Ascension 'Inday' Avila: 1920-2006

Whenever someone young dies we often make jokes saying "Only the good die young." Last Sunday morning, I got a frantic cellphone call from my sister Adela Kono, just next door to my house that our mother, Ascension "Inday" Avila was dead. Honestly, I thought that my sister was joking. But this wasn't a joke because my sister rarely makes jokes, much less prank calls. I rushed over to my mother's room to see her lifeless in bed.

My mother Inday was born on May 13, 1920 to Capt. Valeriano and Encarnacion Segura. She was the 3rd in the Segura family with two elder brothers, Archt. Gregorio and Col. Manuel ahead of her and she was followed by Salvador, Fe de Jesus, Eduardo, Dr. Alfredo and Dr. Oliverio Segura. Her half brother Andres Villarin and half sister Conchita Rocamora.

When she passed away last Sunday, she was exactly 86 years and three months old. If any, no one ever thought that the year 2006 would be her final year here on earth. Her passing was to say the least unexpected although she was 86 years old. Only the good die young? To us and her friends, like Mrs. Sachiko Kono, Mrs. Belen Japzon, Mrs. Vilma Lee and Mrs. Gloria Escaño, and the members of Zonta Club of Cebu I, she was still a young woman, fully motivated to do her charity work, which was the main object of her life.

Inday Avila was one of those who run the Woman's Club running the Cebu Maternity Hospital. She was with the Catholic Women's League (CWL) of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Unit Capitol Parish and the Ladies of Charity Medalla Milagrosa Unit. But her lifelong work was when she created the Cebu Society for Cripple Children, Inc. (CSCCI) on August 10, 1965, whose primary objective is to establish a medical and educational facilities for the crippled children of the City and Province of Cebu.

My sister Adela Kono was born on June 23,1960 and by God's will, she contracted a dreaded virus called Polio Myelitis when she was two and a half years old. I can't forget those days when we went to the Velez Clinic to visit her, but we were barred from entering because the doctors were scared that the virus could be contagious to children.

As Adela grew up my mother realized that there were no facilities that the government, much less that the private sector had in store for crippled children. In her frustration she took the cudgels and created one herself with her friends. Today the CSCCI is 41 years in service of the disabled children with a school for the crippled within the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. The CSCCI lives on donations of kindhearted souls who know and understand her lifelong work. A few years ago, Rep. Raul del Mar donated an ambulance to the CSCCI although their need was for a school bus, but an ambulance was better suited for the crippled kids.

I grew up in an environment of Caritas or charity, which according to the first encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI "Deus Caritas Est" means, God's Love. While she assisted her husband, Atty. Jesus "Lindong" Avila in our family business, her focus and her joy was her charity.

Somehow, perhaps by some kind of premonition because my daughter Dr. Frances "Fara" Tequillo is already a doctor and my second daughter Katrina already graduated from Nursing both from the Cebu Doctor's University, my mother asked her grandchildren to assist her at the Capitol Parish clinic because Dr. Alex Mediano was away on vacation. Hence last June every Tuesday and Thursday from 2 to 4PM, the Capitol Parish clinic became a family affair or sorts, with Fara assisting the patients and Katrina as her nurse and their Lola Inday as the pharmacist.

If any, I share with my mother her passion for music, where she played the piano (which we got from our neighbor Mrs. Charlotte Martin in the mid 70's) and her favorite piece is from Chopin's Nr.4 No.4 in C sharp minor and Moonlight Sonata, where she taught me to play this piece through memory as I cannot read notes.

Perhaps the best legacy my mother has left us her children are the love of God and Mama Mary. This is why I joined the Legion of Mary when I was in High School. Perhaps my spiritual training began within our home in Ibarra St. She built the first statue of our Lady of Lourdes and when we moved to our present residence, she and my father constructed a statue of the Sacred Heart, which is why our house was often mistaken for a retreat house. Her passing means I have lost a faithful reader of my columns and an avid fan of my show on Straight from the Sky. I recall that whenever I attack priests in my column, she would always say, "Don't attack them, pray for them". We will always love you Mommy and we'll always cherish your life when you were still with us. Adieu!

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