Thanksgiving Message and Expression of Love Interment of Nanang
MANUELA URCIA GUILLERMO
April 13, 1944 – November 12, 2008
MANUELA URCIA GUILLERMO
April 13, 1944 – November 12, 2008
To stand before all of you to express our deepest and most heartfelt thanks for all your gestures of kindness, generosity, prayers, and love during our most difficult time of bereavement because of the demise of our dearly loved Nanang is one of the most heart-rending and heart-breaking moments.Our hearts are full, filled with thanksgiving no amount of words can contain. We were so touched that during the hours of our bereavement, you were there by our side helping all of us to carry through. Your prayers, your presence, your expressions of condolences, your sharing of selves, your sacrifices, your kind words of encouragement – all of these helped our family – the Guillermo family – to face with strength the loss of a dear mother.
Together with Tatang, she raised five children molding each one of us painstakingly into the persons she dreamt us to be. Together with Tatang, she built a family she was always proud of. All of us – the five children – have experienced the unconditional love of our Nanang. Four boys and a girl. All of us professionals, which every parent dreams for her children. Dante is now an entrepreneur of his own. Arnel manages also a little shop. Epie Rey works in a bank in its I.T. department. Mae teaches I.T. and at the same time Clubs and Organizations Chairperson at St. Paul College of Island Park, while I am the High School Academic Chair at St. Paul College of Bocaue.Nanang is survived by her only sibling, Auntie Minda and her family, and the happy family that they both built with Tatang with 11 grandchildren, and only yesterday another one was born making it 12. Nanang loved all of them so much. More so for her four in-laws.
1. Dante and Nelia have
• Delainne Rose – 17 years old, 2nd year BS Education major in English student of Cagayan State University here in Sanchez Mira2. Arnel and Maricar have
• Dianne Rose – 15 years old, a fourth year student at the Divine Word High School here in Sanchez Mira
• Dann Darrell Ralph - 12 years old, first year student also at the Divine Word High School
• Dan Dave Rodneil – 10 years old, Grade V at Sanchez Mira Central Elementary School
• Adrian Paul – 7 years old, Grade I at the Sanchez Mira Central Elementary School3. Epie Rey and Josie have
• Marianne Joy – 1 year old – the last one Nanang was very fond of
• Jazelle Chloe – 3 years old, whom Nanang had the privilege of taking care of her last summer4. Sue and I have
• Manuel Jeoffrey – 1 day old, the latest whom Nanang was not able to see anymore.
• Kevin Paul – 17 years old, 2nd Year BS Geology student at the University of the Philippines – Diliman5. Mae – the only girl and only one among the five children who is still single.
• Kamille Marie – 12 years old, First Year high school student at St. Paul College of Bocaue
• Karen Jobelle – 8 years old, Grade III at St. Paul College of Bocaue
• Kathleen Joy – 5 years old, Kinder in Amulung, whom Nanang took care while she was yet a toddler
Through the years, in between bouts of hypertension and diabetes mellitus, Nanang always found time to visit us, her children and grandchildren. She loved to travel as she enjoyed the sights of different places while travelling with Tatang.
Nanang retired from the Cagayan State University – Sanchez Mira Campus after having prodded her to have an early retirement at age 58, due to deteriorating health, just few years after Tatang also retired from service. She was then the Chair of the College of Agriculture.
I figured out it must have been providential because both of them were eventually so absorbed in the Couples for Christ. Tatang and Nanang would travel together to different places actively helping in the formation of several communities of the Couples for Christ. She did not consider her health condition as a major hindrance in serving the Lord. Tatang and Nanang, I learned, would often deliver talks in the Christian Life Program of the CFC. They would join the other couples in this part of the province in the different CFC Programs. I am elated more knowing that Tatang and Nanang were both happily serving in this Parish, with Tatang as an Extraordinary Lay Minister of the Holy Communion. To my mind, I was telling myself, what a beautiful way of spending the rest of their lives together – giving their last ounce of strength in the service of the Lord.
During the wake of Nanang, I have witnessed throngs and throngs of people from the different chapters of Couples for Christ – Sta. Praxedes, Claveria, Sanchez Mira, Pamplona, Abulug, Aparri, Camalaniugan, and still others where Nanang and Tatang were both involved. I did not know that they both were among those who the CFC considered as seed couples. Now I know that Nanang and Tatang truly are silent workers in the vineyard of the Lord. Nanang’s dedication was extraordinarily admirable. Despite being an amputee on her left leg, and even after she was partially paralyzed, Nanang never wavered in her involvement in the Couples for Christ! She was stronger than ever. Up to the very end, she used her last dose of strength working in the Lord’s vineyard.
Two days after her remarkable display of enthusiasm and commitment to her work in the Couples for Christ, she simply told Tatang, she felt so weak. She lovingly told Tatang she felt her time has come. With all love and compassion, Tatang assured her that she just needed to be strong and that God have infinite mercy. But her physical body was deteriorating fast. We learned later on that her immediate cause of death was enlargement of the heart brought about by acute myocardial infarction, indirectly caused by her diabetic condition. Her lungs were filled with fluids. Her kidneys eventually collapsed. All she asked for was for her to be helped seated or to lie down. Tatang and Arnel took turns to pump more oxygen as she was gasping for breath. But she did not complain. She must have been struggling from pain, but silently. She passed away just few minutes after an automatic respirator was attached to her. Then the monitor went flat. Nanang is gone.To me, there was nothing more devastating to know than receiving a text informing me that Nanang is gone. At 10:29:05 p.m. of November 12, I received that text message I feared most when Nanang was rushed to the hospital that other night. My brother Arnel texted me, "Awan nanangen."
"Mother is gone."
Words I received while I was about to retire for the night. It didn't sink right away. I texted back my brother. "Ania??!! Natayen??" "What??!! She already passed away??"
Then I called up my other brother, Dante. He was sobbing in between our conversations. I couldn't hold back my emotions anymore. I told him, our mother had sacrificed so much for all of us. She had suffered for so long. She endured all because we cannot provide all her medical needs and interventions so that her agony from diabetes and hypertensive episodes would be controlled, at least.
Then it dawned on us, we are so poor. We don't have money to start with. My brother at the other line told me he only had P400.00 left in his pocket. I barely had P2,000.00 left in my pocket.
"Can you remedy something tonight from anyone whom you think can help us?" I asked him.
"Perhaps they are already all asleep," he sobbed. "I was selling my motorcycle but no one could take it immediately," he added in between his cries.
I wept. We are so helpless. We got no one whom we can immediately run to. We don't even have even just a handful of relatives in Sanchez Mira. Our parents simply migrated there since we were small. Our relatives are all scattered in Lal-lo and in Camalaniugan. No one really to run to.
I called up my brother Rey. He was also crying. I tried calling up our only sister, Mae. She could not be reached. I was figuring out how we could bring home Nanang from the Cagayan Valley Medical Center (CVMC) in Tuguegarao without some good money to start with. I wept some more in pity.
Then I remembered Tatang. How’s my beloved Tatang. I couldn’t talk to him via cellphone. The cellphone of Nanang was defective. I wept with the thought that I was not there when he needed me most. I wept some more thinking that only our brother Arnel was beside him. It must have been so painful for him to lose the love of your life. Through thick and thin, Tatang took care of her unconditionally. Tatang became her personal nurse, so to speak. Our Tatang is a very strong-willed person. He is the source of strength and inspiration of the entire family. I have not seen greater love than his for our Nanang. All my entire life, I have not seen a single time that they ever had any fight at all. Our Tatang is truly a great example of a husband and a father. To me, no one comes close to the love that I have seen in both of them. That is why, for all of us, their children, we could not afford to fail them and cause them pain in our married life. Tatang and Nanang are our best model of happily married couple despite their struggles in life.
Now, our mother is gone. Our mother already left us. She had left us, with all her five children, professionals. But no matter how much we may have given back to her, materially, monetarily, and presence, nothing would be enough to match the love and the sacrifices she had given to all of us. She was always very happy each time that we would visit them in Sanchez Mira. On special occasions, she would look forward to seeing all of us. But many times, we failed to complete our family.
Now, we paid her our last respects. We finally had a family reunion like no other. But we saw our mother already in her coffin. It was a sight that broke our hearts. No amount of comforting words would suffice for the loss of a mother so dearly loved.
Nanang, wherever you are right now, please know that we love you so much. Please know that I love you so much. You know that very much. While we grieve for your demise, we are comforted that you are freed from your physical sufferings that you had long endured. We are comforted that you are now with our Lord, with God in His promised eternal life. With all compassion and love, we know that the Lord accepted you with a heartfelt embrace. Let alone your dedication in the Lord's vineyard be one of your redemptions.
Thank you for the years that we had you with us. Thank you for the unconditional love you had given to each one of us, your 5 children, our children, and most of all to Tatang. Thank you for the unforgettable lessons that you had taught us. Thank you so much for everything.
For the many times that we have failed you, forgive us.
For the many heartaches that we have given you, look at us with compassion.
For the many moments that we ignored your pleas of help, understand us.
For the many promises that we have broken, embrace us.
For the many times that we left you alone, be with us.
Nanang, go in peace to the Lord and bring with you our love and a wonderful memory of a family you have built with Tatang. Bring all our cares and burdens to the foot of Jesus. Offer all your sacrifices for us whom you have left behind. Please beg Jesus to pour out His blessings on us, your family, which up to now is still wallowing in dire poverty. Please ask our most loving and eternal God to send us what we needed to live decent lives.
Nanang, it is not goodbye. It is not farewell. Jesus Himself taught us that a seed has to die in order to live. Now, you live in our hearts. Now we carry you wherever we are. Now we have you always with us.
Nanang, I love you so much...
Tatang, I know it must be so painful to lose Nanang. We all do feel the same pain. But I want you to know that we are all here for you. We will all miss Nanang by our side. You have sacrificed so much for her. Nanang couldn’t ask for more. It is our consolation that we have a Tatang like you. A Tatang who’s all loving and all sacrificing. We are so proud of you. You are our model of a father. To us, no one comes close to you. Tatang, rest assured of our love more than ever.
To all our relatives who have come from afar, your presence is a testimony of how much we are loved. We can never thank you enough for all your offers of sacrifices. With you around, we were able to carry through this difficult time in our family with less burdens on our shoulders.
To all of you who have come and shared in our grief, thank you so much. I am sure, Nanang was happily attending to each one of you as you offered your prayers, time, talent, and treasures for her. May God who is never outdone in generosity reward you with the choices gifts that each one of you deserves.
To our Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Roberto Ibay, SVD, thank you so much for this special Requiem Mass.
To God, the infinite source of mercy and love, thank you for our Nanang’s 64 years in this world. Thank you for having her as our Nanang. Thank you for all the blessings and graces that You have showered on her. Grant her eternal rest O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May Nanang rest in peace.
I remember an old lullaby that I used to hear. May I sing it again for Nanang.
Oh my Mama
To me she was so wonderful
Oh my Mama
To me she was so good
Gone are the days
When she would take me on her knees
And with a smile
She’d change my tears to laughters
Oh my Mama
So funny yet adorable
Oh my Mama
To me she was so good.
