Dear Ate M,

I am supposed to visit you in S. Korea when I come there in October. I didn’t tell you first about this plan because I could see that you are in and out of the hospital the past few months. I don’t didn’t want to pressure you to get better. I saw your last post that your were put in isolation. I had always prayed for you whenever your body failed you. Then I read Yo’s early morning post that you already passed. I was in Singapore at that time. I couldn’t process your death well because I was busy with work in a foreign country.

You were the stage actress that I looked up to in our group. I remember that time when I sang Joey Ayala’s “Bathala”, you provided the impromptu interpretative dance that had everybody in stitches. You taught the craft at the Philippine High School for the Arts when I left to pursue my journalism career and I told myself, how lucky were the students to have you as their mentor. When I was making a fool of myself during one of our performances in Letran because I was struggling with the Henerala Agueda character (I wasn’t able to completely memorize the script), you supported me by ad lib-ing so much.

I never heard a negative feedback from you even though I was messing up. You always encouraged me. You and Bill saw my potential way back in high school and the rest of the ensemble took me in after that.

I’m sorry I was not so much of a friend the past few years. We were all charting our own paths, with our own struggles. When Bart died at the start of the pandemic, I worried about you because you were among the immunocompromised people I know. But then I knew you were better off there than being stuck here although you are away from family. I thought that your university where you taught ought to be taking care of you well…

Your love for the theater and the arts never died as you continued your podcasts with our fellow stage people even from afar.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

No more pain. You are now with Him.

Dear Theater Actor,

Congratulations! You had a good opening night. You received so much flowers and gifts from admirers. I don’t think I ever received such gifts on any opening night I had…😂😂😂 Hopefully I can still catch the last run of your performance, but damn it’s so difficult. Scheduling my vegetable shopping is already difficult for me. Hahahaha! Shall I bring flowers backstage? I dunno; it will just get buried with all the other flowers that you often receive. Am I brave enough to meet you backstage? That I have yet to see.

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