The Bright Side of Things
While dining at the lunch table today,
I finally realized something that hasn't been clear to me for a long time now...
They were talking about death...
about those children who ate something in Bohol and died because of it,
children unknowing of what dangers they'd encounter upon nibbling a piece of the food...
and I realized that like KC's death...
the fuzz on their demise will eventually die down, and people will move on.
I remember years back,
when I was in Sunday Lunch...
my cousin called and said that Luigi Lagdameo got into a car accident...
I had just met him from the prom earlier as she was Tintin's date...
I've seen him around, he was an acquaintance.
it all happened one night, while driving home from the bar...
while he was with his friends.
I went to the wake even if I didn't know him so well 'coz I empathized with my fellow youth.
he was so young, why did he have to leave?
I remember years back,
while watching t.v. that an actor had died...
Miko Sotto. He fell from a building.
Some say that he was drinking that night -
reason why he lost his balance and fell off the ledge.
Again, I felt bad for him - coz he was too young to die.
So much in store for him, and one fateful day made it fall apart.
I remember months ago,
when I heard from my sister that Kitty Yoshida,
that girl who always welcomes us in Sugi Greenbelt,
had hung herself in her bedroom.
I was shocked as I didn't think anyone would ever do that to him/herself.
She was a friend of my sister's - of an older age group.
I felt bad for her as her life was just about to start.
I remember in Ateneo,
when Xavier Yu was the talk of the town.
He was a guy who fell off from the balcony of the Prince David Condominium.
Like Miko, he lost balance and was not able to recover it.
He was just hanging out with his friends, I heard.
So much can change in a split of a second.
And it was just saddening that he moved about in the same places as me,
And I never got to meet him, or perchance come across him while walking along CTC.
Back at the dining table,
while listening to my parents and their friends in an intimate conversation,
I finally realized something.
I always thought that these deaths were pointless - an unfair act of God.
I could not discern through the ordeal of pain and suffering, and dealing with the painstaking aftermath of losing someone you love so dearly.
Yet, as my mom continued to speak about her project, I discerned through the death of my sister and realized that not all deaths can make a difference. So many people die everyday, and some, out of poverty are not even grieved upon anymore - they are immediately buried. So many deaths occur, but not all deaths can make a difference.
With KC's passing, I realized that she had done so much (although it had to be the hard way).
In addition to the asbestos suits for the firemen and the KC foundation, my mom has now formed a support group for mothers which she has already pitched to Tita Dinky Soliman, the secretary of DSWD. It was too help mothers who are dealing with the loss of a child.
The group now includes...
Tita Ali Sotto, Tita Le Lagdameo, Bebe Yu, and Glo Yoshida - the mother's of the youth who had also passed away along with KC. And everyday, more and more mothers are joining her cause. Now, they're trying to contact the moms of Camille Illustre, Bea Liwanag, the 16 year-old girl from ICA who died in her sleep, any many other youth who left us at a young age. Together, they are gonna help each other deal with their grief, and with the help of Tita Dinky, they'll reach out to the other mothers out there who cannot afford counseling, who do not have time to grieve because of the harshness of life, who could not bounce back from their tragedy and face life again.
It's true - not all deaths can make a difference. But I am fortunate that my sister's, along with Miko's, Luigi's, Xavier's, and Kitty's and many others, can truly make a difference.
I finally realized something that hasn't been clear to me for a long time now...
They were talking about death...
about those children who ate something in Bohol and died because of it,
children unknowing of what dangers they'd encounter upon nibbling a piece of the food...
and I realized that like KC's death...
the fuzz on their demise will eventually die down, and people will move on.
I remember years back,
when I was in Sunday Lunch...
my cousin called and said that Luigi Lagdameo got into a car accident...
I had just met him from the prom earlier as she was Tintin's date...
I've seen him around, he was an acquaintance.
it all happened one night, while driving home from the bar...
while he was with his friends.
I went to the wake even if I didn't know him so well 'coz I empathized with my fellow youth.
he was so young, why did he have to leave?
I remember years back,
while watching t.v. that an actor had died...
Miko Sotto. He fell from a building.
Some say that he was drinking that night -
reason why he lost his balance and fell off the ledge.
Again, I felt bad for him - coz he was too young to die.
So much in store for him, and one fateful day made it fall apart.
I remember months ago,
when I heard from my sister that Kitty Yoshida,
that girl who always welcomes us in Sugi Greenbelt,
had hung herself in her bedroom.
I was shocked as I didn't think anyone would ever do that to him/herself.
She was a friend of my sister's - of an older age group.
I felt bad for her as her life was just about to start.
I remember in Ateneo,
when Xavier Yu was the talk of the town.
He was a guy who fell off from the balcony of the Prince David Condominium.
Like Miko, he lost balance and was not able to recover it.
He was just hanging out with his friends, I heard.
So much can change in a split of a second.
And it was just saddening that he moved about in the same places as me,
And I never got to meet him, or perchance come across him while walking along CTC.
Back at the dining table,
while listening to my parents and their friends in an intimate conversation,
I finally realized something.
I always thought that these deaths were pointless - an unfair act of God.
I could not discern through the ordeal of pain and suffering, and dealing with the painstaking aftermath of losing someone you love so dearly.
Yet, as my mom continued to speak about her project, I discerned through the death of my sister and realized that not all deaths can make a difference. So many people die everyday, and some, out of poverty are not even grieved upon anymore - they are immediately buried. So many deaths occur, but not all deaths can make a difference.
With KC's passing, I realized that she had done so much (although it had to be the hard way).
In addition to the asbestos suits for the firemen and the KC foundation, my mom has now formed a support group for mothers which she has already pitched to Tita Dinky Soliman, the secretary of DSWD. It was too help mothers who are dealing with the loss of a child.
The group now includes...
Tita Ali Sotto, Tita Le Lagdameo, Bebe Yu, and Glo Yoshida - the mother's of the youth who had also passed away along with KC. And everyday, more and more mothers are joining her cause. Now, they're trying to contact the moms of Camille Illustre, Bea Liwanag, the 16 year-old girl from ICA who died in her sleep, any many other youth who left us at a young age. Together, they are gonna help each other deal with their grief, and with the help of Tita Dinky, they'll reach out to the other mothers out there who cannot afford counseling, who do not have time to grieve because of the harshness of life, who could not bounce back from their tragedy and face life again.
It's true - not all deaths can make a difference. But I am fortunate that my sister's, along with Miko's, Luigi's, Xavier's, and Kitty's and many others, can truly make a difference.