I was finally able to convince my husband to watch “High School Musical 3″ last Sunday. The movie brought back memories of my own high school life which was a very long time ago and as I was reminiscing those days, I got a disturbing email from a batchmate:

My sisters and I just visited Miss Salazar/Tita Medy this
> afternoon at around 4:30. This was quite a feat as
> we’ve been trying quite unsuccessfully for the past week
> to get our act together ever since I shared your email with
> Betchy.
>
> Tita Medy normally sleeps at 5pm then stays awake at night
> until past midnight. The complete address is 2372 A
> on Aquino Alejo. We entered through Torres on South Super
> (coming from San Andres) then right on Alejo.
>
> She’s really deteriorated. We prayed for her and read
> some Bible verses to give her strength for this
> extraordinary ordeal. I told her that there is a prayer
> time allotted to her every 3pm by our batch. She truly
> needs prayers.
>
> Her arthritic pain especially in her knees has been
> excruciating to say the least for a long time now that she
> cries when she’s moved or placed in her wheel chair.
> You must love her enough to truly visit her as the place and
> her condition is heartbreaking but her companions say she
> welcomes visits. She doesn’t say a word but you will
> just see her tears trickle down her cheek as she gazes at
> you sometimes blankly or she rolls her eyes and looks away
> as you talk to her. My sisters and I had a chance to thank
> her for the years she spent teaching and somehow influencing
> our lives positively.
>
> Her vermin “bites” had been sutured well and
> Makati Med doctors were all aghast in imagining the size of
> the rat that gnawed on her head, chin and forearm. Her
> caregivers, Thelma and May (volunteered even without pay and
> used to operate the agency that supplied her maids in the
> past) said that the lone vermin is indeed big and even if
> they put a cat inside the house, it’s not gonna work.
>
> She didn’t want to leave Makati Med because of course
> the comfort and care are far more superior than what she
> will ever receive in her home. Not that she isn’t
> cared for but her bed sores, thank God, buti na lang have
> been healing due to new medication. But previously this
> was what attracted the rat and when it couldn’t go to
> the wound, gnawed at the parts I already mentioned. And
> if she isn’t tended to regularly, she’s had
> cockroaches & ants crawling on her as well. These two
> women do their best to look after her actually. A niece
> visits her everyday after work and spends time with Tita
> Medy. Seeing her like she is now, your heart will truly
> break and death is far more sweeter because she will not be
> experiencing pain anymore and will have peace at last.
>
> I suggest that the money we can put together be given to
> this niece. I really don’t know her. Giving it to
> Tita Medy will not be wise because someone who’s in
> charge of her care, a relative perhaps, should be
> accountable for it in it’s use. What do you think?
> They spent, if I heard correctly, around 300k in Makati Med.
>
> Thanks for the work you’re doing to get all of us to
> help Ms. Salazar in this truly great hour of need. God
> bless you.

This email has apparently been forwarded to past batches already. Ms. Salazar or as we irreverently called her, “Sally” was the Coordinator of Student Affairs when I was in high school at St. Scho-Manila. High school in St. Scho wouldn’t have been memorable if it weren’t for Ms. Salazar and Gng. de Vera. They were the people who instilled discipline in us. Anyway, Ms. Salazar was the one you went to when you were absent, late or forgot or lost your ID. She was scary because she did not take any nonsense from anyone. She could tell if you were lying to her or not. There were times when she would just sign the slip letting you join your class or there would be times when she would quiz you on the why’s of your absence or tardiness. She was a permanent fixture in my four years of high school and you could rarely see her smile and when she did, it was like a miracle. I guess we were scared of her because we respected her. She was very firm in instilling discipline in us. Come to think of it, her discipline was a positive force in my life. From her, I learned to stick with the truth even if it sounded ridiculous like a flat tire that caused you to be late. I remember that she told my batch that we were the batch that she would miss most maybe because we were the “rebel” batch. We were the ones who stood for our teachers who went on strike and stubbornly believed that it was not right to fire them up until we graduated.

In this time of her need, I am appealing to everyone who are alumnae of St.Scho-Manila High School Department or who know an alumna to help spread the word to continue to pray for her and to offer support in any way they can. Thank you.