Chapter 17 –Classmate Rosemary Digdigan-Divinagracia’s Letter on Nov. 4, 2016

One of our classmates in 3rd and 4th year high school is Rosemary Digdigan. We often sat close to each other in our classes. Rosemary,  is a sweet, lovely girl, who 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 and perspectives. We were very closed to our classmates who were Catholics and Aglipayans or members of the Philippine Independent Church, together with Dumangas Baptist Church and the Seventh Day Adventists.  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 among our classmates, whose father left and 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 with her children during our visit which was more than two hours.

I remembered her mother, tall and slender and dressed in black when she led her husband’s burial at the Dumangas municipal cemetery. Hundreds of Dumangasanon came in his burial.  For Rosemary's father was one of the officials of the municipality, respected by the people.

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 two elder brothers, a physician living in Manila and an engineer here in Iloilo City. Her other sister was a nurse, also resides in Manila. They were here during their father's wake and have  conversation too, with us. For when Cecil’s father died, many of our classmates also  came, visited and joined the family. We knew, that with our presence, we shared and helped comfort Cecil, her mother and the family.

After our graduation in high school, I did not met Rosemary anymore. Yes, I did not see her for long. I did not met her in Iloilo. I did not met her in Manila. It was many years later, when we came to our class reunion, some 25 years later, when I met Rosemary again. By then, she was already married and came to our class reunion with her husband, Pampi Divinagracia and one of  their  children. After that, we continued to meet in our class reunion, mostly on May 3, during the Dumangas town fiesta.

The same with Limbay Deza. After our graduation, we did not met again. I did not knew where she was. I did not knew that she studied for two years at UP-Visayas in Iloilo City and then pursued her studies in nursing in Cebu City. The world was too big for us during those time. It was some 25 years later, that we met again in our class reunion. The same with most of our classmates. We did not met each other again, for more than twenty five yours after our class graduation in March 1961.

Except for Cecil Diancin. She enrolled at University of San Agustin on her Pre-Nursing and proceeded to Manila for her nursing studies. There, I visited her several times in her school. I was already with the Philippines Herald newspaper, and , when often stayed at the   National Police Headquarters , at United Nations Avenue, which was at the other side of the road  of Cecil's  nursing school.

In 1916, I have partly recovered from weakened memory in 1910 due to stroke, I thought of writing a little of our life in high school. I started writing, trying to recall some episode of our student's lives in Dumangas. Computers, Internet, Goggles, Facebook and Websites came and became part of the lives of many of our people, specially the younger generations.

These were the four most revolutionary developments and discoveries in modern communications. I tried to learn a little of Computer, Internet, Goggle, Facebook, Blogger  and Websites. I learned a little of this gadgets.

I started again to write. I posted a story of our class in 1959, 1960 and summer of 1961. I shared it with some of our classmates of long ago over Facebook. Rosemary, who lived and worked in the United States 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” (young coconuts) that to this day we still continue to long for each time we came back home! And Rud, thank you sooo much for taking us there this past May 3 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)