I had wanted to buy something for you but I just didn’t have the chance to do so.
Hence, this resort to words which some people say are the cheapest commodity in the world.
Yet words can and do have the power to change the world and people – and therefore in that sense, may not be cheap at all.
And so today as we watch the sunset of our lives cast its deepening shadows, let me say the words that I have kept our "world" together through thick and thin: I love you.
It’s been 34 years that we have been married – but it seems it was only yesterday that we exchanged "I do’s."
I have no regrets whatsoever and I thank the Lord that in His goodness He gave you to me and our children – the best gift I could ever dream of in my mortal life.
I am certain that all the blessings I have ever received would not have been possible without you at my side.
Thank you, then, and God bless you.
Love, Tatay
You guessed it: When Lourdes "Bing" Pimentel received that touching letter from her husband, Sen. Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel on March 26, 1994, when they celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary, she shed tears of joy. So proud is Bing of that "love letter" (which she described as "far more precious and more meaningful than any gift money can buy") that she had it reprinted in the souvenir program of the fourth production she had mounted so far, entitled Awit... Pagibig, Alay, Papuri (The Music of Mrs. Lourdes Ll. Pimentel), on Dec. 11 last year at the Teatro Aguinaldo in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, right across Camp Crame where Nene was detained during the Martial Law years.
"Yes," Bing told half a dozen entertainment writers over lunch at Dulcinea, "I am a very romantic person and I express my being so in music. My songs are about love and about God," added the also deeply religious Bing who never really seriously pursued a career as a composer-singer (she has a degree in B.S. Education) and instead continues to write songs as outlet for her artistic craving.
Among the hundreds of songs she has written (many of which have been collected in albums, proceeds from the sales of which Bing donates to the Buhay Isang Awit Foundation, Inc.), she picked I Am There, I Am There (sung by Pinky Marquez at the Teatro Aguinaldo concert and on the Awit... album) as her sentimental favorite because she wrote it in April, 1978, while Nene was detained in Bicutan.
"It was our 18th wedding anniversary," recalled Bing, "and I couldn’t go to Bicutan because the camp was on red alert. So I wrote that song to console him – and myself. I couldn’t give the song to him that day although I was with him in spirit."
The poignance of I Am There, I Am There is matched only by Loving You (sung by Dulce in the same concert and by Pinky with the UP Vocal Ensemble on the album), the song Bing wrote again for Nene early last year when Nene was hurt in a car accident on his way to the North for a speaking engagement.
"I was then at home in Cagayan de Oro. Imagine, in a split second you can lose a person you love; there’s even no time for you to say goodbye. When you love somebody, love him/her every second of your life while he/she is still around and can feel your love. When Loving You was sung at the concert," said Bing, her eyes turning a bit misty, "many people in the audience cried."
Including Nene?
"He didn’t but I knew that he was moved. In fact, everytime he hears that song, he feels a lump in his throat."
How does he show his appreciation to her?
"He doesn’t say it in words; all he does is press my hand gently and then I know."
Anywhere she goes, Bing carries a tape recorder into which she sings new songs that pop up in her rich, creative mind – especially, she added with a laugh, when she’s stuck in a traffic jam. She loves songs by Barbra Streisand, Mario Lanza (Be My Love, etc.) and those by almost all local artists (Jose Mari Chan, Freddie Aguilar,Nora Aunor, etc.) and makes full use of her God-given gift of music.
During the Dulcinea lunch, we "dared" Bing to compose a song in the wink of a eye and she did.
"Give me a word or a title and I’ll compose/sing a song for you."
I said Leah (Salterio of Inquirer) and in a jiffy Bing was composing/singing a song: Leah, you’re the girl I love; I saw you walk in and my heart went out for you...
I’ll have to end this piece by quoting Hymn of a Grateful Heart (Psalm 138:1-2), printed on the front back cover of the same Awit... souvenir program:
I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
with all my heart,
[for you have heard the words
of my mouth;]
in the presence of the angels
I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name,
Because of your kindness
and your truth;
for you have made great
above all things
your name and your promise.
That’s it, girls! John is single, unattached, but he’s "spoken for" – at the moment.
Said Randy, "It’s not true that Reve was clinging on to John who was free to roam and mingle with fans. The truth is that John is more in love with Reve, who’s also my and my wife’s friend, than the other way around."
In connectiion with this, reader Alona Arieta-Rudes e-mailed the following reaction from New York City:
I am just curious when you wrote that John Ferriols, who played for the Negros Slashers, was based in Bacolod (maybe) but to actually call him hometown boy I would disagree.
He is not originally from Bacolod; he was from Toril, Davao City. I knew this for a fact because we went to the same school, Saint Peter’s College where he studied from first grade to fourth year high school.
Another thing... I think the Rem Rem Ritualo you were referring to was Ren Ren Ritualo. I and his mom/manager, Tita Baby Mills whom I became friends with in Greensboro, North Carolina, never fail to talk about him. Thanks.