Days turned wordless by

...rot and renewal, grief and wonder.

On our way to an organic farm with the Good Food Community (see previous post), I received the news that Sr. Teresita Canivel, MIC, had passed on April Fool's Day, at 2:02 am. 

"So typical of her," my former English teacher Ms. Teresita Sia said, "To leave without a fuss." She spent only two days in the ICU, which cost P22,000 a night. "Her body had long given up, but it was her will power that kept her going." She probably thought it was time to go instead of hang around at such great cost to the school she loved so much, the school she had tirelessly solicited funds for (and did so much more besides, but it would be pointless to enumerate each, as one need only see the school today and know every part of it was touched by her goodness). 

When I last saw her, she was worrying about DepEd's K-12 plans, because she was afraid it might require more classrooms for the school. "Where will I build them," she asked, "On my head?" She was reading through a sheaf of papers on K-12. The school seems to have sorted all that out already--which is probably why she thought it was a good time to go. The body had given up long ago;  only the spirit kept going. 

Past 80, and a survivor of breast cancer, Sr. Tere was like a mother to me. She always made me feel loved and accepted, no matter how different we saw things. When I was with her, I always felt understood. And I suppose I wasn't the only one that felt that way. This last year, we joked with each other all the time. I made her laugh, and this made both of us feel good. She had a great sense of humor. Which is probably why she also thought it made sense to leave on April Fool's Day.