by Telly Gonzaga-Ocampo
Vaya Con Dios
Vaya con dios mi vida, vaya con dios mi amor.
Wherever you may be I’ll be beside you.
Although you’re many million dreams away.
Each night I say a prayer, a prayer to guide you.
To hasten every lonely hour of every lonely day.
Now the dawn is breaking to a bright tomorrow.
And the memories we share are there to borrow.
Vaya con dios mi vida. Vaya con dios mi amor.
The book my student sent me for Christmas, direct from Canada.
My Oyong Ando had his collection of long playing records now called vinyl in our phonographs and now called the turn table. Italicized words in the first paragraph above are lines of a song from Jerry Vale and the song is part of the collection of Oyong Ando.
The song “Vaya con Dios” is some kind of a prayer for me in remembering my husband, Roger. Last December 14 was the 40th day of his passing. God be with him until I join him in the afterlife. As Kahlel Gibran said. Life and death are one. How can we ever know life if we don’t experience death? As our tradition says, the soul of a dead person leaves the earth on the 40th day heavenward for the gentle of souls. So to Roger, Vaya Con Dios.
In your leaving, I have felt the love and care of people in our distant past. And yet they showed me they truly care. Of course I cannot be mentioning all of them. My editor may not allow it. But I know that there has been so much space already given in your memory by The Bohol Tribune. And for this I’m very grateful. My bff Ardy came out from her hibernation to be on your last night in the world. And she took photos in church for the mass during your interment. And we had the Immaculadian choir who offered the mass songs.
We are also forever grateful to Msgr. Boy Nunag, who prepared you for your journey to eternal life. Every bead of the rosary you carried to your grave was something to remember me by even if you had not prayed the rosary in your entire life. But the rosary was my armour in life. That was given to me by Mariano Ong, my classmate and your co employee at Granexport. Every bead of that rosary was crystal blue – a souvenir from Fatima when Mar had his pilgrimage to Camino de Santiago in Spain.
There was also Daya (Virgilia Yap) who brought in goods when she learned of your passing. Girlie, her daughter, facilitated your hospitalization at Holy Name Medical Center; and your doctor Cristian Lim, whom girlie called, was there upon your arrival in the hospital.
Then, on my birthday, Daya came in with son Simon who is exactly like Bobong (Dr. Simplicio Yap) in telling stories.
Robert Yu called up when he learned about your passing. It was something so unexpected from friends in Tacloban. While it was true that I was instrumental in his marriage to Penny thru the prodding of his mother Mana Azon, yet, you always knew I shun friendliness with those in Tacloban’s richest. I always feel the warmth of Robert and Penny. Everytime they would know that I’m in Tacloban, they would always call but most often I’m already back home. Tacloban Sam Trading’s Ian has a business relationship with them but the matriarch, Mana Medjing, treats Ian as a relation. Her two sons Sammy and Andrew, are close to me: Samuel whom I have recruited to be a lecturer at UP Tacloban and Andrew whom I have helped encourage to go to college from the proddings of Mana Medjing. And yet Andrew gave up school and have the Company River Valley. At the start, our relationship was just business in nature but as it progressed, familial reason was the core of the matter.
Jonathan Calvara is my son, Ian’s best friend and highschool buddy. We used to be neighbours in Burgos. He was such an unassuming boy. His sister is also my daughter, Irene’s best friend.
Estelas classmates sent in their condolences. Another classmate whom she has not been in touch with since their high school graduation, sent in her condolences, too, and something material which Estela never expected.
The Quintero’s may be coming one day soon. They cannot just leave yet, because they have just lost their mother, Mana Julit. They greeted me on my birthday for they were also celebrating their father’s birthday. We share the same birthday, Dec 11. And what a coincidence, too. Dodong and Mana Julit have the same birthdays, July 30. Mana Julit died of liver cancer and she was diagnosed only in July last year. She died early September of the same year.
As I submit this article today, Dec.13, I received from the mail a book promised to me by my former student in UP Tacloban: The book is marked , THE HAPPIEST MAN ON EART and is written by a jew, a survivor of AUSWITCH. This former student of mine knows my penchant for the travails of the Jews. This book came all the way from Canada. This book reminds me of the time I watched Schindler’s List with my friend Dory. We did not have our hankies when we went to see the movie. So, Dory and I shared the shawl I wore to wipe out our tears: she to my left, and, I using the right side of the shawl. We just allowed the tears to roll down our face.
Our daughter Irene will be on GMA 7 this coming Dec. 18. I was asked to demonstrate how I make my hamonada in the SARAP PINAS show of Cara David. Since I cannot stand for long, I asked Irene to do the demo, for me. So, Irene, our youngest daughter, will be on national television. I told them my reason for accepting the challenge of this demo and it is because we always prepared hamonada every Christmas celebration in the past. In our 52 years with Roger we never missed celebrating Christmas together, except Christmas of 2020.
And now, the year 2021, you are gone. They asked for your picture, my picture and the family picture. Wherever you are, I say, Merry Christmas, and VAYA CON DIOS.
