FROM left, the author’s sister Clara, TaLets, the author and her daughter Bianchi
TaLets (as I fondly call her) and I had an “unusual” relationship—a “tough love” sort of thing. But even when I was being stubborn, I knew that she never loved me any less. She just had a different way of showing it.
In her presence, I learned much. But her absence now is teaching me even more. If there’s one lesson that stands out in my memory, it is one of the lines in her letter to me, which goes: “If you want it badly enough to happen, it will.” I also took to heart her love advice: “Before you commit to someone, ask yourself what he can offer you.”
On a lighter note, I would like to share some funny family anecdotes: My mom (Inday Badiday, whom TaLets doted on) loved to tell the story about their younger years—when TaLets was taking her master’s degree in the United States. TaLets would mail back mom’s letters with grammatical corrections!
I can’t help chuckling when I remember our tour in Gyeongju (South Korea). TaLets, her daughter Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala and I were running late, so we did not have time to brush our teeth. When we got to the bus, TaLets whispered to me: “Look, the name of our tour guide is Mrs. Breath!”
It makes me smile when I recall the time TaLets pulled me aside at a family gathering and said, “I didn’t know that you used to date the son of…” Suffice it to say, the dad was TaLets’ media colleague. She was one of the principal sponsors at the son’s wedding. TaLets got surprised when the groom’s dad told her: “Too bad Dolly Anne and my son didn’t end up together.”
I cannot thank TaLets enough for always being the first one there for me during the turning points in my life. When I gave birth to my eldest child, TaLets waited for me to come out of the delivery room, even if it was already in the wee hours. When I was going through my marriage annulment, TaLets woke up earlier than usual to be a witness at the hearing.
I could go on and on, but I might miss my deadline, which TaLets as the paper’s editor in chief wouldn’t like!
She’s EIC, while I could very well be “Editor in Mischief.”
Those are just a handful of my priceless TaLets memories.
I just comfort myself with the thought that she’s now reunited with my mom up above. They can now do the proposed TV show for them, “Two Match” (which didn’t materialize, because TaLets was a reluctant TV star), in heaven.
I can still hear TaLets’ raspy voice—she used to admonish me: “Dolly, behave!” I better do so, because TaLets is now watching over me and the rest of our family 24/7. I will miss your loving sermons. I love you more than you know, TaLets.
Brava, LJM!
May her incredible legacy inspire us all to “Taralets and do a TaLets” in every little and big thing that our hearts tell us to do!