LAST week, I shared my reflections in ‘Gratitude in Five Baskets’. As October unfolds, I find myself drawn into a new thread of gratitude-one focused on our everyday heroes as parents. Just this past month, we celebrated Teacher’s Day and Grandparents’ Day. For this column, let me begin this gratitude series by honoring a quiet but crucial group: pharmacists and health professionals who accompany us in our wellness journey.
From teachers and grandparents to health guides
WE teach our children gratitude, respect and care through celebrations like Teacher’s Day and Grandparents’ Day. In the same way, our pharmacists play a kind of silent mentorship-they advise, protect, and empower our family’s health with utmost simplicity and kindness.
The most fearful time for many of us was during Covid. Back then, my daughter Meagan and I spent a lot of time in Ormoc, Leyte, because she was training with the national fencing team in a bubble camp. I recall our multiple trips to Watsons at SM Ormoc, since it was walking distance to our favorite hotel, Pina Suites.
From choosing immunity boosters, to health equipment like thermometers, to Covid tests, I remember the pharmacists in that branch always greeted us with a smile and gave us practical and prompt recommendations. Being away from home for weeks at a time, it became a calming ritual for my 14-year-old Meagan as she explored skin products at Watsons every visit. She even made a jingle for Watson’s and kept singing it for a while. It goes, ‘What’s on your mind.Watsons,’ which she later pushed me to send to the Watsons Marketing group. They were so nice and gave her a surprise gift bag full of goodies for her effort.
Beyond medication: Prevention as parenting
AS I taught Meagan and Marcus since they were toddlers to wash their hands before and after meals, or later on when they started school to be mindful of their surroundings: that if many people are sick in their class, they should be pro-active and take their supplements with zinc or use their Betadine throat spray. I have always hoped they would carry those habits into adulthood. Those small acts were my way of parenting toward prevention. Watsons, through its parent company AS Watson, mirrors that same mission as they elevate pharmacists’ role to guide us in preventive care across life’s stages.
Just this year, Watsons Philippines entered key partnerships that will train their pharmacists in diabetes care (with Diabetes Philippines Inc.) and will offer free obesity screenings (with Novo Nordisk). These are tools for families to act earlier and ask smarter questions. When we bring our children or parents into a pharmacy, I realize that we can turn ordinary visits into conversations about wellness, not just quick purchases.
We often think of pharmacists as dispensers of pills. But many of them are our first point of contact for our whole family. For our young and silver generations in the house, we might ask for flu medicine for our child or have questions on prescriptions for our aged loved ones.
On September 25 was World Pharmacist Day. ‘On this meaningful day, we extend our deepest gratitude to over 3,000 pharmacists and nearly 10,000 health professionals at AS Watson across the globe. Their commitment goes far beyond in-store services-they also provide online consultations in most of our markets, ensuring customers receive trusted health advice anytime, anywhere. Their expertise is essential in helping our customers navigate their health journeys with confidence,’ said Peter Macnab, international commercial director of AS Watson.
In line with the global celebration of World Pharmacist’s Day, Watsons Philippines joins in the global initiative to empower its pharmacists with expanded health services, aiming to build a healthier future for Filipinos and the wider region.
Modeling help-seeking for our children
WE teach our children to ask questions in class. Let us also model humility by seeking help ourselves-whether from doctors, teachers, or pharmacists. In doing so, we show our children that health, like learning, is a shared journey. I want my children to remember not only how I cared for them, but also how I asked for support when I needed it.
As AS Watson notes, younger generations and the silver generation alike are gravitating toward proactive health. This shift encourages us parents to lean into prevention, not reaction. Every pharmacy trip becomes a lesson-supervise label reading, ask the pharmacist for precautions, and talk about the role of preventive care.
Starting a gratitude habit
FOR every parent reading this, I invite you that in your next drug store visit, stop and look the pharmacist in the eyes, and say, ‘Thank you.’ Tell your children what role that person plays in your health Because gratitude is more than an emotion-it is a practice of seeing, acknowledging, and inviting connection. Let us extend it to all who guide our families in health.