On January 25, we remember the birth of our beloved former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino. We celebrate her legacy of democracy for the Filipinos and the years of service that she offered for her people. Until now, we still enjoy the fruits of her sacrifices and hard work.
As we remember her today, more than 10 years after she passed on, we are comforted by thoughts of transcendence and beautiful memories that she managed to leave on Earth. At this point, allow me to share a few inspiring quotes about how our departed loved ones remain, in essence, with us for as long as we remember them.
And this is why we never fail to celebrate the memory of Tita Cory. This is how we can keep her alive in our hearts. These are beautiful meditations that can definitely help us whenever we recall and celebrate the lives of loved ones who have moved on.
For the Persian poet and Sufi mystic Rumi, our loved ones always stay with us so we need not say a permanent goodbye. He once wrote: “Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation.”
Dr. Leo Buscaglia, the author and motivational speaker, held a similar belief. He wrote in Beyond the Heartache: “I know for certain that we never lose the people we love, even to death. / They continue to participate in every act, thought and decision we make. / Their love leaves an indelible imprint in our memories. / We find comfort in knowing that our lives have been enriched by having shared their love.”
Finally, the poet and naturalist John Muir wrote a beautiful narrative in A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf. He said: “Let children walk with nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life, and that the grave has no victory, for it never fights. All is divine harmony.”
It is a good time, too, to think about our lives and how we affect people, especially during the pandemic when it’s so easy to be careless or unkind or pessimistic because of the challenges we are all going through. It is a good time to think of the impact of our lives and the meaning we are going to leave behind when it is our time to go.
Tita Cory’s life is her message to the world. Let us also be guided by that truth as we go through our days here on Earth.