Bittersweet Friday

I spent a good hour or so this afternoon with someone who means a lot to many people, and I'll tell you how much she meant to me.

When I came home to Dumaguete City last year as a graduate of medicine and ready to take on the responsibilities as a post-graduate intern at Silliman Medical Center, she was already there. We were newbies, my friends and I, to this whole medical jungle that lay before us. Sure, she intimidated at first, but I always got something else from her -- she actually cared.

Yes, she will most likely remain anonymous in this blog as it is not my place to talk about the stuff that happened, and all will reveal itself in time.

She was everything we needed at SUMC -- a friend, a mentor who taught us the ropes of medicine, a stubborn parent who gave stern warnings(haha, it's true, don't deny it), a patient who humored us that we could actually give her medical advice, a confidante who always had a ready ear, a doctor more than any of us can ever measure up to by touching our lives -- and she looked over our welfare as much as her own.

I know that all of us PGI's had special places in her heart, some more so than others, I think, but special nonetheless. The talks in the ER, the food we uhm, devoured, the laughter we shared, all of it will be a bond I will take and treasure.

I learned a few months back that she was planning on leaving SUMC and found out just today that she was leaving for good. I was a bit disappointed, and a bit crestfallen would be an understatement. Her influence was probably one major thing that even had me considering coming back to SUMC, and now she would be going away. But in a way, I guess life has its way of showing us where we belong or where we are needed. She said she was going home for a while and see what it holds for her over there.

While we talked this afternoon, I still saw the feistiness, the strength, the humor, the common sense, that we grew to admire in her. We talked about what lay ahead for all of us -- my confusion about what to do (and she gave me sound advice), Ligaya's quirks and closet rebellious nature, Tonett's plans, post-us SUMC, Benjo's return, among other things -- until I saw the time and I got up to go just as another friend came in looking for her.

We both made promises to see each other again in Cebu and in the future and hopefully we'll all keep in touch.

I don't know if she'll ever get to read this (wink), but if it were for somebody else and knowing her, she'd probably print it out and have that person read it. She was selfless in that way.

And for that we thank her.

From the bottom of our hearts -- Me, Tonett, Ligaya, our co-PGI's and all the people who don't know how much they should appreciate you.

We love you, and thank you for doing so much for us and for always being more than we need you to be.

So I spent a good hour or so of this Friday afternoon with someone who means a lot to us and because she made us become better persons, it was bittersweet to say goodbye. She'll be a bit farther than the casual trip home, but she'll be somewhere where she is needed and touching lives as she always does.

Kitakits ha, I'm sure.