Yesterday, August 1, 2009, one person that I looked up to went home to Heaven. She is not a relative, I don’t know her personally but her’s was a face I saw on tv when I was barely able to decide for myself. Her’s was a face I could recognize anywhere even at the tender age of 4, her yellow dress and that bespectacled smile will forever remain in my memory as it will in the minds of almost all Filipino.

I don’t want to talk politics, I don’t want to talk about the who’s who of the Philippine government. What I want to talk about is the life of a person who had a big impact not only in my life but that of almost all Filipino people, a person who faced a lot of adversities and monstrous adversaries and who had done her all to make life worth living for.

To a president who will be forever etched in my mind as one who defines and personifies the Filipino people – President Cory Aquino – farewell and be happy in the thought that you will forever be remembered not only in the annals of history but in the hearts of those who knew the life you lived.

Below is a beautiful poem by David Harkins, a simple reminder to those who are grieving the death of a beloved person not to give in to sadness and grief instead remember the life she lived and everything she has given and done for us. So if you have the time or a space, tie a yellow ribbon for our dear President Cory Aquino.

Tie a yellow ribbon for President Cory Aquino

She is gone

You can shed tears that she is gone
Or you can smile because she has lived

You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her
Or you can be full of the love that you shared

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday

You can remember her and only that she is gone
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back
Or you can do what she would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

written 1981
David Harkins 1959 – Silloth, Cumbria, UK