ALL IN A DAY

THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON OF 2011 – A Painful Story of a Typhoon tragedy in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines

The other day I heard that Misamis Oriental would be affected by typhoon with signal # 2. It did not sink a bit when I heard about it at work. Work and work was all I had in mind. When I went home, I was so tired and feverish. I just drank my vitamins and went to my sister’s house (just beside where I live) to converse with her a little while the rain started to do some heavy outpouring.

I already secured my dog in the house (tobby was quite disturbed by the heavy rain) while I lingered a little with my sister. But then I became uncomfortable making me decide to go back to my nook. And there was my dog sleeping soundly rolling all over his space on the floor while I did some night’s stretching before I retired for bed.

The rain became heavier and I started to worry of the weather and the neighbor subdivision just one kilometer downhill from our location (good thing our place is on a highland). But then I moved on with my night’s rosary until I dozed off to sleep.

At exactly 4 am my dog scratched the door giving me the signal that he would move out of the house. I was supposed to wake up earlier. My alarm was set at 3:10 am so that I could join the 2^nd day of the dawn mass. Due to power interruption, I dared not go out of the house. Not without my husband who is currently in Bukidnon. I dozed back to my soundest sleep and woke up 6:30am.

Well, such a beautiful morning I thought setting aside my sort of panic that I would be late at work. At my sister’s house I heard loud conversations – water, vacating, etc. It gave me a clue of the aftermath of the typhoon. I called up my sister from my where I live and told her “good thing you did not pursue selling your house”. She agreed with me in that. But then they did not store up enough water for the entire family to bathe with so I offered some to them (good thing my husband stored more than enough in case of emergency).

I had some smooth morning sail. I ate my meal, fed my dog and my adopted dog and cats. My heart was so light while I thought of sending message to my husband or perhaps give him a call to check how he was and perhaps gather some information about the past night’s typhoon. Anything and whatever. But he is so upland that I can worry less of him.

I hurriedly went out of the house to catch up with time at work. When the jeepney I rode with reach SM Cagayan de Oro, I was so stunned by the sight of 3 individuals that joined us. Their clothes were dirty, muddy and wet. I started asking, “what happened, where they came from, to describe what happened the previous night”. On and on …I and the person seating next to me were throwing endless questions which they answered in detail. Everyone at the jeepney were dumbfounded. I did not think of the worst the previous night but as the conversation continued, I could give you a description of my bleeding, muddy and a broken heart.

I went down from that jeepney ride in tears. I had such a wonderful sleep not knowing in between that night when my world was so peaceful and silent, the other part of my place was mourning, struggling for their lives, holding on to something they could grab with to secure themselves and their loved ones, crying, so frightened and afraid in a dark night filled with the horror and tragedy of the flash flood.

I walked and walked helpless and hopeful that something could be done. I was still in tears with my struggling stride until I reached the office. My mind was wondering somewhere visualizing the struggles and cries. Inside the office, I approached few individuals with their stories of the horror of the typhoon.

My day in the office was like receiving statistics of update of dead individuals – kids, parents, old people. Until someone just broke the news of 700 dead people and more missing. I could no longer gather myself back to its normal stature. God help us. What is happening with us?

Despite my struggle, I was still able to greet my officemate Lotis on her birthday. I invited her to join me at mass together with another supervisor. While I still wanted to celebrate with her (while she herself was in grief for the losses of her stuffs and things in it), I was just helpless searching for some solace with our situation. I was searching in my heart the comfort of an invisible hand with this prayer in my heart …

”Please God rescue and comfort all the families affected. May they put their trust in you. Let them know that you are there. May yours be always a message of hope this Christmas season. May you put the souls of those who passed away in your peace. May heaven be theirs….Amen”.

I still could not grapple our current agony. I feel that I am one with them in pain. And in the fullness of God’s heart, I can feel him at work in all this. I can still feel an invisible hand lifting and comforting a grieving city of Cagayan de Oro and the entire Misamis Oriental. I still can see the oneness of our people. I can still see hope in the midst of this tragedy. We will rise. I will rise with them. My bleeding heart could not totally go into the depth of the suffering of man but I can see that this will come to pass.

When that lady in the jeepney mentioned “I have bought and stored many things in the house. And all of a sudden, when my life is at risk and my loved ones, I see more of God than these things. I prayed the hardest and stronger than the prayer I said at mass facing a priest”.

That was such a deep encounter with her God. One thing was definite. This woman may not have realized that this situation would come to her and see God in that manner.

By mid afternoon, the number of casualties was increasing. By then also we were including in our office prayers those victims of the calamities. After which I was faced by Rene, a colleague stating that he saw dead bodies at the nearby funeral home which I thought out of curiosity, I could just bring my camera and take some photos. When we got there, I felt overwhelmed by the site. Dead bodies bathed in mud aligned in front of me with many people surrounding them. It was such a painful sight.

In my mind I was asking my seemingly brave self “what really brought me there?”. I wanted to be angry with myself but I wanted so much to see them. I did not want just the second hand information. I just want to be there for them even in that “silent” gesture of mine of the big loss of these people. Our people.

We / I walked away in that site in tears. There were like miniature of bodies. Corpses. Oh my …so lifeless. I could not believe my heart was able to capture that moment, through my eyes but not my camera. My hand could not afford to "click" what I saw before me. I was just lost. And simply walked away... so lost…tsk ...tsk...

As I was back in the office, I ended my day with a conversation with Rene while we relaxed eating stick bread (hehe). We thought how life could just pass so swiftly like that. How fleeting life is so slim between life and death. But both of us landed on the hope in each of our hearts.

What makes each of us a winner in any situation related to this is that we do not lose sight of hope, thrive and still survive. To quote Rene “the heavens can still smile”…at the courage we have shown in this adversary inviting us to be one with the struggles of our brethren.

All for a day’s challenge to live and live with …with hope in our hearts…life goes on for us in Cagayan de Oro. And as I was searching for the true meaning of Christmas…this can be it…together as one with our brothers and sisters in their pain and to rise with them in the hope still burning like that of an amber ready to flame our lives and live life despite of .

There is HOPE. Christ being born into this world is the life we will see this Christmas and the new life in the next for those who passed away… They are HOME…that I could say is a gift in itself. To those grieving, this is something that may not be totally understood.

Death should not be something to be feared. It should be something to look forward to as we strive each day to live our lives faithful to our calling and put meaning to with our lives.

Our exit in this life is our entrance to the eternal life with God…J The thing is, we do not know the exact time and the circumstance of our death. But to those who lived their lives well…can smile at death knowing they have done the most in this life.

Just one day in a 24-hour can offer so much to learn. I feel that the whole city has focused itself and has seen the essential meaning of our borrowed moment in this life. A gift I should say…to cherish.

With the hope and prayer that we stay focused on Jesus this season and not dwell on the tragedy or we may sink deeper in despair of the real “flash flood” of our lost souls. A lot of dead bodies may be lost during the typhoon. Some of those may be buried and may not be found. But a lost soul is more worse than that.