Skip to main content

Farewell, Tito Sibing!

Lunch with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing at Mall of Asia (2015)


Before I migrated to California, I used to spend some time with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing every once in a while. We used to watch movies in the cinema, eat in restaurants, and go on Maundy Thursday visita iglesia. I have fond memories of going with them to the different churches; both of them wanting to give me directions while I drove (which led to a lot of confusion for me and bickering for them) to the churches we were visiting. They also took me along to Monte Maria (with Lola Bats) to see the spot in Batangas City that a popular priest claimed to be holy. On one of their wedding anniversaries, they brought me to the house where they first met (during a fiesta), which is located in Taal, Batangas and we always made a pit stop at Our Lady of Caysasay Parish. 

Aside from going to different churches, we also had a great time eating out. The stories flowed continuously from lunch to dinner to desserts (normally at Starbucks), with Tito Sibing serving words of wisdom as we ate the yummy food. 

Alas, time started catching up with Tito Sibing. At first, it was just him walking ever so slowly with an unbalanced gait. Then, he started using a cane. Eventually, he couldn't leave the house anymore without being seated in a wheelchair. We had to make space provisions for his wheelchair when we carpooled... or I had to use a bigger car that has generous trunk space. Our last long drive together was a round trip drive to Baguio City in 2017 for errands (yes, I drove to Baguio with them for business, not pleasure). We had to walk for quite a distance because the parking spaces are few and far in between (we found a vacant parking spot in a church parking lot). Tito Sibing opted to stay inside the church, sitting on one of the wooden pews, while the rest of us proceeded to do our errands. Note that just a month before the Baguio trip, he gamely went with us to Angeles City (also another long roundtrip); he was a lot stronger back then despite sitting in a wheelchair when we got out of the car.

And then the COVID-19 pandemic happened. Tito Sibing's children couldn't fly home to visit him last year, despite knowing that he's in bad shape, because countries have closed their borders in an effort to contain or to limit the spread of the virus. When his condition turned for the worse, Tita Ising couldn't even be by his side in the hospital because of COVID-19-related restrictions. Only two private nurses were watching over him round-the-clock. 

He passed away without his family near him, just like the thousands of people who died during this pandemic. On the day of his passing, I remember him telling us about the different types of happiness. Now, he knows firsthand what it's like to go from ephemeral to ethereal happiness.

May you continue to be a gentle presence to your children and to your grandchild, Tito Sibing! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in Bagu
4 comments
Read more

How MALDI-TOF-MS makes mycobacterium diagnosis faster and more accurate

The laboratory I work in has plenty of instruments that help us characterise and identify microorganisms causing diseases in patients. One of my current projects is to validate an instrument called "matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometer" (MALDI-TOF-MS) in identifying members of the Mycobacterium  species. Many of these organisms are opportunistic, meaning they only cause illnesses in people whose immune systems are not strong enough to fight infections. Mycobacterium leprae  is known for causing leprosy, but we cannot grow this bacterium in culture media, so we cannot isolate it. Mycobacterium tuberculosis  complex, on the other hand, is a group of several species of Mycobacterium  that causes tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a disease that killed 1.6 million people in 2021 alone. It is a leading cause of death globally, second only to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Identifying the Mycobacterium species that has infected a patient is
Post a Comment
Read more

a crash course on traditional Filipino houses

On Dr Jose Rizal's birthday this year, I was back in historic Manila with Ate Bing, Ate Mary , and Manuel . But instead of visiting him, we opted to soak up on Philippine culture. Our first stop: the Cultural Center of the Philippines ' (CCP) Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino .  Aside from the musical instruments, I noticed the dioramas about Filipino homes. Filipinos living by the sea (the 'sea gypsies', Sama Dilaut or Badjao ) have boathouses; those who live in the mountains, like the Bagobos , have developed interconnected houses in the trees; Filipinos who live along the path of the strongest typhoon winds, such as the Ivatans , have developed houses of thick limestone walls; and people who live in calmer conditions used bamboo and nipa to construct their houses, like the lowlanders and the Agtas . Sama Dilaut 'lepa' and houses on stilts (in the background) Ivatan limestone house nipa hut Ifugao 'fale' Maranao '
Post a Comment
Read more