BY JOSE PAOLO S. DELA CRUZ
Long before she launched her ‘Grateful Tuesdays’ advocacy, chemist Pinky Pe Tobiano has always thought of Tuesdays as special. After all, it was on a Tuesday that she received one of life’s greatest miracles – her youngest daughter Karrel.
“Grateful Tuesdays,” which started in the thick of the pandemic, is an advocacy project under her namesake Pinky Cares Foundation. Every Tuesday, Pinky and her team would make the rounds to help the homeless, along with abandoned grandfathers and grandmothers, and other marginalized members of society, by giving out food and other forms of aid.
“As I always say, a grateful heart is a magnet for miracles,” explains Pinky, who chose Tuesday as a day of sharing her blessings to honor one of her life’s greatest miracles. “After giving birth to my eldest, I had a hard time conceiving. I had three miscarriages until I gave birth to Karrel on a Tuesday. I’m very grateful and that is why I made ‘Grateful Tuesdays.’”
The feeling of gratitude isn’t one way either. Pinky’s daughters, Pianne and Karrel, are equally thankful of their mom.
“One of the most memorable moments I have had with my mom was when she brought me to school as a kid. Despite being a single mother busy running her three companies, she never failed to take me to school at six a.m. before heading to work. Looking back, I realize that I took this for granted as a kid, and I didn’t understand the sacrifice it entailed. In those drives, we made countless memories, and I am forever grateful to my mom for being there for me,” shares Karrel, who now actively assists Pinky in both her personal and professional endeavors.
Pinky’s hard-working and go-getter attitude also inspires her youngest to be the best version of herself. “Whenever I feel uninspired or when times are tough, I remember my mom’s journey to where she is now, and how she raised my sister and I to pick myself back up. I am eternally grateful to my mom for making me the strong and proud woman I am today, comfortable in my skin and striving for excellence,” she explains.
After all is said and done, family — which consists of husband Juancho Robles, a Certified Public Accountant and Partner of Chan Robles & Company, and her children Pianne and Karrel — remains to be Pinky’s greatest treasure. They are also her strength and fortress, especially when she battled thyroid cancer more than two decades ago, two months after her own mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“It’s hard because my mom and I were going through the same ordeal. When my kids saw my mom losing hair—they already knew what to expect of me. They were traumatized twice and that pained me,” Pinky reminisces. Fortunately, Pinky and her mother soldiered on, and both recovered in time.
And while the battle did take a toll on Pinky’s body, it left nary a dent on her sense of gratitude. “After six years of chemotherapy and radiation, I developed an autoimmune condition called Sjogren’s syndrome wherein I don’t produce tears and saliva. It’s very challenging, I admit, but here I am, with my family and loved ones. I am so grateful for being alive,” she concludes.
