A great day of honor awaited all of us: my mother became 90. She had "one more wish". "Let's go to the Waterfront Insular Hotel again", she asked Rossana and me. We went there. After that, she never left the house again. A year later, just four days after my birthday, she never woke up from her nap. In the morning, during breakfast, were her last words, "Those were the best 16 years in my life that I was allowed to spend with you and our Filipino family".
Yes, that's so true: the most important thing about having a Filipino family is that you will always have someplace to go, even if it’s your third or fourth cousin from your mom’s side whom you haven’t seen in fifteen years. For Filipinos, when a family shows up at your door, you let them in. Much like how Robert Frost’s famous poem goes, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.”
For months I have received phone calls, emails and even letters telling me when I would finally be hosting a classical music show on the radio again. "And what do you want to do? Can you still manage of all this in addition to your teaching and other work"? Rossana asked me with a big frown. "If you help me, I can do anything", I answered her in a confident voice. The then 104.3 FM Edge Radio Davao gave me time-slots on Sundays: in the morning from 9 to 11 and as replay from 7 to 9 PM. Ludwig van Beethoven and all classic masters were back again.
While Rossana kept our business in Davao City going, I traveled to Manila several times a year. For several years I have enjoyed speaking to the different ambassadors (photo with Ambassador Thomas Ossowski). Main topics were the situation in Mindanao and the Philippine-German relations. I had learned a lot on the latter subject from my mentor, Monsignore Hermogenes Bacareza, Father Gene. The former Philippine Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, H.E. Minerva Jean A. Falcon mentioned it during on of her speeches: Philippine-German relations are built on the strong foundations that link the people and culture of two countries. Formal relations between the Philippines and Germany began only in the 1950's, but the social and economic relations date back to the colonial times when Hamburg opened a consulate in Manila. The Philippine national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, stayed in Germany from 1886 to 1887. It was in Berlin where he published his novel Noli Me Tangere.
Rossana and I were then invited to Manila: 60 years of Diplomatic Relations between Germany and the Philippines & 24 years of United Germany. A touching event, i.e. together with the Philippine Madrigal Singers and an amazing violin soloist a la Vanessa Mae.
Back in Davao, I continued my German language teaching. In the meantime, I, as well as my students, had got used to a very special phenomenon: Filipino Time. Picture this: You turn up at an event 30 minutes late. You probably didn't mean to, but that's just how things turned out. When you get there, you realize you're not late at all because the organizers accounted for Filipino time and set the real start of the event an hour later than stated. But I could never imagine being late with my radio program as well as teacher at the university ... .
(To be continued!)
