When Sickness Comes

I first met Delia 9 years ago in New York. My daughter was going to school at Fordham and while waiting for the ingress into the school’s dormitory, we temporarily stayed at Angie’s apartment in Elmhurst, Queens.

One Sunday, Angie brought us with her to a Binangonan association’s annual picnic and meeting somewhere in Piscathaway, New Jersey. Someone picked us up and drove so fast for almost an hour along several freeways which really made me nervous.
This boy turned out to be a nephew of Angie’s close friend Delia.

The park where the picnic was held was close to Delia’s house. We went to her house for a drink after the picnic. She lives in a split level house with a basement in Piscathaway, a black Benz belonging to Delia and husband Rick was parked on the driveway.

There were a few more times that I met Delia again. She and Rick drove to Manhattan to treat us for dinner at the very popular Saigon Grill, I also saw her at the house of Trini Aldeguer where she stayed when she vacationed in Manila, she also joined us for a Korean food dinner near 34th Street, with Angie, etc.

I also asked Delia concoct a good-smelling toilet water exclusively for me. But I wasn’t able to pursue this project for one reason or another.

The last time I saw Delia was last October 2011 in Vallejo, at the dinner-dance event of the Binangonan Association in North California (BANC). She flew from New Jersey just to attend and see close friends and relatives.

The minute Edmund saw her, he told me Delia and I have the same bag. She was carrying a maroon patent-leather Louis Vuitton, mine’s colored off-white.

Delia’s beaming smile would be the face that would forever be etched in my memory.

Our dear friend Delia is sadly in the hospital. Angie visited her yesterday and she could no longer walk. Sad as it is, I have no hope that I would be able to visit her nor our paths would cross again. Her cancer has spread from her breasts to her head and to her whole system.

When serious sickness comes, we could only hope for miracles. Radiation, chemotherapy, I don’t think they even worked.
It’s so easy to say that acceptance of fate helps, but who could accept that
one who loves life, loves her family dearly, an asset to the world she lives in, kind, generous and helpful, would be fighting for her life. She’s only in her 50s and too young to be missed.

I am not saying goodbye because I would like to see Delia’s smile again, but I would like to tell her that aside from Rick, their children, nieces, nephews, her relatives, friends, there’s also one person here who would miss her too. That would be me, Annie.

Thank you Delia for being a regular ohmybuhay reader. I wish for your recovery. May God grant you many more days, months, and years of strength. God bless.