Copyright Quisumbing Family 2008. All rights reserved.
Marilou Quisumbing-Baybay
Among the many memories I have of Pop, here are some that I recall very fondly.
When I was a third-year student at St. Theresa’s College, Cebu, I was granted permission by the thesis adviser (Mom) to join four senior Behavioral Science majors. I was actively involved in all the phases of thesis writing including the production of the manuscript since I was also taking Secretarial Science. I turned to Pop who patiently typed the several drafts and copies using onion paper. Though he made few mistakes, he still had to erase each one of them painstakingly. In 1973, we did not have computers, printers, or erasing fluids. We depended on Pop’s typing using his two fingers (he was not a typist). I treasure my thesis! Indeed, Pop was a significant contributor to the completion of the thesis of five STC alumnae (He also typed my mother’s M.A. and Ph.D. theses and my sister Cora’s undergraduate thesis).
Pop was always there to “rescue” me. I remember having a very persistent suitor whom I was trying to avoid but who kept calling me on the phone after he was introduced to me by a classmate. Pop was very firm but polite in telling the guy not to bother me furthermore
The fruit trees growing in Miriam College’s yard in Quezon City were planted by Pop. One of Mom’s favorite fruits is the guyabano. Gelo (my husband) got some cuttings from his father which Pop planted and cared for. We continue to eat the sweet guyabanos and the avocados today.
My children also enjoyed having a grandfather close by since their paternal grandfather lived in Bicol. We always received a share of Pop’s specialties, such as paella and sopa gallego. The children enjoyed these dishes, particularly Didic, who was a fussy eater when he was young. Marla’s early exposure to Pop’s paella must have been responsible for her paella-tasting trip in Spain. Pop often visited to play with the children. He had a favorite chair reserved for him. He was delighted when Carlene was named after him. He also appreciated it when Debbi visited him in Cebu when he was sick and where he stayed during the last two years of his life.
Pop had a fan club composed of Miriam (formerly Maryknoll) College female faculty and employees. He would visit them in their offices every day which was also his form of exercise. They called themselves Pop’s Angels (after Charlie’s Angels). He would give them plants such as the mango, African violets, and begonias. Mom and I still receive the fruits from that mango Pop gave to the school nurse. Two of his “fans,” Cynthia Morales and Alice Caamic, have become my very good friends.
And there are thousands more.
Agnes Quisumbing
1996
I probably owe a lot of my early interest in science to Pop. Some of my earliest memories of Pop were of the "How and Why" Wonder Books on various scientific topics, which he never failed to buy for me every time he went to Manila for a business trip for Santa Clara. I'm sure those books gave me an unfair advantage in early science classes and eventually paved the way to winning various science contests in high school. I also remember long walks in Beverly Hills, looking at the stars, and identifying constellations (three stars in the belt of Orion). Later on, Pop would help me in a very inconclusive experiment suggested by my cousin Ed (a real horticulturist). We cleared a small plot in our front yard and planted it to camote. We cut the tops of half of the plants and weighed the tubers after harvesting to see whether cutting the tops (which are rich in Vitamin A) affected the tuber yields. I don't even remember what the results were, but I know we had fried camote with sugar for several days in a row, and estofado too!
When I was in college, my first attempt at coed life, I was dismayed that my good academic performance scared away the guys. Pop encouraged me to succeed and said it was okay to beat the boys in school. I realized much later that Pop was indeed one of a kind and that many men didn't feel the same way! Throughout college and beyond, Pop always took pride in my professional and artistic accomplishments. He prodded me at times--he would wake me up at 4:00 if I needed to get some studying done before an exam, or would put on classical music (Bach, which I loved) early in the morning to wake me up. To this day, I wake up to the sound of classical music on my clock-radio.
Later on, when Pop fell ill, I continued to be amazed at the breadth of his interests--and how keen his mind was in spite of his physical suffering. During one of his difficult periods in February 1993, he spoke of ptarmigans (Arctic birds) which change plumage with the season. I eventually saw ptarmigans myself when I visited Alaska. When I used to work on Pakistan, Pop would ask me how Benazir Bhutto was doing. And he always loved to go to Anton's, on Mactan, to eat seafood and watch the ships go by. It was a real pleasure for me to take him there on one of my visits to the Philippines. On that visit (November 1994), he said that he would live to 200 years, not quite like Methuselah, who lived to more than a thousand.
Now that Pop is no longer with us, my friends ask me how I am coping. They seem amazed that I continue to work and function "normally" and with a lot of zest and enthusiasm for life. I say that this is what Pop would have wanted: for me to go on living life with as much vigor that I can muster. And I can see him up there, smiling at the pranks and craziness of his youngest daughter.
“We remember how you loved us to your death,
and still we celebrate, for you are with us here
And we believe that we will see you
when you come, in your glory, Lord,
we remember,
we celebrate,
we believe.”
Vising Quisumbing
Vising remembered Pop on his birthday the year he passed away:
dearest POP,
on your birthday, i came across these lines -
Let not grief overwhelm us,
or a sense of loss embitter us.
But out of sadness
let there arise a new joy
for so much given to us.
Cast out our fears
and let not our hearts be troubled..
Let your spirit of peace come alive
within our experience and hurt,
our sorrow and isolation,
our sadness today and loneliness tomorrow.
Be with us, Lord, during our moments
of sorrow and loneliness
You are our Rock, our Fortress, and our Strength.
it is nearly eight months since you passed away. i have not yet accepted nor have gotten over the loss of a great father who had always been there for me - to listen, to comfort, to support me during times of disappointments, frustrations and uncertainties as well as to share my joys and successes.
i had prayed desperately for some signs these past months to assure me that you have finally accepted death and decided to go . . . quietly and peacefully. then on the eve of your birthday, i had a dream of you sleeping soundly undisturbed by the noise that i and the three boys: gerald, richard and charles were making. suddenly i woke up. the dream was so vivid in my mind. "surely, this must be the sign that i had been long waiting for," I said to myself. from that time on, i was at peace.
