“ We Belong To One Family of PLM Nurses “
Manila
January 31, 2019
Jan.31, 2019—While writing this piece, I’m in the middle of a Winter Storm in Toronto: strong winds and heavy snowfalls are all over our place-- and as I look out our windows, it’s all white outside, Icouldn’t even see the road near us; hopefully, we’ll be able to fly tomorrow for our visit to the Philippines.
(l-r) Lilia Jose, Estrellita Legaspi, Binerva Garrett and Irene Castro Garcia-- belong to the PLM's Batch '72 who have come all the way from the US and Canada to join the 50th Founding Anniversary celebrations of their School of Nursing held recently at the Manila Hotel.
My worry right now, our flight could either be delayed or be possibly canceled.
The temperature is -11 C but it feels like -19 C, my iPhone weather app says so.
Anyway, Lilia and I, and my son, Voltaire are all ready to go and we're also attending the 50th anniversary of the PLM's College of Nursing, oh what a great time again to meet up with some friends whom I've not seen for years.
Every reunion like this one is something special to us because it takes months just to prepare for this event, unlike before when we were still young, we would not even bother to prepare for it and the mantra was "Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be"
First off, we have to go shopping around the internet to get the best-discounted plane fares, securing travel insurance, going back and forth to the family doctor to make sure we're physically ok to travel, making an arrangement with a pharmacist for the supply of medications enough to last during our visit.
Of course, we’re not visiting the Philippines empty handed, so aside from making sure we have clothes to wear, we have to think about our pasalubong; we have to fill in our luggage some chocolates, coffee, candies and other goodies for family and friends.
Being seniors, it's doubly hard to travel because so many factors are to be considered such the exhausting long travel, health issues, hot weather and the anxiety of what could possibly happen while we're away from home.
But we have to attend this event to see our old friends and buddies, and we want to see them while we still have the strength and mood to do it, as they wont say life is so uncertain.
Of course, we could expect bear hugs, handshakes, pats on one’s shoulders, oh, ahs how-are-you greetings; these are gestures of concern and expression of one’s close friendship.
Our batch, the first batch, is very much different from the other batches that the PLM has produced because we were the first ones to experience the pangs of the first birth, so to speak,like starting to study in a university that lacked enough facilities, library without so many books, and like giving birth, we had only bare necessities present.
But we endured the hardship: struggling to maintain our scholarship, the antics of some terror professors but we had only one big thing in mind-- a big dream to make a success in our study, a giant step to escape our poverty.
Of course, these experiences will be the things we’ll always reminisce, the things we’ll always look back.
With today’s technology, we can always stay connected, but it’s a different feeling, seeing you all personally, seeing you how you’ve aged gracefully through all these years.
Actually, this is not the first; my wife, Lilia and I will be catching up with our friends whom we‘ve not seen for years.
Maybe, we’ve seen and reconnected with them number times since we graduated in 1971. But being the first batch of this premier university, there are lots of things that we can look back to—things we had all experienced struggling to survive our scholarships—and they are all good topics for never-ending conversations.
This 50th anniversary is more than a social gathering or an occasion to meet up and rub elbows with close friends, it’s also an opportunity to render a medical Wellness Fair at the San Andres Sports Complex, serving the poor people in that depressed area.A toy-giving initiative is scheduled to be held at the Ospital ng Maynila.
"This is our way of giving back to the community whatever blessings we're now enjoying in life," Lilia, of Batch'72, said.
It’s also an important occasion to give due honor to their indefatigable mentor, Dean Mary V. Jackson, the former head of the PLM's College of Nursing-- and these nurses have scheduled to pay a visit and lay a wreath on Jackson's Resting Place at the Manila Memorial Park.
Aside from being the 50th year of their college, it’s also their First Grand Reunion, so to ensure its success, the organizers have spent months of preparations, contacting the different batches that the school has produced since 1967 and enjoining them to attend, not only to show their solidarity but also to prove to one and all that they all “Belong to One Family of PLM Nurses.”