is indeed special in every way.