By Jade Angelo Gascon
Executive Assistant, On Eagle’s Wings Foundation
Whether you prefer goodbye, farewell, paalam or a quiet embrace, the grip of sadness is never really easy to slacken. Words and gestures don’t bring much comfort. Because the soul is designed to cling. Cling to relationships it deems precious.
“Promise me you'll never forget me because if I thought you would I'd never leave.” --Winnie the Pooh (And I'm quoting him here, haha)
I’m not sure if everyone in our youth church has already completely recovered from the farewell of Ate (Filipino for “older sister”) Lennie Laña, who left for Norway less than a year ago. She was one of our youth directors. Sweet and never aloof, her leadership and friendship are things I’m sure many of us still remember when we either daydream or get caught in moments of nothingness. She left an unforgettable legacy to our church. To our lives.
Last week, another one said goodbye. Ate Lhen Mabilangan, our longest-serving youth director, left for the US. She would sure make many of us miss her fearless resolve to confront what needs to be confronted, tempered by her kakulitan, which always crops up at the right time.
She’s the type who looks after individuals. If you’re a rookie in church hospitality, just watch how she approaches people, engages them in genuine conversations, shares a laugh with them and offers to pray for them. Congratulations. You can now be hospitable, too.
Her ministry experience is marked by 20 years of action-packed faithfulness. Aside from helping people get planted into the church family, Ate Lhen has also been a church planter. She was one of the missionaries who helped establish our church chapter in Albay. I can recall how she vibrantly recounted to me her carpentering tasks which she gamely accomplished there. Today, the Albay church has flourished into a network of church chapters that continue to grow. It must have been sad for them when she left.
Our sadness now, though, is overwhelmed by the knowledge of what she left us for: Ate Len is getting married!
There goes the bride-to-be
Whenever Ate Lhen is asked about how she feels about leaving, the sparkle in her eyes never fail to betray her bliss. I can see that she’s nervous but excitedly raring. Clueless but secure, nostalgic but in love. I can also tell that she draws strength from the confidence that she has done her job well by God’s grace alone.
Time to let go. Some people really have to say goodbye. This very well reminds me of Acts 20:13-28. As Paul said his goodbyes to the Ephesians, he was confident that part of him shall stay with them: the courage he displayed, the selflessness he showed, the definitive life example he set.
In one way or another we will also turn out to be the ones leaving. Leaving our classmates, friends, co-employees, families or a boss. As we say goodbye, farewell or paalam, may it also mean I’m leaving something behind—a fond memory we shared, a joke they first heard from us or perhaps a legacy that is uniquely ours.
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kakaiyak naman jade…
My first 5 years working with a UN agency in Thailand saw a constant refrain of “hello” and “goodbye” among my local staff. Bangkok at that time (mid-1980’s)experienced tremendous economic boom as foreign investments rushed in to take advantage of the vibrant growth of the newly industrializing economy. Foreign companies targeted young professionals working for UN agencies and other international organizations to pirate into their own organization largely because they could speak some English ( a rare skill among Thai professionals then) and normally had contacts in the government. My office virtually became a “training” center for young Thai professionals and a natural hunting ground for foreign companies. They came to me not knowing how to use a computer, unable to speak simple English and draft an invitation letter. When asked at recruitment stage if they spoke and wrote in English, they would say “A little”, with a big smile. Within six to twelve months they acquire some amount of skills in these areas. Sooner than later and without much warning, they bid goodbye in less than audible voice and copious tears in their eyes — to join a foreign company that offered them twice the salary my office could afford to pay them. Unlike the case of Jade’s revered youth directors, my local staff left my office not long after years of dedicated service but only after a few months of novice work. Nevertheless, I felt sad each time I had to let them go knowing that I must begin again from scratch to train a new set of greenhorns who would highly likely leave my office for another job in not too distant future.
hi Jade, kapatid, thank you so much for your blog pinaiyak mo ako. Sobrang miss ko na kayo. You are always in my heart. God bless you more and more.
I Too Like the Blog here. Keep up all the work. I too love to blog. This is great everyone sharing opinions