MEMORIES: Life and Time of Pastor Rudy Bernal,
his Glimpses on History & the
People;s Struggle for Freedom.
Chapter 12 –Classmate Rosemary Digdigan’s Letter on Nov. 4, 2016
One of our classmates in high school is Rosemary Digdigan . We were together in 2nd and 3rd year
high. We often sat close to each other
in our classes. Rosemary, a sweet, lovely girl, remained slender and beautiful since our
high school days;
Rosemary is a Baptist. But, even in our younger days,
we were ecumenical in our faith. We were
very close to our classmates who were Catholics and members of the Philippine Independent Church,
known most often as Agilpayans, the two big churches in Dumangas. Rose, was I think 15 years old when her father died. I was
about 5 years older than her. Rosemary stood strong and composed during that
hardest time of her life, the death of
their father.
She was the first of our classmates, whose
father joined the Lord. Our classmates went to Sapao, their village and joined in the wake of her
father. Her mother was there and joined us in our visit which was more than an
hour. And I remembered her mother,
slender and dressed in black when she led her husband’s burial at the Dumangas municipal cemetery.
Thousands of Dumangasanon came in his burial. For Rosemary's father was
one of the officials respected in
the municipality.
This was also followed, with the death of Cecilia Diancin’s father a year later. Cecil;’s father was a teacher and farmer. Together with
her mother, they lived a life of comfort, with her older sister, and two
brothers. When Cecil’s father died, many of our classmates also came, visited
and joined the family. We know, that
with our presence, we share and help comfort the family.
After our graduation in high school, I
did not met Rosemary anymore. I did not
see him anymore. I did not met her in
Iloilo. I not met her in Manila. It was many years
later, when we came to our school reunion when we met again. She was
married when we met, with her husband,
Pampi Divinagracia and one of his children. After that, we continue to meet in our class
reunion, mostly on May 3 or 4, during
the Dumangas town fiesta.
In 1916, I thought of writing a little
of our life in high school. I started writing, trying to recall some episode of
our life in Dumangas. Computers and Facebook has come, These were two of the most revolutionary discoveries in modern communications. I tried to learn a little of Computer, Internet and Facebook.I learned a little of this gadget. I posted a story of our class in 1959 and 1960. I
shared it with my classmates of long ago. Rosemary was able to read it. And she came, with her lovely letter, one that is worth remembering always.
It came November 4, 2016. It reads:
Dear Rud,
Ang galing naman! I enjoyed reading this!
Where was I after the
graduation ceremony, I don't remember going to a dance party..... where was it
held, at the town plaza?
Anyway, I appreciate you for putting this down in
writing for us all to re-capture the past. What we've had were simple pleasures
of growing up being innocent boys and girls trying to find our little niche in
that little society called Dumangas High School!
What a privilege to be growing
up amongst, what you've already described, close-knit group that to this day we
all still are! Thank you for the friendships that has lasted long beyond the
walls of our classrooms and under the kalamanci/orchard trees. The pangulabo or
pamutong at the kalubihan of Betty Demetillo, where a fallen old brown
coconut missed my head by a hairline! It almost hit me! Oh my!
For the love of butong that to
this day we still continue to long for each time we come back home! And Rud, thank you sooo much for taking us there this
past May during our class mini-reunion into the kalubihan and treated us to
another deliz fresh buko treat!! We wish we could've have stayed a little
longer there ever have left of each other. I hope that me, myself can leave you
a li'l snippet of myself that will remind you of me if that's all I can ever
leave you all with!
We are embarking on our last
chapter in each of our lives! I hope that I can leave you with sweet memories.
As for me I had fun and enjoyed every li'l time I had ever spent with each of
you! Life is precious, continue to live to the fullest everyone! I
thank God for each of you and I'm sorry to have missed those who had gone
before us! Specially our friend Delia Tachado!
The time we spent searching
for her finally came to an end when we found her! And when we did, not too long after that, in just seem to be a blink of an eye, there
she was - she was gone again, this time never to be coming back again! But
we'll see her again when it's our time to be called to join her up in heaven.
So everyone, stay healthy,
take care of your precious health, we cannot afford to take a fall or anything
that would slow us down.
Lim, thank you for all that you did and continue to
do. Without your efforts we would not be what we are today. And you too Clem!
You are the anchor that holds us all together. And to all of you, who in one
way or the other, have contributed to the continued strength of our class '61, just by being there each time we get together
back home or wherever it is that we can get ourselves together!
Rosemary
Rosemary Digdigan- Divinagracia)
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