Missing ‘Sweet Baby’ Liezl

THE AUTHOR (center) and Liezl, with their basketball idol Joey Marquez, back in the 1980s.

I had been contemplating how to pay tribute to my beloved friend and kumare, Liezl Martinez. I spent days trying to find the right words. (I am still in denial about her death).

As I started writing this column, our favorite song, “Sweet Baby” (by George Duke and Stanley Clarke), played on the radio. Liezl and I enjoyed George and Stanley’s Manila concert in the 1980s. We took to calling each other “Sweet Baby.” Hearing that song now feels like a warm hug from Liezl, as if she is telling me, “Just write your tribute from the heart.”

My Liezl memory bank runneth over.

I fondly remember watching PBA games with her, cheering for our favorite cager, Joey Marquez, in the ’80s. We even wore matching “Great Taste” (Joey’s team) jackets with “Marquez” printed at the back, courtesy of Joey.

College pictorial

Liezl and I enjoyed our cover pictorial for a show biz mag that featured us as college students. We also relished the experience of a Christmas cover pictorial with two other close friends, Pops Fernandez and Princess Punzalan-Field, in the 1990s.

Long before the e-mail age, Liezl and I sent each other long letters via snail mail when she moved to San Francisco. I remember one card that she sent me, which read, “Without you, my life is full of ‘empty.’ Miss you.” If only I could mail that same card to Liezl in heaven now.

Before Albert Martinez flew to the United States to elope with Liezl, he had told me about that plan.

Blossoming of romance

Liezl in December 2014. Facebook

Their love story is one for the books. I am more than privileged to have witnessed the blossoming of their romance from Day One. It was such a delight to be one of the bridesmaids at their church wedding in Manila, when they came back for good in 1993.

What a blessing it is to be one of the godmothers of their firstborn, Alyanna (coined from Albert and Anna Lissa, Liezl’s real name).

Liezl is also godmother to my eldest daughter, Bianchi. We both became mothers at an early age. Tita Nena (Liezl’s mom, Amalia Fuentes) used to tell my mom, Inday Badiday, that Liezl’s life and mine seemed scripted: I gave birth in September and Liezl gave birth in December of the same year, 1985. Every time it’s Alyanna’s birthday, Liezl would text me and other friends to remind us to greet her eldest.

She took motherhood to heart.

Liezl organized an intimate birthday dinner for her mom in August 2012 and she invited me. I had never seen Tita Nena happier. Theirs was a colorful mother-daughter relationship. Only the two of them know the extent of their love for each other.

As a friend, Liezl was very nurturing. Her vote of confidence helped me believe in myself a little more. I was touched when she told me that a speech I helped her write was well-applauded. She made me smile when she said I should be sent abroad to interview foreign celebrities.

Liezl’s joie de vivre never faltered even while she battled cancer. She had a way of making everything feel like fun.

I remember how relaxed Liezl was when we once took a school bus that chugged along like a kiddie ride in an arcade. I was scared stiff. She kept laughing because I could not stop screaming like crazy.

Looking back now, that could well be a reminder from Liezl that I should let go of all my fears and just enjoy this roller-coaster ride called life. I used to tease her about being lucky for having found her perfect match with just one try since Albert was her first love—while I have not met my Mr. Right.

Quality of time

How uncanny that I found an old Christmas card from Liezl dated December 1992. One of the lines she wrote goes: “Between true friends like us, it’s not the time spent together that matters but the quality of time we both share, right?”

Those lines comforted me. Even if Liezl and I didn’t get to see each other often enough in the past few years, our bond remains intact even now that she’s gone ahead. I can still feel her presence in my life even in her absence.

In four days, it will be her birth anniversary. Since she loved to travel, what better birth anniversary gift could there be than her journey to heaven? I will celebrate not only that, but also our friendship that spanned many seasons of our lives.

Thank you, my dearest kumareng Sweet Baby for being part of my life. And I thank you even more for letting me be part of yours. I am a better and zanier woman for having known you. I cannot thank God enough for sending you my way.

When I miss you, all I have to do is replay all our moments and memories in my mind. You will forever occupy an entire ventricle in my heart. Take a bow for a life well-lived and for being so well-loved.