WHEN GOOD MEN DIE . . .

Death is one thing we unwillingly think and talk about. Although we all know that someday we are going to die this certainty does not pat our hearts, giving much meaning with the things of this world, such as money, possessions, reputation, fame and power and all the good things that appease our consciousness . . . as if we are going to live forever.

Only this month two people close to me passed away. Pilo Abrugena and Meng De Dios. It was a bolt of lightning from the blue sky upon learning the deaths of these two good men. I was asking myself why good people die so sudden where a lot of bad ones out there can die in place of them. The words may sound unfair . . . Am I God who can tell which individual I want life to end first?

I faced a stressful legal suit against my hard as nail employer, when I was illegally dismissed after a quarrel over some bitter pills to swallow. During this time I was left high and dry by my officemates for fear that they might got involved. Pilo was beck and call for me by providing me someone who can defend and fight for my labor rights and later on won the case. I wouldn’t be able to grasp the nettle if not for him. Pilo was a happy man, a good father, someone who knocks all your worries down with his one man comical show. He called himself “Gagambang Lalaki” which in my personal interpretation is synonymous to “Magandang Lalaki” (until now I am contemplating what he really meant with this words). He was always willing to give, to listen and ready to throw a line to all he knew. After this depressing part of my life, Pilo helped me to go back in the drawing board again. He died of cardiac arrest.

Three days after I attended Pilo’s wake I received a text message from Menchie de Dios, my co-artist for 10 long years and one of the few people I can bear my heart out. The message went like this: “ Kuya . . . si Meng comatose na.” For a moment my feet seemed to sink where I stood I could only grip my phone harder as I read the message over and over again. I felt remorseful not to be able to see her husband Meng during his long confinement in the hospital, the least I could do then was to send comforting messages that will boost her morale and cheer her up. That night I called Menchie up. The conversation was gloomy marked with hopelessness and low-spiritless. She was blubbing while talking and asking many questions which I myself don’t know the answers. I just told her to just cling to hope although in my mind the situation was chance against chance the fact that Meng was brain dead. It was past 2 a.m. when we ended the phone chat. 7 hours later someone informed me that Meng was clinically dead. After learning the sad news there was dead air for a moment, I felt sorry for one of my dearest friends who lost her most precious possession. Just like Pilo, Meng too died of heart failure. Meng was a good husband who looked always after the sake of his wife. I have seen how he coddled Menchie. He drove her to the office and fetched her up after work as if he was one of the employees of the company. He was generous and soft hearted. A good provider and a person neat as a pin. He would be an ideal father if he was just given a chance to be . Although they were not able to have kids, he acted as a father figure the same way Menchie acted as a mother with children around them. He was meek and unpretentious and a God fearing man .
I have a bleeding heart with the demise of these two good men, but in my mind I know their good deeds have prepared them to their journey’s ends to meet their Maker.

Money, happiness and other desirable things are often here today, gone tomorrow. To most of us they are dominant significance, so we dedicate almost all our time and momentum to get hold of them and engross ourselves in many negative exploits for their sake. We are so concerned with the worries of this life that there is only tiny space in our mind for real spiritual living. When the time of passing actually comes we find out and realize that by having paid no attention to death all our life we are totally unready.

Salamat Pilo. . . salamat Meng sa lahat ng kabutihang ginawa at ipinakita nyo nuong kayo ay mga nabubuhay pa. . . You breathe your lasts but all your goodness will not perish . . . but will live though you are gone. . .

The righteous shall go into life eternal.
Matthew 25:46

OPEN CONVERSATION WITH CECILE TRINCHERA

Jessie wrote:
hello classmate!??? musta na? At first i wasn’t able to recognize you buti na lang narecall ko yung surname mo hahahah! Hope not a sign of mental deterioration . Can you join our group? Please help me too in my earnest aspiration to reunify all ERESian more specifically our section. Kindly tell about this site to all concern.

Regards to the family and God bless u!

Cecile wrote:
Well welll.. Mr Landingin... I seem to remember the last time i saw you when we were organizing sort of a reunion or what do you call it a drinking excuse..lol (things you do when you are younger) you were sitting on your front stairs...hahahaha.. Yeah I kept my maiden name.. my hubbys name didn’t seem to match my name.. jk... I will do that.. I will join the group.. I guess now I am more resilient when you guys tease.... I am glad to hear from classmates.. sharpens the memory..lol

Jessie wrote:
I guess you said that right! As we age we tend to become more flexible and shyness lessens . Hayaan mo wala ng manunukso sa iyo hahahahah!Anyways, thanks for joining and enjoy the group!

Cecile wrote:
I don’t really care if I get teased... I have my thing now.. i don’t get upset i just get even.. see the thing is with working with men is you tend to think like one.. Like a trailer trash..lol

Jessie wrote:
Teasing back then were part of our young & playful years - a representation of our innocence and immaturities . We epithet somebody to be like this or like that but not necessarily to make insults or rub things the wrong way. We were infantile and we were guiltless. We said something about somebody without due consideration because we are slapdash. Without these experiences and attributes our elementary memories would be lackadaisical. I also got teased then (many times). But now that i matured a lot, I dig up all these stuffs as bits of chronicles of my young years. And who cares about those teasing right now?

Cecile wrote:

Well. it didn’t really bother me, that was just a joke. I have three older brothers and one sister and i am the youngest, my brothers were really bad at that and we use to joke about who ever gets upset first is the one that loses.... so the more you get upset the more they tease. I was resilient then and i am pretty sure i did a lot of infantile things..OH YEAh.. It is funny now, but then was serious. I miss those days the innocent life, with no worries, no responsibilities and our most major job is drive our parents insane, spend their money (lol).

You were cool though, I have always find you hilarious, love those one man show moment- when you stand in front of the class and just make us laugh.. always thought.. not bad.. the smartest in the whole school with a good sense of humor. And then when the teacher comes in -- sit like an angel... We were in class for one year but it was really great.
So how is life in PI.. the last time i was there was 99..and boy I drank a lot.. partied hard ..// now I am too old for it..lol

So how many is in the group that is our batch mates?

Jessie wrote:

Did I ever tease you somehow? hahahaha! In my anamnesis, Ace Villareal and Alexander Domingo were the ones who peeve you most of the time and every time they do, you would just sit still and blub in your armchair as you slightly grazed away the tears in you cheeks. These rascals were too scared when the compassionate girls threatened them to tell the teacher what they did to you..(lol) while I, busy entertaining the unmindful others with my shaggy dog stories hahahahah! Ace and Alex were my closest buddies among the boys and I was the heritor of some of their roguish tricks. Back then, our classmates, especially the girls found me comical and entertaining but I am a bit precarious if my wittiness will still work once I get to meet all of you again. Already enlisted here were Jesusa Suyat, Emily Magalong, Dennis Quimora, Rio Bautist, Felix Jun Asilum, Malou (forgot her surname) . I still have to dig net to find Rowena Fermin, Marciana Yuzon,
Lailani Granada, Esmeralda Manlapig, Belinda Potente, Maevelyn Serrano, Guizella Paulino, Yvonne Delfin, Agnes Lopez, Arlene Pescasio, Rowena Teruel, Carina & Loida. Serafin Quintana, Rommel Eugenio, Bernardino Vicencio, Eliseo Vengco, Ace & Alex. Whew! See? I remember them all! Girls for sure will be harder to find (unless all of them are old maids lol) unlike the boys who kept their surnames. Please help!

Cecile wrote:

I don’t seem to remember you teasing me.. you were fun. I guess you are right Alex and ace are the bullies of our class.. I don’t remember the tears but I do remember the teasing a bit.. Not all of it... I guess I have to give them credit for that because I became strong.. and very resilient to things.. and working for a waste management company I have to grow balls because most of my co managers here are all male and I cant afford to be a cry baby.. plus all of them are white people so I really have to suck it up and be a b..itch or an a.. ss/ excuse my French..

So as far as I remember I don’t remember anything about you crossing me.

Well anyways those are bridge over the water.. and can't be changed..
You know what the funny part is... I think I had blocked that off and just remembered bits and pieces of elementary.. c'est lavie.. part of growing up.

It is good that u guys found me.. then I have more time to play at work..lol j.k.

Keep me posted

Jessie wrote:

Ay salamat naman! There was one time they teased you and I was the one cheering you up to stop from crying and asked them to stop their josh. Honestly, Mrs. Morales commented to get away from them . . nothing more than just an honest concern about my class standing. Remember, Loida and I was in race neck and neck for the honor and I thanked God I won that sprint nip and tuck. Ace and Alex were really mischievous then but they were nice guys. Their parents and siblings were receptive and kind to me. Their impishness was not to hurt but more of a playful mockery while you were too thin- skinned and easily got upset with it. They were guiltless and you were sensitive. The good thing is that these people that hurt you were the ones who taught you somehow to be tough and flexible. Now we have matured we understand these portion of our young lives. . . Comprendre, c'est pardoner. Memories stay with us forever and are important part of who we are. . but become less accurate as we age. . . lol.

Prenez! Bonne journée!

Cecile wrote:
Well, looking back it is really funny.. see when we were young we dont really worry and not really think of the consequences of your action... i guess i had changed a lot- taking psychology made me understand more of the growing pains and how we learn from it. i am sort of glad that i did take that course.. and sometimes apply it.. it is really handy with a teen ager.. i have learned to let go of the things that i cant control and things had changed a lot comparing to us.. looking now to what the teenagers do now.. omg we are angels..lol..

> You were nice when we were young, and i do remember that.. and i do remember you making it easy for everybody by your jokes.. and believe me i took that with me through my whole life.. that when everything gets wrong you make jokes.. and i just laugh... you werent just the smart boy in the school but you were cool at the same time. i do thank you for that :)

Merci Beaucoup... Prendre le bon soin

so how are the kids.. how old are your kids?

Jessie wrote:

Yeah right, we were carefree, cheerfully and playfully irresponsible then, but much easier to restrain compare with teenagers now. I can see that your boot is on the other side now. . and I’m glad you have changed for yourself. I think we were all nice. It was that young age is always associated with naughtiness more particularly with the boys and some were really hard to discipline. And I found all of us hilarious too; I remember you exchanged jokes with me and some of the girls. Perhaps you guys found me more entertaining because I got more barrels of laugh than the others. Girls were easier to please and more receptive so I preferred to do my one man show in front of them. hahahaha! I must say this, that you and the rest of our grade school classmates had partaken me some of the joyous and most unforgettable chapters of my young life and these memories will not be sealed with oblivion. Thanks to all of you!

Got 4 kids. . . all daughters. My eldest still has a year to finish her college, the other two are still in grade school while my youngest just turned 6 months old.

I PROMISE TO SEE YOU

Green with envy and strapped with a guilt trip - - these were how I felt not to be able to come on Melanie'sArrival and Despedida shindigs. I was just an arm span away from these special occurrences but time really seemed to be unkind to me. We all find ourselves full of activities, hectic, and tiring for ourselves and most especially for our dear families, because of this we commit our schedules one at a time giving each one a different degree of primacy. I wish I have the magic potion to be at separate places of two distinct occasions of same importance. Sayang talaga! Melanie has traveled too far to live through again and take a stroll down memory lane of our high school days only to find out only few of us could come and share the good times with her. Just like Alona, I remember Melanie as one of the "mahinhins" in our section. Still fresh in my mind, these two beautiful ladies would park themselves with me on school bounganvilla plant boxes and requested songs while I twang my guitar. Annie, I remember you very well, aside from being sporty and "alaskadora" you were the only one who knows how to strum the strings among the ladies. Do I really have that sinister beam? Ha!ha!ha!ha! (not anymore) You and Portiabeth were too closed because you shared almost the same interests and curiosities. Everytime I hear the Nolan's "If You Ever Change your Mind" always reminds me of her. She sang this song during a school program and I did the accompaniment ( Ala pang KTV nuon e). Riza, Cecile, Eliza, Imelda, Arlene. Elenita and Amalia was the troupe who epitheted me as "Mr. Executive" because I never bring school bag with me – and why should I? I only got two notebooks then(History & Journalism) and everytime I have to jot down something from the other subjects or take quizzes and exams, these generous ladies supplied me all the cut sizes of pad paper (heheheheh) . And what about Ellen, my dear Medic Commander who always got peeved with my mulishness and Raymundo's insubordination? lol. Perhaps these were the attributes why I seemed less liked by our girl classmates (aside from my insidious grin heheh) it was pretty palpable they seemed to find more pleasant guys like Ferdie,Lowell, Ramon, Henry, Carlo, Leonardo, Demet and the late Danilo who were more studious and better behaved than myself or the shy type class of Antonio and Edgardo? "You're making fun of my name!" Do you remember this scandalous line? hahahahah! It was election for class officers and I remember Raymundo tirelessly proposed Ronald to all positions (from presidency down to escort and finally to muse lol!) but never won a seat! Sensing Dilag's ridicule Ronald screeched the phrase, collapsed and rushed to the nearby clinic after this drollery. Crushes and hates were bits of high school experience. I have a lot of crushes rather than hates . Back then , I must make a clean breast and admit to all of you that Riza was my crush all throughout high school years. Girlfriend(s)? Syempre naman… I had a short lived relationship with one of our classmates, yes, short as blink of an eye . I rather not mention her name… I can only describe her . . . she was sexy (wow)! Yung iba secret na lang ( better ask Annie D. she knows some) hahahahahah!
My memories of Bobby, Lito & Raymundo will never be in oblivion. I agree with Anna Marie that there are distinct memories with certain friends. . . In and out of school, these guys shared me some of the happiest and most unforgettable fraction of my youth. Have you heard carolers singing the tunes of Beatles and Everly Brothers instead of yuletide chorus? During Christmas seasons, Lito, Dilag and I would go house to house to croon our carol pieces of "Please Please Me" and "Wake Up Little Sussie" hahahah!. Bobby, is my only Kumpare among our classmates and I remember often times we sneaked his father's bike going to Dalin or Imelda Pascual's place. Ewan ko ba sa kumpare ko na to, Ang gandang lalaki nerbyoso sa babae . When he got tired wooing a girl and he sensed that his courting was getting hard and had taken too long , (he was too impatient) ako na ang pinapagtuloy niya! (lol) Minsan naman sinama ko siya sa nililigawan ko, aba'y kinabukasan binasted ako nung girl only to find out the next day that she and Bobby were already on? hahahahah!

Hayy. . . its nice to dredge up all these fragments of high school stories. It makes me feel young. High School is really different, its the representation of our youth. It's like carrying all its memories for lifetime. My appreciation to Ferdie, Leni, Amalia, Cecil, Ed, and all the rest who give their undying support, time & effort to supply more cinders to woeful flame of our alma mater's flambeau in hope of giving it a newer and livelier blaze.
Melanie. . . I promise to see you!