THERE are a thousand ways to honor our parents and our ancestors who have long gone ahead of us.
But Judith Cabradilla Bacarro, principal of Southpoint School, chose the unconventional way as she celebrated her 55th birthday on January 31, 2019 with the elderlies at the Davao Veil Geriatric Home Care in Tigatto, Davao City. She chose to be with the elderlies in honor of her departed parents, whom she is forever thankful not only for giving her life but for being always there for her and her family, and her foreparents.
M’am Judith, as she is fondly called and loved by the ones who were touched by her life especially her students in school, strongly believes that “we are not here on our own and we owe our lives to the generations in the past that paved the way to our existence.”
She came from a humble beginning, being a daughter of an ordinary employee and a housekeeper. Her father Remedio C. Cabradilla, with his meager income, persevered just to be able to enrol her to an exclusive school. Although he chose the course he wanted her to take, Ma’am Judith was not able to finish it because as they say “if it’s not meant for you, it will never be for you.”
Until she got married to Orville Bacarro, who died last year, and was blessed with four wonderful sons, her parents were there from her giving birth to taking care of her first two sons.
She went back to university life encouraged by her spiritual father and her husband with her father’s full support. She finished with flying colors, being a consistent academic scholar despite her various roles as a pastor’s wife, mom, housekeeper, and student.
She also acknowledges owing her confidence to speak to high-ranking people to her mother, Ester M. Limpiado who succumbed to leukemia in 1990.
Ma’am Judith also strongly believes that hard work, endurance and respect, and belief in God will take you to where you want in life, thanks to her mom who had always inculcated this to her young mind.
She also believes that she has already fulfilled the desires of her mom when she graduated her BEED course being a consistent Dean’s Lister and receiving four medals, including the Most Outstanding Student Teacher Awardee, finished her Master’s degree and Doctorate in Educational Management in Southwestern University Cebu.
All these accomplishments are dedicated to her loving parents who may be far from perfect, but lovingly guided and honed her in their best capacity.
Thus, she thought long and hard on how to pay back her dear departed parents but only towards the end of 2018 that the thought of feeding the elderly dawned on her.
She already considered feeding the children in other foundations too but an idea which sounded like a real voice inside of her unexpectedly popped up in her mind saying: “Why not feed the elderlies in honor of your parents?” These words in her mind brought her into tears, happy tears that finally she found an apt way to honor her loving parents.
“So to my dear parents, great and great great grandparents together with the thousands of ancestors that had gone on before me, I give my LOVE, GRATITUDE, HONOR, and RESPECT to you as I live my life
and nurture the generations under my care,” she said.
Although Ma’am Judith believes in the spiritual meaning of Number 5 as “grace” and in Numerology as “letting go of the old and bringing in the new”, she has fitting words for those who have taken their parents for granted: “You don’t have to wait ‘til you’re 55. Today, as you read this, think of ways by which you can show your love, honor, and respect towards your parent/s while they can still see, hear and feel... or... if they have already gone on, pay it forward.”