Tuesday, July 24, 2012

My Hero




















It's good to be back, Tuningfork!

I don't remember telling you about one of my heroes in life, did I?
Well, she happens to be my dearest aunt who I consider my second mom.
My Aunt Lucy, more popularly known at home as "Nanay," is fighting for her life right now.
She has cervical cancer and according to her doctors, her days are numbered.

This whole truth is just so hard to accept...
But I know there's a God who gives the final say, and I shall respect whatever His decision will be.

Nay Lucy has always been there for me ever since.
She always had faith in me and had supported me every step of the way.
When I was little, my mom told me how I've always wanted to study in an expensive school at home.
Knowing our situation at that time, my mom only smiled at me.
However, my Nay Lucy must have felt or even foreseen something in me after that because according to mom, she just kept on pushing the idea of sending me to Xavier University and even volunteered to sponsor my yearly tuition -- so generous of her, I reckon.

So for five long years, my Nay Lucy supported me financially to school.
She must love me too much for she also brought heaps of presents for me --
things I needed for school, new shoes, bags, and the like.
Every year, no fail, she supported me no matter what.
But towards the end of the fifth year, she began to suffer lung complications --
she had to stop supporting me financially.

Allow me to tell you how my Nay gets to support me financially.
Well, she worked for Del Monte, a company that engages in processing,
manufacturing, and packing pineapple and tomato products.
At work, she would be looking closely at each pineapple, peeling off areas left out by the machine.
Imagine doing this for at least eight hours a day... I wouldn't probably survive.
And by the way, they had two "shifts" at work -- night and day.
Hence, there were weeks when you can't disturb her at day time because she had to sleep.
All these for a couple of pesos just enough to spend for food and pay power and water bills.
At some point I had to question how on earth did she save for my tuition fees.
Then I learned that she depended on an educational loan where the company would deduct
some amount from her salary, paying the loan on installment basis.
One thing was clear to me -- she had to do overtime work in order to get extra.

Despite hardship, I never heard any complaints from her.
Our happiness was and has always been her happiness.
She could have chosen to save and live a more comfortable life, but she chose to sacrifice
not just for me but also for her other nieces and nephews depending on her.

Looking back, I realized that I will never become the person I am today without my Nay.
She was and continues to be God's gift to me.
I am forever in her debt...
She is my hero.

Help me pray for her, Tuningfork.
May God ease her pains and give her the comfort she deserves.

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