In Gratitude

In gratitude I wanted to make use of some Latin phrase as the title for this piece just to serve as another warning to myself just in case this turns out to be a very lengthy prose of gratitude to those people whom I owe so much: However, I do not know Latin, eh. Thank you to the following persons: To Lolo, for stealthily changing my name from Marie Antoinette to Heaven, salamat guid, wherever you are. Thank you for giving me my first book on literature, for making me memorize a piece from the Merchant of Venice, and for telling me all those stories about the supernatural and the local legends. Thank you for always being there for me Lolo. (Salamat man for passing those great intellectual genes, hehe). To Lola, for bringing me to all those masses when I was too young to put up a fight. You saved me from the dangers of atheism. Thank you for the baons, the dresses, (even the boxes of panties, shhh). Thank you for showing me the ways of a proper lady. To Nanay, for the very strict and regimental upbringing (I may not like your style but it had its moments). Thank you for giving me this profession, for teaching what family really means and for keeping my money for me (yes, Nay. Ubuson ko lang guid man daa sa libro if I had my way). Thank you for giving up the things you wanted most just to bring us up. Naintindihan ta ka (bisan indi, hehe). To Tatay, for washing my clothes, for sharing those jokes, for simply being there. Even if you are not with us anymore Tay, I will always be grateful for all the things you gave me and the love you unselfishly gave us. Thank you for giving up 20 years of your life for me. Love you Tay. (And no, readers, that is the correct arrangement because tatay was our ilaw ng tahanan and Nanay was our haligi, and yes, I was confused when I was too young to understand how things worked). To my brothers and sisters, no comment lang anay ha. Separate page kamo since you do know how to make my life happy and frustrating at the same time. Basta guys, most of the things that I do, I do for you (So kamu dapat mapasalamat kanakon) To Ma’am Teresa Martinez Devecais, for believing in me. It made a big difference in my life, just knowing that someone believed in me and in what I could do. If not for that Ma’am, I would not be where I am today and I would not be who I am now.Kudos for being such a great teacher. To Ms. Emilia Solidarios, for trusting me in elementary. For discovering that thing that I did not know I have. And for helping me nurture it. To Ma’am Fina Felisa Alcudia, for inspiring me to reach my full potential as a teacher, for the maternal concern and for showing me what a great teacher is like. To Ma’am Victoria Villa Albacete, for guiding me throughout my last year in college, for believing in me, for not letting me down whenever I needed her. Thank you Ma’am for the support, the guidance, the commitment. Thank you pa guid sa mga advice kag encouragement… sa tanan-tanan guid. To Mary Rose Adelle Pacificar, for being there, for listening, for sharing… For all those special experiences you gave me… for teaching me to spread my wings and for keeping my trust all these years. You never did let me down, Del. To Ma’am Cecilia Gatungay, for letting me use the library to my hearts content, for allowing me to borrow books for months, for the advice and the listening ear…and the support. Thank you for understanding. To Geramie Barbosa, for being such a great bestfriend (baw, best na great pa). The world hated me back then, but you were always there to make it worth it. You spoiled me, you know. You were such a darling and I did not know how I loved being spoiled until we parted ways. To the SS IV Batch 2002 of PNHS, for being such great study materials. Joke. Thank you guys, for bearing with me all those years. I may not have allowed you to copy my assignments and my answers during tests and I may have been very selfish with my knowledge but I did it for your own good you know (hehe). Promise, now that I am a teacher, I will teach your younger brothers and sisters and your children (buhay pa man da guro, ano?) really well. (Swear). To SILAK the college publication, for the experiences, the lessons, the sense of belonging, and for introducing new things. Because of you, my college life was made even more colorful and precious. To Ma’am Erlinda Salaya, for the big break…and for making it even more unique and significant. That moment changed my life ma’am. I can still remember the smoke, the time, and how everything seemed to slow down and ceased moving when you said the words you did that fateful day, nine years ago. And most especially, to God for putting all these people in my life. Your timing has always been perfect. They were right after all, God is always good and God always knows what is best.