Tita San: Forever in Our Lives, Our Hearts, Our Memories

This is the final copy of the Eulogy I prepared for Tita San, edited by both Bang and Rondic. Because Dic was the closest to Tita San, I told Mom I wanted him to read it. The condition? My eulogy is to be read in its entirety, with some parts added to it if some of the others wanted to add to it.

I also suggested that Rod be on standby when Dic started reading the eulogy.....just in case he wouldn't be able to finish it, since we figured he'd be bawling somewhere in the middle. And Randy? Uh, no. If we expected to be crying his eyes out somewhere in the middle of delivering the eulogy, Randy would probably take a deep breath before he uttered a single word, and end up sniffling and wiping his tears away!

But according to Dic and Lai, Dic pulled it off beautifully! Here are our combined words for Tita San:

Rosanne to her friends, San to her relatives, Tita San or Ninang San to her nephews and nieces, and Mama Lols to her grandchildren, these are some of the names that most of us remember her by. I on the other hand had a special name for her… I called her MAMA.

Mama was 50 years old when she passed. She left behind her three children, and her partner of many, many years. She also left us, family and friends, whom she has touched. She left us a void; but she also left with us beautiful memories. And for that we are grateful.

For us Dizon kids, Mama was more than the younger sister of our Mom. Mama was a friend, a confidante, our absolute favorite tita, and above all, our second mom. When we were in the States for school, Mama was always there for us. She cooked for us, she prepared our baon, she drove for us. She treated us like her own, and she made us a home away from home. We were at home with Mama.

That’s the way she was: The Mama that we all knew was this vibrant, alive person. Brimming with love, she exuberantly showered everyone with this love until you couldn’t help but smile at her. She was full of life, embraced it, and lived it to the fullest. She did what she wanted, she ate what she wanted, she went where she wanted to go. In short, she lived her life to the fullest.

She was a woman who loved, totally, unselfishly, selflessly, generously, protectively, fiercely and loyally. Here was a woman who laughed... at life even if times were tough; and smiled; unfailing in making others' lives a more joyful one.

When Mama was diagnosed with brain cancer 4 years ago, we were all in shock. We didn’t know what this would do to Mama and what she would do about it. We need not have worried: Mama faced this problem in her typical way --- she faced it and fought it head on. She was a fighter, and with family by her side, she won the first of many battles. Doctors gave her 6 months, she defied them for 4 years. That’s how much of a fighter she was.

It was difficult to see Mama deteriorate the past few months. It was hard for us to accept how this full-of-life person that Mama was, change to a reserved, quiet, toned-down person. It was hard for us to swallow, but we didn’t let it stop us from showering Mama with love and attention the way she did for us all those years ago.

Although we weren’t with Mama all the time these past few years, I think she knew that we were there for her, praying for her, thinking about her. Not one of us ever took Mama for granted. We loved her like our own mom; she was our second mom.

We are very privileged to have been touched by her life and to have been recipients of her love, even if we wish and pray that we could have enjoyed that privilege longer. We thank God for letting our paths cross with hers, for planting her into our family, and for making her such a big part of our lives.

Mama, goodbye for now. We know you will still be looking out for us wherever you are. Though your body is gone from us, you will forever be with us in our hearts, in our lives, in our memories. We love you Mama!

--- Eulogy delivered during Inurnment at the Shrine of St Therese, July 22, 2007

Goodbye Tita San! We love you!