When The Church Bells Toll

The Eulogy

     There was a restrained sadness in Leoncio's eyes. His quiet demeanor proved it had taken him time to process the content of the email I had sent him. The letter dropped from his hand as he slumped over the sofa of his apartment. He dreamed about him just the other night. Was it a premonition?

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To: leo62.oceansailing

Subject: Papa Simon

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Dear Leo,

   It pains me to tell you this sad news but your father died this late afternoon. It was sudden death by stroke, his last and most severe one. He was in Burgos when it happened. I hope this would reach you in time. Melanio and I were taking care of everything. Take care of yourself. Reply as soon as you read this.

Tia Gertrudes

   As an elder sister of Simon, I knew life was hard for both father and son. Leo’s relationship with his father was not an emotional one, it was more like, “living with a close friend.” 

   Leoncio made a slow stride to the kitchen and coughed to get his father’s attention. Simon sat at the edge of the table reading a newspaper. He remained sitting and never looked up as if nobody was there. His lower gaze was focused on what he was reading. It was evident in the way he treated Leo.

    “Are you okay, Papa? Do you need anything?”

   Simon merely shook his head. He remained cold and distant. Suddenly, he moved the chair back and rose to his feet with the newspaper, and closed the door of the bedroom behind him. Leoncio became nonchalant.

   He confessed, he had been thinking lately about losing the people close to him, while far away somewhere – and how he could cope with these challenges alone. Leoncio felt despair but distance made it even harder for him to express his real emotions. The question is, how to deal with it? He has not known pain when her mother died. He didn’t know how it feels to lose somebody. Simon sheltered him from all kinds of sufferings. As her brother’s elder sister, it was understood, I was tasked to take care of him.

  The body of Simon was brought to a side chapel of the Parroquia de San Vicente for the vigil. Don Nieves's family and Celina came to the funeral and paid their last respects. The atmosphere inside was filled with sadness. Tears swelled from the eyes of the people in the community who had known him before. On internment day, the parish church rang the funeral bells continuously and honored his passing.        

    Ana assisted the visitors who came for the vigil prayers. Father Domino officiated the funeral mass.

    Being the elder sister of Simon, I was tasked to give the eulogy.

     It was 1956 when Simon Marco met Leonila Guzman. He fell in love with Leonila the first time he laid his eyes on her – a sweet, modest girl of 22. Leonila gave him the sweetest smiles he had ever seen in his entire life. That moment, his heart made a big leap, something that was too difficult for him to ignore. “I must get her name and address. I can’t leave this store without it,” he said. A romance bloomed in two weeks. Simon and Leonila tied the knot in a small chapel in Tobera. There were only two witnesses, me and Don Nieves. Everything went smoothly for the first two years of their relationship. Simon was a very hardworking man. Simon got promoted and received several “Salesman of the Year” awards. Leonila got pregnant. Simon gave her the whole kingdom, as she was her queen. In return she bore him a prince. It was the happiest day of Simon’s life. He rushed to the hospital to be with her. No amount of sales awards can match the joy he felt, the first time he visited his son in the nursery of the hospital, and saw him yawned like a lion which he thought to be the cutest he had ever seen. The more he loved Leonila because she had given him a precious gift. But sometimes, life is ironic. Just when he thought that he had all the happiness in the world, something unexpected happened. She suffered ‘preeclampsia’ at birth. “She didn’t make it. I’m sorry Mister Marco,” the doctor told him. Simon cried the whole night at the hospital and begged the staff not to take her away. I had never seen my brother cried and suffered that much in his life. He was a joyful man with big dreams for his family.

    He held on dearly to her lifeless body. He wanted to be with her, kissed and hugged her. He didn’t eat. He didn’t sleep. He never leaves her side. He wished to die. But then, I told him, you still have the boy. He saw hope through the little boy's eyes and said, “by the spirit of your mother, Leonila, you will be named, Leoncio, my brave little lion boy.”

    Despite the pain of losing his wife, Simon tried to be a good father to Leo. Though he admitted his failures as a father, he had done his best as what he promised on Leonila’s grave. His heart belonged to her beloved Leonila. He had waited for this moment all his life – to see his wife again, to be with her in heaven, and to continue the love that was ended by her untimely death. That’s what matters now. On behalf of Leoncio who was far away right now, descansa en pas, mi querido hermano. Adios.

   A week after, Simon Marco’s body was finally laid to rest at Camposanto General de Anzures.

   After the funeral, I invited Ana and Celina for a merienda cena to my house. Celina turned down the invitation. She wasn’t ready yet, I guess.

   “I felt glad it was over now. My brother was in peace. It had been an exhausting week for an old person like me.” I told Ana who smiled and nodded silently while I sat across the table.

   “It’s been a while since the last time we saw each other, I apologized for missing the christening of Daniela, but since Leo was there, I wasn’t worried,” I said while I handed her the cup of coffee and a plate of tortilla pie.

    “Yes, Tia, he told me about that, it’s fine. Wow! I think, it’s been five years now. How time flies so fast. Now, I am married,” Ana replied.

   “Well, it only means one thing, I am getting older now. There are more grey hairs on my head than anyone can imagine.”

    “Did you have a chance to talk with Leo when he left?” I asked her again.

    “Yes, he did call me, the usual stuff,” I answered

   “How I wished you and Leo got married. I remembered when you were still in high school, and Leo was courting you, he asked permission to fetch you from your school, but sometimes, I didn’t allow him when he came home very late. It made me worried, you know. Burgos was too far away.”

   “Oh yes, Tia, he stopped doing it, but he visited me at home all the time. He always said, But I’m a grown man now. That was a long time ago. I smiled with discomfort.

   “Tell me, Ana. Did you both have an understanding then?”

    The discomfort turned into worried. She didn’t expect her to ask that question. It was the unpleasant part of our story that she didn’t want to discuss with anybody. She made one last sip of her coffee before she answered.

   “Come on, tell me Ana. The reason why I am asking you this, Leo has his eyes on your best friend Celina.”

  “Celina’s not interested in Leo. I know my comadre very well.”

  “Okay, let’s say she’s not interested right now, but what if…”

   “I can tell her the truth if ever that happens. I won’t take the risk of telling her now, besides, it was part of my past. There’s nothing she can do about it. ”

  “Knowing my dear Leoncio, things might get complicated.”

  “I’ll cross the bridge when I get there.”

   What Ana didn’t realize, I knew Leo was Ana’s first love, even if she refused to answer it. It was a long-kept secret, especially to Don Nieves and Simon Marco. A past that they both have to face inevitably once again.