There are lots of ways to keep one’s memory. It could be painted. It could be written. It could be photographed. Or, it could be a scar that left a memory afresh from its wound.
It has been 9 years since the devastation of Typhoon Yolanda – the supertyphoon that swept away the whole city of Tacloban and took the lives of those who did not get the chance to see the rising sun of tomorrow, one of which the dear mother of Nanay Gloria Tavera, a resident of Palanog, Tacloban City who is a Yolanda survivor on her 60’s. For her, it was all vivid as every minute passed when her mother got eaten by the water, lost in her sight- leaving off the last gaze of goodbye. It was not the pain of her wounds that remained, but the pain of her loss that haunted her peace, feeling all the pieces of broken glasses piercing through her heart.
“Masakit ha kaagi na namatay an akon nanay dara han yolanda. Nakadto na adto hiya ha may ha bawbaw pero waray nakaakos pagkadto ha mas igbaw,” Nanay Gloria said in tears
Though 9 years might be too long for healing the wound, the aftermath that she got was graven deeply unto her heart that she could still feel the bruises, the cold wind, and the almost death encounter that she had.
“Nanunumdom pa ako na hirani gihap ako mamatay hadto, nawara na ako hadto ha pangitaan han ak asawa agi han tubig, maupay nala lumutaw an ak buhok asya an iya kinaptan para masalbar ako,” Nanay Gloria reminisced
Time might have offered her survival from the tragedy, but the agony remains as the scars of her wound still bleeds the pain of her mother’s death- the memory that she wanted to forget and get through. For her, it was never easy to get over, she had to find distraction and focus on the present so that she could forget the painful past.
“Masulob-on, amo na, gin lingaw-lingaw nala namon an am huna-huna para mangalimtan nala namon,” she explained.
For every time of the year in commemorating the Yolanda tragedy, the memories of her mother flashback, and her tears rush down as she stares at the seaside where she always stays every 8th of November – lighting the candle, and offering prayers of commemoration.
“Gintatayukan nam hiya hin kandila, ginpapangadi para han iya kalag,” said nanay Gloria.
Despite the domineering grief that was engraved in her memories, she is now in the present trying to live with the scars that she got from the wounds of her typhoon Yolanda encounter. It might not bleed the way it was on the 8th of November, but it’s as new as the day she had it. After 9 years, the wound faded away but the scars of the past remain.
Article by Meraflor Pecore