A woman of quintessence

HER countenance contorted with pain but no sound of complaint can be heard from her. She had 92 summers behind her, yet, just like the breaking of dawn early each morning, she was and still is a picture of youthful perseverance even if bodily weakness is taking its toll.

That’s my auntie, Tia Trinidad Avellanosa-Joaquin, a dedicated mother to her many children, a loving wife, a trustworthy friend, best of all, a much-loved Lola of her countless apo. More than anything else, she’s my kind of woman, one who can love immensely without borders, understand so deeply even if she’s hurt, forgive so easily without prodding, and care for humanity in her own simple, magnanimous way.

I am indeed so blessed to have her as my guardian when I was still in College because she had been instrumental in forming the kind of person that I am today, a human being that is strong enough to face life’s daunting challenges still with a smile on my face.

Through her, I have learned about what life and daily toil is all about, more than the ones taught by my formal education. I have learned neither from her things that were written on books or on the green boards, nor from the so-called great thinkers of old, but the gems of her thoughts that she had lived with through the years that she had became an instant mother to a dozen children when she married a widower lawyer, the only love of her life.

I could not imagine myself in her place, although I took to heart the lessons, the practical learning that I was so blessed to be imparted with through the years that I stayed with her family in that wonderful old house along corner Jacinto-Arellano, here in Davao City.

And now that she is at the threshold of another phase of her life, Tia is teaching me again another handy lesson, something that I shall be forever indebted to her. She is a picture of patience and perseverance as she gently, quietly endures the physical pain and emotional struggles.

It is in her alone that I see frugality with regal and judicious wisdom, even when she had not finished a formal degree in higher education, having been among the older siblings of my paternal lineage, who had to give way to younger ones, as Tia was ahead of her time when it comes to understanding human nature. God must have equipped her with the necessary emotional and physical tools to handle her big family, such that only the Omnipotent knew or have known the extent of her strength, which was beyond the common, outside of the ordinary.

Best of all she taught me what compassion means in a world that is full of deceit and hatred, where everything becomes virtual reality that is on the verge of collapse. It is because she has admirably maintained the pureness of her heart. She has indeed epitomized the virtues of Mary, the mother of Jesus whose courage to face the daunting reality of her son was beyond compare.