Dulce Karen Butay
Aloha and Welcome 2026! January marks a natural turning point—a pause between what has ended and what is just beginning. After the intensity of the holidays, the month settles in with a quieter rhythm, inviting reflection, recalibration and intention. It is a time when routines are rebuilt, goals are reconsidered and the year ahead begins to take shape. More than simply the first page of the calendar, January sets the tone for how we choose to move forward, offering a fresh start grounded in clarity and purpose.
As the year unfolds, the choices made in this first month often shape the momentum that follows. What are your goals this year? What is your New Year’s resolution? I’d love to hear! Share it with us at www.facebook.com/FilAmVoiceMaui.
Shout out to our January birthday celebrants: Bessy Evangelista, Kallie Keith-Agaran and Camille Rhianna Butay Hayen. Happy, Happy birthday to you! (Tagalog) Maligayang bati sa iyong kaarawan! (Ilokano) Naimbag nga panagkasangay mo! (Ibanag) Makapagayaya nga aggaw na nikeyana mu! (Kapampangan) Masayang kebaitan queca! (Ilonggo) Masadya gid nga adlaw sa imo pagkatawo!
Let’s see what’s going on with our story this month and where Michael and Angel will be going next, shall we?
Angel sits still; her fingers curled in her lap. The silence hums softly, broken only by the faint buzz of the ceiling light. She can still hear her mother’s voice echoing in her mind—love finds a way to reach across years … and heal what was left behind.
“Maybe that’s not such a bad thing,” she says softly. “Sometimes stories choose us for a reason.”
Michael looks at her—then really looks. The distance that had once existed between them dissolves, replaced by something raw and honest. “You sound like your Nanay (mother),” he says, a small ngiti (smile) tugging at his bibig (lips).
Angel yuhom (smiles) faintly. “She has a way of saying the right thing at the wrong time.”
He laughs quietly, the sound easing the ache in the air. Then his expression grows serious again. “Angel … after everything we just heard, if this is too complicated, I’ll understand. I don’t want—”
She shakes her ulo (head), stopping him. “Don’t,” she whispers. “Don’t walk away just because the past showed up. It’s not our story to finish—it’s ours to start.”
For a long moment, neither speaks. Then, slowly, he takes her kamay (hand) in his. And in that quiet room—between the echoes of the past and the fragile promise of something new—Angel feels the stirrings of hope.
Outside, rain begins to fall softly against the window, as if the kalibutan (world) itself decided to exhale.
Morning comes soft and gray, the kind of light making everything feel suspended—caught between night and day, between what was said and what still lingers unsaid.
Angel sits at the dining table, her gamat (hands) wrapped around a mug of coffee gone lukewarm. She’d barely slept. Every time she closed her mata (eyes), she saw her mother’s face on the screen, heard Michael’s voice—It feels like I’ve been carrying someone else’s story.
When the pintuan (door) opens, she doesn’t have to look up to know it was him. There was something about the way the air shifted when Michael walks in—unassuming but impossible to ignore.
He spots her instantly. No hesitation this time.
“Magandang umaga (Good morning),” he says softly as he slides into the seat across from her.
“Naimbag nga aldaw mo (Good morning),” she replies, trying for a pahiyum (smile) that didn’t quite reach her mata (eyes).
For a few moments, neither speaks. The kitchen’s hum fills the quiet—the hiss of the espresso machine, the low murmur of the refrigerator, the clink of wind chimes.
Finally, Michael exhales. “I talked to my uncle last night,” he says, his tone low. “He remembers your Nanay (mom) right away. Said she was the one who got away.”
Angel’s chest tightens. “She never said that,” she murmurs.
“She wouldn’t,” he says gently. “But I think it meant something to him … maybe too much. He said losing her changed how he saw love. Made him afraid to reach for it again.”
Angel looks down at her mug, her reflection trembles on the coffee’s surface. “It’s strange, isn’t it? How their choices still echo in ours.”
Michael nods slowly. “Maybe that’s why we were supposed to find each other. To finish what they couldn’t—but in our own way.”
She looks up at him then, her heart catching at the softness in his mata (eyes). There was no uncertainty there this time, only quiet resolve.
“I don’t know what this is yet,” Angel says, her voice steady but softened by honesty. “But I know I don’t want to let the past decide it for us.”
Michael smiles—a small, real timan (smile) reaching all the way to his mata (eyes). It wasn’t loud or dramatic, it was certain. “Then let’s not,” he says.
He reaches across the table, his fingers brushing hers. The touch was simple deliberate, and warm. In that quiet moment, something long held back finally shifts, opening space for what could begin again.
This marks a turning point in Michael and Angel’s story—a step into something deeper, where connection is no longer tentative.
Tune in to what lies ahead that will test them in unexpected ways, and the challenges they face may demand more than either is prepared to give.
Anyways that’s all I have. Keep an eye out for my column in every issue. I’m Dulce, helping you to master your Filipino Languages. Like always, let’s laugh, let’s makinig (listen) and Let’s Talk Pinoy! Hanggang sa muli! (Until next time!) Ingat! (Take care!)
Dulce Karen Butay graduated from Maui High School and received her Associate in Arts degree in Liberal Arts from Maui Community College. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, specializing in Accounting, from the University of Hawai‘i – West O‘ahu. She is currently the Administrative Officer at the County of Maui, Department of Finance. Butay is the owner of Maui Balsamic Vinegar and is a licensed Resident Producer of Life Insurance with World Financial Group and an Independent Consultant of Saladmaster. She is a part of Saladmaster’s Travel Club and won an all-expenses paid trip to Cancún, Mexico. Butay has traveled to Texas, the Philippines and Thailand as one of the delegates from Island Healthy Solutions, a Saladmaster dealer on Maui.