‘The kindness of Christmas’

The most precious gifts are those impossible to wrap. How do you put a ribbon around kindness, love, faith and grit? The lights of the season are no match to the wattage of the power of the human spirit.

Teaching is a gift so invaluable it cannot be wrapped. Every teaching hour at St. Vincent’s College of Cabuyao (SVCC) inspires me because I also learn from my students. Some learnings are indelible they leave an imprint in my heart.

No gift wrapper can drape the joy of Jenny Delit, 42, a cancer survivor who goes to school with financial support from her daughter, 24, and her (Jenny’s) partner.

Jenny aced two Wednesdays ago her 18th round of chemotherapy. Things look rosy for her as her doctor told her she is now on remission.

A myriad of Christmas lights cannot outshine the joy Arvin Magbayao feels now that he knows he is a candidate for college graduation. He is a student in the morning, a motorcycle delivery boy at night.

Jenny is my current student in Art Appreciation. Arvin was my student in Philippine Pop Culture last year. Like many students in school, both are survivors of life. Their stories are Christmas tales if only for the hope and warmth they create. From their lives, a masterclass in living, the teacher in me becomes a student.

Jenny the fighter

She came to my Art Appreciation class 20 minutes late last Monday. Her jet-black, pixie-cut hair defined the kindness of her face. Her dark green uniform was made lighter by the 8 a.m. sun behind her back and the nippy Christmas breeze around her. She stood by the classroom door—apologetic that she was disturbing my class but hopeful that she would be allowed entry. She was not only late; she was also absent on the first meeting of class two weeks ago because she was a late enrollee.

“I’m Jenny Delit, Sir. An irregular first year-second year student. BS Business Administration,” she said, still standing by the door.

Because her presence was backlighted, she appeared like a vision of grace to me and to a sea of almost 70 Criminology students in my large class. I don’t like students coming in late but I found myself welcoming her to the fold.

Jenny is as old as the mothers of most of my students who are 19 or 20 years old.

“I am here because of my dreams,” she said.

“I am a cancer survivor,” she told the class. “Breast cancer Stage 2A. I’m on remission. God is good.”

There was deafening silence in the classroom.

“I have a partner and two kids, ages 24 and 17. My partner and my daughter send me to school because I told them I want to finish college,” she added, when I asked her about her story, the same question I asked the class at the start of the sem.

“I lost my hair during chemotherapy. I see the kindness of Christmas now that I see my hair fully grown. That’s the kindness of God,” she said eloquently.

The class burst into a thunderous applause.

Jenny’s story is a story of Christmas. Her almost petal-smooth complexion betrays the challenges she went through. Her healing is aided by her faith—to God and to herself.

After the three-hour class, I engaged Jenny in a heart-to-heart talk.

“Cancer changed me a lot. The change made me see how beautiful truly life is. The change made me see how blessed I am and how God truly loves me with all His grace,” she said. Her impeccable English was courtesy of her employment as a singer in China for a few years, where she needed to interact with different nationalities.

It was in Beijing where she met her partner now, an IT supervisor in a car company.

“I was a single mom for so many years, went to China for work as a musician-singer. If I did not get cancer, I would still be in China reaching for my family’s dreams. I went back to the Philippines and had my chemo treatment in Batangas,” said Jenny, originally from Davao.

Her cancer journey allowed Jenny to experience the miracles of God. It was not an easy trip but her faith was increased, strengthened even to a level that she felt safe and victorious already even if there were days she needed to drag herself to her chemo treatment.

“Miracles came into my way every day. I was grateful,” she said.

She added that her partner supported her in her treatments. “He loves me and my children. I can’t ask for more,” said Jenny who left the University of Makati in 2001. She went abroad to work because of her love for her family, including the education of her children. She lives in Mamatid, the barangay in Cabuyao where SVCC is located.

“Recently, my daughter, now working as a corporate writer for a casino hotel in BGC, told me, ‘Mommy, why not finish your college? We will help you’.” I grabbed the opportunity and enrolled at St. Vincent,” she said.

Now, Jenny is back to school, on remission, and on a mission.

Arvin Magbayao.

Arvin, life’s toughie

Nothing is sweeter than getting a phone call from your former student thanking you for your influence in his life.

Arvin called to tell me his joy. “I’m a candidate for graduation next year.” His happiness leapt out of his cellphone I felt it in my heart.

Here’s a story I wrote about him on my Facebook wall last year that has been shared several times by netizens—if only for the inspiration they derive from his hard work:

Mahimbing na ang Gulod nang dumating si Arvin Magbayaosa tapat ng bahay. Pasado alas dos ng madaling araw. Kumakayod pa rin siya bilang Food Panda delivery rider.

Nagutom ako. Umorder kay Arvin. Lugaw na may tarapilya at atay sa isang sikat na carinderia sa Crossing ng Calamba.

Estudyante ko si Arvin, 24, nung nakaraang sem; Business Administration ang karera. Hindi maganda ang una naming tagpo dahil hindi siya sumipot sa special class na ginawa ko para sa kanya. Bad trip ako. Nag-sorry siya. Di kinaya ng katawang pumasok dahil sa pagod. Doon ko nalamang night shift siya sa trabaho. Sa umaga nag-aaral. Hindi na siya mulipang lumiban sa klase.

“Sapat lamang po kinikita ng mga magulang ko pangkain sabahay. Gusto ko pong mag-aral. Tinulungan ko sarili ko. Hustle sa gabi. Para sa pangarap,” sabi niya sa akin, nakangiti.

May nag-alok bigyan siya ng scholarship. Magalang niyangtinaggihan. Ang katwiran niya: “Natatakot po akong mawalanng drive sa buhay kapag inako ng iba ang tuition ko. Gusto ko pong maging masipag. Hindi po dahil sa pride. Dahil po iyon sa paninindigan na kaya ko pong mag-hanapbuhay.”

Binabayaran pa niya ng hulugan ang motor n’yang black Honda Click. May maintenance na iniipon dahil nga ito ang puhunan niya sa trabaho. Pag nakasubi na ang para sa mgagastusin, bubunuin naman niya ang pambayad sa tuition. Katulad kagabi. Pumapasada siya para maka-enrol.

Tatlong beses naranasan ang fake booking. Nagastusan. Iniuwi sa pamilya ang pagkain na binayaran na niya sa McDonald’s. Hindi sumama ang loob. Charge to experience.

Bukas, dahil kinita na niya ang pera para sa pag-aaral niya, mag-eenrol na siya bilang incoming third year student sa St. Vincent College of Cabuyao.

Eto ang problema, nung bayaran na, wala pala akong sapat na cash sa wallet ko. Ubos din ang GCash ko. Nagloloko rin ang bank online transfer. Gusto kong magsalanggam sa hiya. Pinadadala ko ang ATM card ko. Tawa si Arvin. “May bukas pa naman, Sir,” sabi n’ya.

Sadya ngang may bukas na naghihintay kay Arvin.

For your new beginnings, e-mail me at [email protected]. I’m also on Twitter @bum_tenorio and Instagram @bumtenorio. Have a blessed weekend.