Announcements and Greetings
Angela Fe
Fe�s Thanksgiving List
�The night before she died, Fe dictated to Cynthia all the things she wanted to thank God for.�
- the love that I, Fe, continuously experience from my husband and two children, my parents, brothers, sisters, in-laws and friends;
- the financial comforts I have experienced, �hindi mahirap-hindi mayaman,� that I have been able to buy the things I needed and the things I wanted;
- I have seen many places and met people of many nationalities, been to countries like Japan, Netherlands, U.S., Belgium and Hongkong;
- I have been blessed with a good scholastic standing, been a salutatorian in kinder, 4th honors in Grade VI, PSHS scholar in high school, NSDB scholar in college, UP-SURP university scholar, 2nd semester 1992-1993, during my post-graduate studies;
- a sense of being forgiven for my sins, being God�s humble instrument na magbalik-loob ang aking mga kapatid at mga kaibigan; some officemates and Daddy have even been able to give up vices like smoking;
- being reconciled with members of my family and being an instrument of family reconciliation;
- no fear of death, a sense of readiness, even of expectancy to meet Jesus after this life;
- personal prayers and family prayers where before were non-existent;
- faithful and loving husband, and healthy and loving children;
- parents who believe in my strength and capacity, and who have given me both spiritual and material support;
- generous and caring brothers, sisters and in-laws;
- friends who were always there when I needed them.
Pasalamat sa Taga-NEDA
(Binasa ni Leahfe sa misang dinaluhan ng mga taga-NEDA noong gabi ng ika-15 ng Setyembre 1994 sa Loyola Memorial Chapel Q, Guadalupe, Makati.)
�Nais ko pong magpasalamat sa mga kaopisina ng Mommy ko. Napakahalaga ng bawa�t araw na itinagal ng Mommy. Sa amin ng kapatid kong si Martin, ang bawa�t pagkakataon na nakikita namin ang Mommy sa bahay, o nakakausap man lang sa telepono kung siya ay nasa ospital, ay nagpapasaya sa amin...at dumami pa ang mga araw na nakasama namin si Mommy dahil na rin sa mga taong nagmamahal sa kanya. Ilan sa inyong mga kaopisina niya ang nagbigay ng dugo na ikinahaba ng buhay niya.
�Inaliw ninyo ang Mommy nang siya ay magkasakit. Sinaklolohan ninyo nang siya�y humingi ng tulong. Minahal ninyo ang Mommy nang parang isang kapamilya ninyo. Tinawag ninyo siya ng �Ate Fe�. Pero ang Mommy parang Ate ninyo talaga. Palagi naming naririnig ang malaki niyang pasalamat sa pagkakaroon ng mga kaibigang tulad ninyo. Puro Tito at Tita kung banggitin kayo sa amin ni Martin. Kaya, masaya na rin kami at pinamanahan kami ni Mommy ng mga tunay na kaibigan na tulad ninyo.
Nagpapasalamat din kami sa mga boss ng Mommy. Alam naming sobra-sobra ang ibinigay ninyong pang-unawa.
Ang NEDA ay naging malaking bahagi ng buhay ng Mommy. Salamat sa lahat ng taga-NEDA. Tatanawin namin ng malaking utang na loob ang lahat ng nagawa ninyo para sa Mommy.
Mahal kayo ng Ate Fe ninyo.�
������������������������ - Lee
�When Fe�s cancer worsened, she thought probably her mission on earth was done. And among the many whose lives she touched deeply was Faye who was suffering from a heart ailment when she was a child. Through Fe�s effort Faye was accepted in a US hospital for treatment. Her whole family was even allowed to stay with her in the US. Fe believed Faye was part of her life�s mission.� - Leny
�Tita Fe was (and still is) a very special person in my life. It is not only me that she has helped -- she has also done a great deal for my family. I thank the Lord for bringing her into our lives, and for using her as an instrument of His goodness. I feel that I am among the living, breathing legacies of the many good deeds she has done in her life.�
��������������������- Faye (Dec. 23,1994)
Doris' Eulogy for Lory
September 13, 1997
First of all, I would like to thank everyone for coming and helping us
hold this wonderful Memorial Gathering for Lory. Losing Lory was very
traumatic for all of us. Your presence brings us great comfort.
I remember Lory when she first arrived from Guam. She was only 3 years
old. She had a bottle in her mouth and I remember trying to hug her and
kiss her but she was latching on to her Dad so tight, I couldn't get a hold
of her. I remember when her mother, Sophie, came to visit and left for
California. It was a casual goodbye as if she was only going to the store.
Little did Lory know her mother was never coming back again. Although Lory
did not have a mother, she had her grandparents, lots of aunts and uncles
and a weekend father to care for her along with Cathy, Loraine and Jenny.
Lory also had a lot of friends who made a difference in her life.
Rudy and I took Lory in when she was in the 8th grade. I felt she was
starting to get into some trouble and she needed help. She was like a
sister to Monique and Alan. Her teenage years were difficult for both of
us. I don't know if I was trying too hard to be her mother or she was
searching too hard to fill a void in her life. But whatever the reason,
Lory and I truly cared and loved each other. Despite everything we had been
through, Lory and I parted bitterly when she decided to move out. But her
last visit from Seattle this past June was forgiving. Without having to
explain anything, we made up. Forgiving someone with a simple hug and a
kiss is the sweetest kind there is.
I'll remember Lory's smile, her giggles, her good taste in clothes, her
long hours gossipping on the phone and that dimple in her left cheek. Most
of all, despite all the hurts she felt during her brief life, she remained
sweet and loving till the end.
For Lory Ann
From Your Auntie Imee
(Imelda T. Villanueva)
9/13/97
Many years ago, a close friend of my Dad from the Embassy lost a daughter
suddenly and tragically. She was struck and killed by a bus on her way to
work one morning. I remember my Dad repeating something that his friend
had said to him, "Treasure your children now when you can, because you
never know when they will be taken away from you." I was just a kid, in my
early teens at the time, but what he said made such an impact on me that
the memory is evoked very so often in my mind, especially when I think of
my nieces and nephews. I remember trying to put myself in that grieving
family's shoes, trying to imagine the sorrow and sense of loss they must
have felt. But of course, I could only imagine at the time, because you
really don't know other people's anguish unless you've been there yourself.
Sadly, for me and my friend, we experienced that unbearable sense of loss
and sadness when our oldest sister, Fe, passed away on September 13, 1994.
Now, three years later, there are still moments when I can't help but cry
because I miss my sister so much. So it was particularly painful--after I
felt I was finally able to come up for air from an ocean of tears--that we
got the news that we had lost Lory Ann.
We were awaken at 4 o'clock in the morning, (it's never good news at 4 a.m.) to
find out that Lory was killed in an auto accident. I remember vividly how Noel
held my hand before telling me the news as I erupted in screams and sobs. It
seemed so unnatural that the words "Lory Ann" and "killed" were being used in
the same sentence. She was so young and so beautiful and so full of life.
A million thoughts raced through my mind -- I was angry. "Why God?!,
I asked. I felt that his taking Lory from us was some sort of punishment.
I was in denial. "Please let this be a dream, please let this be a
dream," I kept saying over and over to myself. Most of all, I felt torment
and remorse for Lory Ann. For all of her unrealized dreams, her hopes, joys
and what might've been in her life, which will now, never be.
The rest of that day was spent making plans to go to Seattle for Lory's funeral.
All 18 of us went, except for Dad (who was too depressed to go) and Noel
(who stayed behind to take care of Pooh Bear and everybody's homes), to say
our final good-bye to Lory. Lory Ann had made a few good friends during the
year she spent in Seattle. But her brother, Jun, let it be known that it was
just for the Family. And a good thing too, because once her casket was brought
into the church, there was at least 20 minutes of weeping, wailing and carrying
on before we finally got that casket down the aisle and to the front of the
church.
It was a lovely service and a few members of the family got up to eulogize Lory.
Mom was up there so long that the priest had to gently ask her to return to he
r seat so he could conclude the service. The priest, who had never met Lory,
was able to bring us a sense of peace and consolation in the midst of our
despair. His words still comfort me now, "Although, we don't know when the
Lord will call us home, we must be alert and be prepared when he does." I guess
, by that he means: Live your life the way God wants you to live and be what
God wants you to be. After the priest's final blessing, I had an undeniable
feeling that Lory's soul had ascended and what was in the casket was only the
vessel that once carried her effervescent spirit. She truly was home now, in
God's home. And for as long as I live I will hold on to that feeling--that she
is in better place, a perfect angel in the company of the Lord.
After the funeral mass, we had very good dimsum at a Chinese restaurant where
Lory, her brother and father had their last dinner out together. There we met
little Jun, Big Jun's 1 1/2 year old son and the apple of his Auntie Lory's eye.
Boy, was he a handful!
It's one of life's ironies that we all know we are going to die someday, it's
just a matter of how and when. Yet in spite of this knowledge, we go on with
our lives and live each passing day the best way we know how. Recalling the
message of my father's friend so many years ago and the legacy of love that
Lory left to us, Treasure and enjoy the love and company of the most
important people in your life. Life is too short and too fragile for you to
live it any other way.
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