Bessie Badilla: There’s life after Bambi

Bessie Badilla is currently in town and although we haven’t sat down to talk lengthily, she says that she is doing okay after the sudden death of her husband, Bambi del Castillo, last May.

She flew in for her annual vacation with two of her daughters, Blanca and Ines. Eldest child Isabel had to stay behind because she decided to take up summer courses in school (she is graduating in December). Blanca, meanwhile, made use of her time here in Manila apprenticing at the National Museum (she is an arts and history student).

Actually, Bessie had been in Manila for a couple of weeks now, but had to fly to Australia the week of her arrival. When she returned from Down Under, that was the time I lost my cell phone and I lost communication with the rest of the world, including Bessie.

Fortunately, I had the good sense to write down somewhere the number of the Badilla landline in their home in Parañaque, but that took me quite a while because I was in shock for a week after realizing how it was to be incommunicado from everyone.

On the day we finally got to talk, she immediately invited me to the Mass they were offering in honor of her beloved Bambi. That was the other Friday at the Manila Golf in Forbes Park. Well, like I always say, Makati is alien territory to me – especially Forbes Park – and the only reason I became familiar with Manila Polo Club as a kid was because my aunt’s office always held their Christmas parties there and she brought me with her every year.

For the Mass and dinner affair, Bessie had to give me directions on how to get there and the place wasn’t difficult to find because Forbes Park is a well-laid out subdivision. (Why am I starting to sound like Paolo Alcazaren, The Star columnist who writes every Saturday about urban living?)

Since I had a previous commitment, I got to Manila Golf just when most everyone was about to leave. But that was okay. All I wanted to do anyway was see Bessie, check if she was okay and give her suman, which I sneaked past the guards.

At the second floor function room where the affair was held, I surveyed the crowd and realized that it was dominated by mestizos – the freckled ones possessing Old World charm and not the Block & White set that raided the shelves of Rustan’s of all its stock of whitening creams. Suddenly I became conscious of my pale complexion courtesy of my Chinese ancestors from Amoy and I had to convince myself that would do. Just try to blend in.

At the entrance, I easily spotted Bessie and that wasn’t really difficult because she really stands out in a crowd not only because of her impressive height, but also because you can hear her from as far Guadalupe Viejo. I thought that was a good sign. She’s herself again.

With my bag of suman, I looked for familiar faces and saw the Badilla siblings: Sonny, Bobby, Bing (with husband Ronnie Magsanoc), Billy, Rene and Maritess (with husband Mike). The Badillas are a fun family and they have adopted me as a Badilla sibling and I consider myself lucky to know them because they are all very caring. That night, they saw to it that I ate well and had my share of that fabulous dessert – creamy cakes from Baby Yulo, I think.

Later, Imee Marcos joined us at our table and with her was her second son, Michael, who is just as good-looking as his Kuya Borgy Manotoc. Michael wants to do theater at this point of his young life.

While Michael plowed through his vegetarian dinner (he’s a growing boy), Imee and I talked about the sorry state of our local museums.

The highlight of the evening for me, however, was finally meeting Louie Heredia’s mother, the former Boling Tuason, who had been my neighbor in La Vista for the longest time. Accompanied by husband Vic Reyes, a very nice man, I found Boling to be very charming and still young-looking.

All those years that we were neighbors, I never met this very kind couple because every time I would come and visit their house they would either be abroad, already fast asleep or simply upstairs and, of course, I didn’t want to bother them. In fact, they were both surprised when I told them that I’ve had my share of gazpacho from their kitchen – an indication that I had indeed been a frequent visitor of their house.

Before I finally said goodbye to Bessie, she introduced me to another one of her dear friends, Doodie Menchaca Tuason, one of Manila’s most stylish women, and we had a short, but very pleasant chat.

Then, it was off to another appointment and as I drove past those fabulous Forbes Park mansions, I realized that I didn’t get to have a long enough chat with Bessie.

Actually, she looked okay – even a lot prettier now. And slimmer – what with the emotional roller-coaster ride she went through when Bambi died. Earlier, I was told that she sobbed uncontrollably again during Mass.

But knowing Bessie, she will be okay. She is strong – will always be – and is forever guided by the lessons in life taught to her by her loving parents who passed away the same year in 2001. They will always be her guardian angels.

And now with Bambi looking after her from above, she will be alright.