Remembering Rody on his First Year in Eternity

Today is Kuya Rody’s first death anniversary. I can’t help but look back on this day last year – our exchanges of texts in the morning and throughout the day -- to calling him to have a short chat, and our last exchange of ‘goodnight’ texts a couple of hours before I got a call from my sister Malou informing me that Kuya Rody was rushed to the ER of Chinese General Hospital. It’s hard to forget those. And then the hospital scene. And the funeral. And now, everything’s been a year.

         

Together with my 2 sisters Emmie and Malou, we organized a simple yet memorable get-together remembrance for dear Kuya Rod. It was held last Sunday (July 19) at his gravesite in Holy Cross. Years ago, Kuya Rody gave us the name the G.E.M. Team – of course those letters stand for Grace Emmie Malou – and gratuitously flattering us with, “because you guys are truly a gem”. So in our invite, we decided to sign our name as that.

The get-together was a success. We had a very nice breezy overcast weather – with just a drizzle of rain – blessing each one’s arrival.

 It was a potluck picnic and most of the food shared was Kuya Rody’s favorite chow. There was dinuguan, misua, mango-tomato salad with bagoong, itlog na maalat and tomatoes, Korean beef with cream sauce, chicken cordon bleu, fried spring chicken (ala Max’s), spaghetti, bringhe (similar to paella), chicken macaroni salad, minatamis na saguing saba, and for drinks, we had gulaman, soda, coffee and of course water. Fresh fruits like ripe mango, watermelon, bananas were also served. So you could imagine how full we all got!

After lunch chow, we gathered for the prayer. I read the Bible Reading from 1 Corinthians 15: 35-44. Then Emmie led the Prayer for the Souls, Malou led the Prayer for the Dead, and Ate Aurie led the Closing Prayer. 

For our finale, we sang the Family Power Theme Song – the Arceo clan theme song - whose lyrics were composed by Kuya Rody in 1982 (upbeat melody given by Kuya Rolan). We haven’t sung that song in ages! And we were moved to tears as we sang – each word gently melting our hearts, each of us being touched by its message. Truly, everyone felt Rody’s presence.

Then it’s time for some laughter. After all, it’s a celebration of Rody’s 1^st year in eternity. I prepared 2 trivia games about Kuya Rody. 

The first one is a word game, wherein the answer will be taken from the letters of 

R-O-D-O-L-F-O  A-R-C-E-O. 

And the second game is a question and answer game wherein each of the 2 teams race in writing the correct answer on a white board. The games turned out to be hilarious as each participant ‘contests’ each other’s answers. Haaayyy, naku, si Kuya Rody talaga. After the game, everybody got a treat from Manong Felix --  a bag full of chichirya! Whooppeee! I grabbed the Caramel popcorn and some flavored pulburon. Yum yum!

Well, as it turned out, the belly laugh made everyone hungry. So at snack time, we munched some more – of what’s left on the buffet table – and some started ‘hoarding’ for their ‘take-along’. While snacking we chatted away, and the topic? “What were you doing/where were you last year of July 21, and what was your reaction when you found out about the passing away of Kuya Rody? “ The scenes are still vivid for a lot of us – especially Manong Felix, Ate Aurie and Roma, who were one of those who rushed Kuya Rody in the hospital.

It was indeed a day full of fun, food, family bonding, and fitting tribute to Rody. We were savoring the moment -- we all wouldn’t want it to end.

To everybody who came and joined us, brought their share, and helped to make it a success, maraming salamat po.

And to you Kuya Rody, maraming maraming salamat sa magandang alaala na iniwan mo. Hinding hindi ka namin malilimutan. Mahal na mahal ka namin!