A comfort cross for Ebe Dancel

Ebe Dancel

The songs of Sugarfree were anthems of the youth in the early 2000s, even until vocalist and songwriter Ebe Dancel tried to make a name for himself. His fans are still there for the ride and continue to support him and his songs that are a heady mix of the wistful and hopeful.

“Ebe is a beautiful storyteller whose songs are both moving and inspiring. Plus he’s an all-around nice guy and is super approachable,” said Gab Chee Kee, Parokya in Edgar’s rhythm guitarist and one of his good friends.

With the sustained adulation accorded to him after two decades in the music industry, it would appear that Ebe is coasting along and enjoying every minute of his music career. Well, not exactly.

Dancel’s comfort cross

Favorite thing

In 2015, he was diagnosed with anxiety and severe depression, but he credits a timely gift from a good friend for helping him calm down whenever he began to feel anxious. Ebe’s favorite thing could fit in the palm of his hand. “It’s a small wooden cross that I held on to every day. It kept me alive,” he said.

The handmade asymmetrical cross from Jerusalem is known as a holding cross or comfort cross. It was ergonomically designed to be grasped in one’s clenched hand.

“I kept it with me all the time, especially during shows when my anxiety would go through the roof. In the middle of a performance, whenever I felt my hands shaking, I would reach into my pocket and just hold on to the cross until the panic attack subsided.”

Clinical depression is a lifelong condition, but having that cross helped Ebe get through the day. “It’s a reminder that God was with me during my darkest hour.”

He misplaced the cross, however, when he was “moving from one residence to another,” but said he would be able to identify it even if it were placed in a heap of stuff. “It’s light brown, about 4 inches long and 2 inches thick.”

He may have lost his favorite thing, but Ebe said, “In my head, it is still in my pocket to this day.”

Ebe is restaging his anniversary concert “Sa Wakas The Repeat: 20th Anniversary Celebration” tonight at 123 Block, Mandala Park, Mandaluyong City.