A woman who sacrifices everything for family
My mother, Teresita Balisi Tamayo, phoned me one Sunday afternoon and sadly told me that her eyesight was getting worse. She said that her right eye could not see anymore. She said she had sought the advice of an eye doctor and was told that she had to undergo a refractive surgery due to cataract. During our phone conversation, she sobbed and it was the first time my mother requested me to pray for her in earnest. She said that she dreads the day she may no longer see me and my elder bother Rogie and our respective families.
Just like my late father Rogelio, mama is a prayerful woman. She goes to church daily and prays the rosary and novena. She leads mourning members of family during the wake of a departed loved one. She assists the family during the funeral Mass until the departed is finally entombed. In fact, I almost entered the seminary because of her influence on me.
Every inch of her life, she is a pious woman. She prays for all of us in the family, especially for me who is far away from our hometown. When members of our clan is experiencing trials and difficulties in life, she would tell them that she’d pray for them. After a week of praying, she would ask them if things were getting better in their lives, believing that this could be attributed to her prayers to God. Yet, mama, a dutiful daughter of God, was now asking me to pray for her. Hearing her grieving, my heart sank and cried.
After our phone conversation, before I retired that night, I deeply prayed for her and thanked God for giving me the best mother. I thanked God for my mama who, at her advanced age, still manages to serve in her own modest way the faithful in our community through her prayers. I could not have made it to the municipal council in Aparri for almost 21 years without the help of mama who campaigned house to house. I can only thank God for my mama who worked as a gasoline girl just to send me to college. I thank God for my mama who continues to help me through my struggle these days.
How could I repay my mother who always gives her all to me? How could I thank mama who sacrifices everything for my sake and my family? I assured my mama that with God’s grace, she will regain her eyesight and, for sure, in her eyes, I will continue to have a glimpse of heaven.
—REGINALD B. TAMAYO,
assistant city council secretary,
Marikina City
