I BET people my age sang that! Haha!
Anyway, true story and no, it’s not about a boy.
In college back here in Davao (long before mom discovered this and scolded me, telling me of bad things that can befall a lone young lady) I’d ride my brother’s racer bike to Bastida Beach (where there once was the abandoned agri-aqua shrimp farm a kilometer or so behind the Pepsi Cola plant in Dumoy. From our old house beside Apo Golf and Country Club is around 4 km to Pepsi Cola. From the highway in Dumoy is more than a kilometer of deserted uncemented road to the beach. Yeah, fair game for any deranged man, but I was never bothered about dangers in life... (I got angels, lots of them).
In that solo ride, I was agonizing about something I can no longer recall and needed to shed tears undisturbed. The beach was a perfect place to do that.
Deep in my sadness, I sensed a presence. Looking up, there was a mangy dog in front of me, giving me hesitant tail wags.
I motioned for it to come near, and it did, putting its chin on my lap and just looking at me, tail still wagging.
I remember crying some more, this time over its comforting presence. As I gathered my composure and dried my eyes, the dog (I was too engrossed in my emotions, it didn’t occur to me to check if it was a girl or boy dog) lifted its head, stepped back and then started walking away, all the time looking back with its tail still giving gentle wags.
The memory of that dog and the comfort it gave me that Sunday afternoon 40 years ago remains. Although I can no longer remember what angst I was wailing about.
Before I rode the bike home, I remember staring at the beach some more, enjoying a quiet
chuckle, thinking: Seeing me in my distraught state, the angels must’ve scoured the whole stretch of beach to find someone to help me get over whatever it was I was going through.
Except that... there was only one mangy beige-colored dog, no one else. And so, that was what they sent to me.
May we all be remembered with fondness by all those we meet, greet, and be able to help in big and small ways.
In this election season, may we all learn to vote only those whose goodness and will to do good continue to stir our collective hearts. Junk all those who believe that dancing is all they need to do to get our mandate. (That video of Stella Q dancing while greeting voters is now plastered in my traumarized braincells. Pwera gaba.)
-o0o-
*Stella, former editor-in-chief of SunStar Davao, is a Pranic Healing educator and an Arhatic
Yoga practitioner. Email: saestremera@gmail.com, fb: /saestremera, IG: @saestremera