The Journey to Paradise.......
By way of Hell

The Bruce and Judy Story, (Part 1)
New Wife, New Life, Reconstructed spine.

It's been over 1-1/2 years since I updated this basic website and story, so it's about time, eh? Life moves on at its own mysterious pace, and most of us are just along for the ride. The best of us recognize this and try to take advantage when we can, and so have I. I rolled the dice and it's looking good <G> As you can see from the photo, I've a new wife, and made a new life... it's a looooong story, so here goes-

If you read "In the Beginning," you'll know I've had my own share of ups and downs in life. Who hasn't??? My wench of an ex-wife had long left, and I managed to get another (2nd) spinal surgery at the the US Veteran's Administration in Tampa FL before King Bush the II managed to slash the VA's budget to pay for the war in Iraq, and leave me with no access to medical care at all. The VA butchered my back even worse, and one can't sue the Govt in these cases, so I spent several more months lying in my personal hospital bed, surfing the web on 300mgs of Morphine a day, and waiting for my big empty house to sell thanks to a Judge's order.

I'd been visiting, working, teaching, and traveling around the Philippines since 1980. (I've been to something like 23 foreign countries....) At one point I even had a Filipino wife in the USA, but that relationship ended more or less amicably and I don't discuss it much any more. The point is that I'd had a lot of experience living in this country. With my spinal situation, I knew I needed a REAL change in life. My mind often wandered back here, mulling over the tropical climate, low cost of living, and business opportunities to be had if one were sharp enough. For example, one can have an experienced, live-in maid to cook, clean, shop, run errands, (and in my case, help care for my physical condition) for only $35 a month, and even that's being generous.... AND it's one of the real reasons I chose to make this move. I simply couldn't afford to pay for health care in the USA and eat, with what little I could earn with my spine at that time.

Since I was a kid, I've had an interest in practical applications for solar energy. So after surgery, I spent a lot of time surfing the web for existing info on solar projects in the Philippines. I ran across several newspaper articles written by an environmental reporter here, and one of them included an email address. Her name was Judy Flores, and I started emailing her for additional information on some of the things she had written.

Remember- after 3 crash and burn marriages of my own, searching the web for yet another wife was the farthest thing from my mind right then. She's 3 years younger than me and wasn't exactly in the "husband market" herself.... Yet, as our emails continued, I found her to be very well educated (Degree in Mass Communications), experienced (8 years as a television news broadcaster 6 nights a week), well employed Bureau Chief for the Philippines News Agency, exceptionally intelligent, and quite funny. I started to become intrigued with her and we swapped email pics. Tall like me, (which is rather rare) with long black hair, and simply BEAUTIFUL! But, what really got me hooked was her smile- at least in the first photo I got. While I was healing in that hospital bed in my big empty house, I had nothing BUT time to think things thru. I decided that I simply HAD to meet this Lady in person.

My US Government doctor at the time said my 2nd spinal surgery was healed as well as it was going to heal, and I was somewhat mobile then. He said I could make this trip to meet Judy. He was wrong. 38 hours of flying and passports and body search lines, I was a wreck. My trip had basically put me right back in the Emergency Room on IV Morphine, but my luck changed! It might have been a Filipino Doctor, but is was the RIGHT Filipino Doctor. He knew in the first minute of taking my medical history that something big was wrong. I'll write more about it later, but I had been misdiagnosed for 19 years... My L5/S1 disc wasn't herniated, but crushed. I became the first person in the Philippines (outside Metro Manila) to have his lower spine reconstructed with 3 pounds of Titanium rods, plates, cylinders, screws, and super duper glue. A whole chapter on this later when I feel like writing again, but now, back to Judy.

When I first approached her about meeting, she was Miss Professional about the whole thing. "OK, if you really think you're going to travel 12 time zones and just show up HERE of all places, I'll have dinner with you..." kinda thing. I thought What the Hell? I've been living in the Hell of Pain for so long, I might as well treat myself and test my 2nd surgery out for real. The house HAS to sell soon, right? I surfed the web, quickly figured out is isn't a simple matter to get from Florida to this specific place in the Philippines... but I got it figured out and dusted off my Passport.

In August of 2002, I met Judy in a public spot. I was supposed to call her when I arrived, but as luck would have it, her cell phone was "snatched" out of her hand the night before I arrived. I thought it odd, but luckily I had her work address in the ol' laptop. I messengered over a note for less than a nickel, no sweat. We walked down a block to the restaurant where unknown to me, all her sisters and closest girlfriends were waiting to grill me to death. And yes, I had to stay on my toes all night against the group of them, but we all had a blast. Judy and saw each other the next day for a bit as she was working.The next day was weekend and we headed to this particular beach for a day long Party.

We were swimming together, and even today, I'm not exactly sure why I did it right then. But, I asked Judy if she'd talk about marrying me, and she agreed! And, here we stay, in this tropical paradise, married 25 August 2004 in the Catholic Church in front of 2 Bishops, 7 Priests, 20 sets of official "sponsors," and a couple of hundred "close friends and relatives..." If it wasn't for the photos and videos, that days would still be a blur.

But I get ahead of myself. Now engaged, I managed to get back to Florida and slowly prepared to actually move to the Philippines. People toured my house daily, but my house didn't sell for over almost 2 years. (Oddly enough, just days after the death of a close friend). That wait put a lot of stress on Judy and I, but we're both happy we stuck it out. It was worth it all. During this "wait" period, the US Ambassador to the Philippines hand-picked Judy as the only Filipino Journalist to attend the US Dept. of State's 4-week, 9-city "Investigative Journalism" course given to 25 journalists from around the world. Once a year, 1 reporter per country, and the participant countries rotate. A part of the overall USAID programs. This a story all by itself for someday later. Not only did Judy get an intensive, very VERY special training course... all paid for by the US Taxpayers, AND get to see a lot of the United States, she also got the chance to come see me in Florida and stay with me for a 2 months. We managed a 2 month VISA extension when the paperwork was processed, and it was actually approved by Homeland Security. After spending that time together in Florida- that's when we knew we had made the right decisions, really.

Instead of her coming to the US and getting a US Passport, I have sort of immigrated here. (Foreigners are never allowed to become Filipino or Dual-Citizenship Citizens..... and having to deal with the Immigration people over here sucks...) I showed up here with a 20' cargo-container suitcase {dealing with Customs also sucks...), and rented a small house to start a new life. We still love each other, she accepted me as I was regarding my back, before the fusion and after. We've made a new life. We are currently having a good-sized building built, containing a living space and 2 commercial areas. We'll have a store and a computing center a few hundred feet from the Negros Oriental State University and not a Net Access Point in the entire area. I have to install several KILOMETERS of dedicated, high speed cable to open the Net Cafe :-(

I had hoped to maintain a low profile here, but that ain't happening. Marrying THIS gal killed THAT. 8 years of her being the city's TV Newscaster killed THAT. Like fire, everyone in this city learned that Judy was getting married, and who was this guy that finally managed to catch her? Its a local thing... getting married pretty young is pretty standard, as is all the "Barkada" girlfriends trying to "fix her up." Judy had decided long ago to concentrate on her education, career, and family. I met one of the other reporters one day, and the first thing he said was "Ah, Bruce, your reputation precedes you." I guess that sums it up. I've already helped the Provincial Governor purchase an old but serviceable, real, steel, recompression chamber thanks to a bad diving accident and death that occurred near here this year. Soon, I'll be repairing and re-certifying the chamber to Navy Standards, getting it on the International Registry of Chambers, teaching Hyperbaric Medicine to every doctor and nurse in the Island probably starting early next year. Never thought all that technical stuff I learned in the Navy would come to a use like this someday....

And - that's about it for this page. Other stories will appear in a few months along with photo albums. Judy has another free photo album / blog site until I'm ready to set her up with her own website, but you can see her current photo albums of news articles and of us at http://judaline.multiply.com. In a few more months, this building will be complete, we'll be out of this little rental house, and I'll have the time to write as I want while watching over my Net Cafe from the hammock <G>.

WebMaster Bruce