'Till We Meet Again, Lolo

Way back in 2007, I kept failing in every college of law entrance examinations that I took and this frustrated Papa who then stopped giving me money for me to use as payment for another entrance examination and for my allowance. It was already May and I still don’t have a law school to enroll in.

I was able to take up San Beda College of Law entrance examination mid-May, thanks to Lolo Ben who was the one who gave me money for the payment of the examination fee and for my allowance.

I took up the said examination, literally crying while taking it up, dedicating it to Lolo Ben. When the results were out, I was in the 96 percentile rank (upper 4%).

Five years thereafter, I am now a full-fledged lawyer. Many factors helped me in becoming the person that I am right now and it cannot be denied that a part of it is because of our dear Lolo.

This is one of the many wonders Lolos and Lolas could give to their apos. Each of them is priceless.

Today, Lolo Ben, 89, bids goodbye.

The last time I saw Lolo was two weeks ago in the hospital. Medical apparatus attached all over his body from head to feet. He was in the ICU for almost a month then. All of his six children, including my mother, were inside the room. Lolo can’t talk but we can read from his lips what he was trying to say. He was able to name all of his six children. Then he wanted to have a picture with them. Surprisingly, he was able to smile for the photo shoot. Later on, I found out that days before, Lolo wrote something on a piece of paper – the words “I love you.” It was poorly written, but for us it was something worth treasuring. We love you, too, Lolo Ben.

We mourn because we won’t be able to see him again, but at the same time we are also happy because he surely is in a better place right now, smiling down on us all. He had suffered enough, it’s time to rest in God’s arms now.

Lolo Ben – our Lolo, the soldier, the prayer leader, the patriarch, the joker, the lover boy – is gone, but will never ever be forgotten.

The next time we see each other, Lolo, we’ll be drinking the best tea and sharing endless stories there in heaven.