by Telly G. Ocampo
It’s the season of Advent!
There are four (4) Sundays of Advent before Christmas.
But I want to bring back myself to the Christmases of long
ago. That was the time when there were no landline
connections, no plastic trees, no mobile phones and the
only thing we had to do excitingly was to wish and wait for
the postman to deliver Christmas cards from far and wide.
Today, I my Christmas wish came true. I received a very
special card from a very special friend, the daughter of
one of my mother’s best friends, Nang Segundina “Dinay”
Ayaay – Pates. She is Eleonor.
Since the age of cellphones, Christmas cards became
very rare – as in very rare. Today, Christmas greetings are
in facebook pages or messenger accounts of people. Just
as letter writing has become rarer and rarer, too. The post
office is no longer a place for getting information or a
source of hometown news. And the postman isn’t
anymore there every single day because he is already
assigned to other jobs in another town since there is not
anymore much servicing to do in the said office – the post
office. In fact, the “Mr. Postman” song of Sharon Cuneta
has become nil over the radio.
Going back to the Christmas card which I got early this
morning, I would say that It was not delivered by Mr.
Postman. It was placed on my breakfast table before
Inday Eleonor left for Dumaguete – her home.
We have lost touch with each other since we got married.
Our mothers are the ones who share with us our
whereabouts including the number of grandchildren we
have plus the other information that make up all the
memories.
Both our parents are gone now. And we, the children,
have come back to the place of our roots. Ug nia pa gyud
sa Taguihon. Eleonor and I are both widows now. With
Dumaguete just an ocean jet trip away, Inday Eleonor’s
coming home to visit us is a treasure. Her ancestral home
is just a few steps away from my Blue Apartelle.
Then came her sister, Tessie together with their nephew –
Roland – who is the son of their brother Rudy. Tessie did
not miss visiting an close friend and relative – Ricardo
Batoy.
And now here’s the message: from Inday Eleonor A
special card for someone who deserves a special
message. As soon as I saw this Christmas card, I
knew it’s something to give to you, because….. within
my heart, in a certain place where my memories and
my special hopes and my nicest thoughts are, there is
a space just to you. And by giving this card only to
you, it helps me wish a warm and wonderful
Christmas and a happy new year to someone who will
always be special to me.
And with this kind of message, I cannot help but feel
misty-eyed for the beautiful memories we had when we
were young. And the shores of Taguihon have a special
space in our hearts.
The season of Advent is, indeed, a blessing!
