HOTSPOT
Tonyo Cruz
After my mother Liwayway Memije Cruz died, our dad and my siblings talked about what to do next and how to go about the wake. Our sister said Mama should have a wake where students and friends could visit and honor her. We could think of only one fitting place: the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
What happened next was nothing but magic, magic summoned by family and Mama’s good friends. A faculty member from PUP’s College of Science contacted our sister. My own friends offered to help coordinate. Letters were sent, signatures sought. Approved.
We would have left for PUP by Tuesday but preparations have to be made.
And so on Thursday, we excitedly left San Rafael for Sta. Mesa.
We are grateful to PUP president Manuel Muhi, PUP vice president Adam Ramilo, alumni regent Jean Paul Martirez, and, of course, Dean Lincoln Bautista of the PUP College of Science, for allowing Mama to return to PUP.
In a program later that day, Dean Bautista and several department heads shared their stories about our Mama as a co-teacher and as department head. (She chaired two departments in her stint at PUP: natural sciences and biology.) She was totally devoted to teaching. She was a respected mentor to young ones.
She was diligent. She was brilliant.
Jeffrey Costales, the faculty member who coordinated with us for the PUP wake, proudly admitted having Mama as his mentor when he was new to teaching at PUP. They would leave school late at night because they both wanted to finish their work in school, and not bring work home.
Costales said he had long tried to go to our home in Bulacan to visit Mama, and said that Mama instead promised they were to meet again on a Thursday. Could it just be a coincidence that Mama’s urn arrived in PUP on a Thursday?
Mama’s brother Larry Memije said that Mama started teaching very early. When they were young, she would hold a class with her as the teacher, and all her brothers and sisters as students.
She also joined barangay singing contests. “One time, she went home and said she ranked at third place. When I asked her how many were the contestants, she said there were three.”
Mama was the eldest among nine siblings, all privileged to go to school and aspire to be professionals. This DNA of excellence is one gift to us that I cannot not mention.
Many other students and former colleagues from PUP colleges and centers, and from Tondo High School, visited us at the interfaith chapel, and told us about “Ma’am Cruz.” We expect to hear more stories.
Mama taught us — three of her kids — to be fiercely independent. Whether the emphasis is on fierce or independent, I leave it to those who know us.
Do what we want to do on our own, and in our own terms. That just sums it up. If along the way, we bring honor to our family names, the better. To do anything fairly and justly.
Mama did things on her own terms, at least she tried to in the spheres of her life that she found purpose. Mama found her purpose in teaching, and she excelled in it. A perennial award-winner. Everywhere she went, people felt she was a leader. That’s good for most people who value good leadership, and bad only for those who are bad leaders.
Every time I went home, Mama would be the one who would open our door. Her room would light up. She would exclaim to my father that “your son is home.” We would hug and kiss by the door. My bed would be ready for me. The house would be neat as a new pin. Everything’s in their proper place. I can only regret missing chances to have those hugs and kisses.
The last time I saw my Mama was last July, her birth month, when I helped arrange a surprise visit by her youngest sibling who came in from the US.
Our Tito Ollie had to wait a bit longer at the mall due to delays at our house. But I’m sure everything was worth the long wait. It was a happy scene: The “ate” and “bunso” hugging and kissing at a cafe, years after last seeing each other.
Mama has met her final deadlines. She has passed the test. She now rests in the embrace of God and in the company of her parents who she always missed.
Tonyo Cruz
After my mother Liwayway Memije Cruz died, our dad and my siblings talked about what to do next and how to go about the wake. Our sister said Mama should have a wake where students and friends could visit and honor her. We could think of only one fitting place: the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
What happened next was nothing but magic, magic summoned by family and Mama’s good friends. A faculty member from PUP’s College of Science contacted our sister. My own friends offered to help coordinate. Letters were sent, signatures sought. Approved.
We would have left for PUP by Tuesday but preparations have to be made.
And so on Thursday, we excitedly left San Rafael for Sta. Mesa.
We are grateful to PUP president Manuel Muhi, PUP vice president Adam Ramilo, alumni regent Jean Paul Martirez, and, of course, Dean Lincoln Bautista of the PUP College of Science, for allowing Mama to return to PUP.
In a program later that day, Dean Bautista and several department heads shared their stories about our Mama as a co-teacher and as department head. (She chaired two departments in her stint at PUP: natural sciences and biology.) She was totally devoted to teaching. She was a respected mentor to young ones.
She was diligent. She was brilliant.
Jeffrey Costales, the faculty member who coordinated with us for the PUP wake, proudly admitted having Mama as his mentor when he was new to teaching at PUP. They would leave school late at night because they both wanted to finish their work in school, and not bring work home.
Costales said he had long tried to go to our home in Bulacan to visit Mama, and said that Mama instead promised they were to meet again on a Thursday. Could it just be a coincidence that Mama’s urn arrived in PUP on a Thursday?
Mama’s brother Larry Memije said that Mama started teaching very early. When they were young, she would hold a class with her as the teacher, and all her brothers and sisters as students.
She also joined barangay singing contests. “One time, she went home and said she ranked at third place. When I asked her how many were the contestants, she said there were three.”
Mama was the eldest among nine siblings, all privileged to go to school and aspire to be professionals. This DNA of excellence is one gift to us that I cannot not mention.
Many other students and former colleagues from PUP colleges and centers, and from Tondo High School, visited us at the interfaith chapel, and told us about “Ma’am Cruz.” We expect to hear more stories.
Mama taught us — three of her kids — to be fiercely independent. Whether the emphasis is on fierce or independent, I leave it to those who know us.
Do what we want to do on our own, and in our own terms. That just sums it up. If along the way, we bring honor to our family names, the better. To do anything fairly and justly.
Mama did things on her own terms, at least she tried to in the spheres of her life that she found purpose. Mama found her purpose in teaching, and she excelled in it. A perennial award-winner. Everywhere she went, people felt she was a leader. That’s good for most people who value good leadership, and bad only for those who are bad leaders.
Every time I went home, Mama would be the one who would open our door. Her room would light up. She would exclaim to my father that “your son is home.” We would hug and kiss by the door. My bed would be ready for me. The house would be neat as a new pin. Everything’s in their proper place. I can only regret missing chances to have those hugs and kisses.
The last time I saw my Mama was last July, her birth month, when I helped arrange a surprise visit by her youngest sibling who came in from the US.
Our Tito Ollie had to wait a bit longer at the mall due to delays at our house. But I’m sure everything was worth the long wait. It was a happy scene: The “ate” and “bunso” hugging and kissing at a cafe, years after last seeing each other.
Mama has met her final deadlines. She has passed the test. She now rests in the embrace of God and in the company of her parents who she always missed.