Ode to Tessie

That Sunday morning as The Pacman was preparing to give Hatton the fight he will never forget, Tessie “heard” mass on TV, lay down on the sofa, fell asleep, then lifted up her arms and passed on. She was 71.

At barely 100 pounds and not even 5 feet tall, Tessie was big in life.

She had a sense of humor uniquely her own. It is hard to forget her one-liners like “Isasanla ko na nga e.” when irritated at one of us, “Meron ako e.” to explain why she kept out of the mountain stream when we went swimming in Nagcarlan two years ago and her stern warning of “A-a, hindi ka na makakabalik dito.” when she found you helping with the dishes after meals in her house. The same sense of humor graced, and roused, many a gathering through her dance performance to the tune of Achy Breakey Heart along with other ‘older’ ladies of Nagcarlan.

Her wizardry in the kitchen never waned. Her dishes stayed as yummy as when she was 30 and truly unforgettable through the end. Family and friends have their own favorites but the unbeatable all-time lunch-or-dinner-table-drawer was her binagoongan. Next to that for me were her tofu and tausi dish, and the roasted peanuts unevenly coated with a crunchy crust made of sugar and cream, which uncannily, I requested her to make for me a week or two before that Sunday. When it is time for us to return home, she’d be busy in the kitchen again, this time at packing food for us to bring home.

I didn’t see her often, only when I went with the family on trips to Nagcarlan, or during Coronado family gatherings in Manila. I didn’t speak to her often, only when she would be calling for her sister Ellen and I happened to answer the phone. Those few times, we would chat a little before the phone was passed on to Ellen. During those chats, she never failed to say, “A-a, hindi na naman kayo sumama ni Jenny sa kanila. Kelan kayo pupunta dito?”

In spite of our limited interaction, there’s a sadness I can’t explain whenever I remember her now. I would have images in my mind of her facial features that reminded one of our Spanish ancestors and antique pictures. I would smile to myself whenever I remember her small face framed by two ponytails -- a hairdo she probably found most comfortable especially when preparing for a catering appointment, completing orders, or just before the onslaught of family and friends from Manila. I can still hear her soft voice that would sometimes be raspy and, when excited, shrill.

It was at her funeral that I saw the ultimate in Tessie in life, that indeed she gave ALL to her family with hardly any thought of herself.

As the funeral procession entered the cemetery, to the time her casket was slid into the tomb, on to the sealing of her tomb, there was non-stop crying. Bea, Chad, Fae, Gelo and Miles cried out long and hard to their Lola Tessie.

Those cries are the purest expressions of love I have ever seen or heard. For sure they were in return for love received that was just as pure.