October 16, 2016 was my Kuya’s (Dr. Flor
Librero’s) 82nd birthday, but he could no longer be physically
present. He set for a new journey at
11:16 p.m., September 24, 2016. However,
to honor him on his 82nd birthday, Jegs helped our nieces and
nephews conceptualize, plan, and implement a clan bonding where said nieces and
nephews shared with one another their experiences with Kuya Flor when he was
still in this world. What I tried to do
was simply relate stories about Kuya’s younger years that his nieces and
nephews didn’t know about, as well as provide stories that served to piece
together the otherwise incoherent and unrelated stories. Essentially, therefore, we're talking here of the Shepherd of Panyesanan.
This clan bonding was neither a
celebration nor mourning, just coming together to talk about brief encounters
with the honoree. There were two aspects
of this: first, each had a letter that she/he burned after which the ashes were
placed in zip lock bag attached to two big balloons that were released into the
sky; and second, each had a chance to relate his/her story about his/her
experience with Kuya when he was still alive.
Kuya Flor never talked about himself in
public, only in very private conversations with specific individuals. Consequently, each individual knew only an
aspect of Kuya’s private life, that which may be relevant to the individual and
nothing much more. I had the honor of
providing the vignettes that served to tie all these experiences together that
ultimately resulted in a complete story.
Obviously, we can’t provide that story
here and now, but it has been conceptualized as a volume of narratives about
brief encounters with Ka Tinong Librero.
To be sure, most of the stories related by the nieces and nephews were
of recent vintage, stories they have experienced while visiting Panyesanan in
Lipa City. My wife, Jegs, sister Nita,
and I provided the “missing” links from the past and even in contemporary times
focusing on many philosophical aspects of Kuya’s beliefs and private life from
our perspectives.
What happened in this clan bonding
activity was well beyond Jegs’ and my expectations. We realized that the visits of his nieces and
nephews were not only of the “tourist” type.
Such visits were more anchored on highly meaningful experiences such as
knowing more about Kuya’s philosophy of life, and pieces of advise which may
not have meant much then but which have turned out to be extremely meaningful
and prophetic. Kuya, myself, and our sister, Nita, may have stuck to our
traditional clan value system of a strict hierarchical relationship, but
whatever love, concern, happiness, sadness, consideration for others, etc. there may be we all share
internally. Only when one passes away
that we realize the depth of the emotional ties that have bound us together.
The activities for this clan bonding
included burning of letters to Kuya. The
ashes were placed in zip lock bag, attached to big balloons, then released into
the sky. The second major part of the
clan bonding activity was the sharing of experiences with Kuya Tinong by his nieces
and nephews.
