Emeteria B. Santa Mina

December 20, 2013, Friday, Good Samaritan Hospital, Room 501. At five minutes past 11 pm, we were expecting her to gasp for her last breath but she didn't. Instead, it was just a plain, quiet breath. However, her once strong heart suddenly ceased to beat. We knew it: that was the end.

Emeteria was born to a middle class family on March 3, 1935 in Mangaldan, Pangasinan in the Philippines. Her fath...er, Arcadio Borromeo, was an engineer in the Philippine National Railways. Her mother, Teodora Aquino, was a housewife. She was the youngest in a brood of four. Her two brothers were Jorge, a mechanical engineer and Jaime, an accounting graduate. Their mother passed away when Emeteria was about six years old. She grew up without her mother. Hence, unlike most people, she was never able to celebrate "Mother's Day" with her mother. The eldest, Socorro, passed on when Emeteria was in her early 30's.

Her father remarried and their family grew bigger with the addition of eight more children - Ninoy, Pacing, Rosing, Adeling, Aure, Boy, Imay, and Linda.

Emeteria was known to most of her relatives and friends as "Betty." Apparently, she was sickly as a child. It was sort of a traditional belief that a sickly child would have to be called a different name. Even her brother Jorge was more known as "Tony."

Betty studied Dental Medicine at the University of the East. As a student, she was staying with Jorge and his wife, Lolit, in the couple's house in Quezon City. Lolit hailed from Cavinti, Laguna. Her younger brother, Reynaldo, was staying with them, too. Call it coincidence but we're sure Betty and Reynaldo would call it luck, that they attracted each other and of course, fell in love with each other. Eventually, they married. Both were able to finish their studies. Betty passed the Dental Boards and Reynaldo passed the Mechanical Engineering Boards. Unfortunately, Betty had to give up her love for dentistry and did not get to practice her profession because of financial constraints. They subsequently separated from their siblings and lived on their own.

Betty started working for the Department of Interior and Local Government, to which she remained loyal for many years until her retirement in the early 90's.

Betty and Reynaldo were blessed with six children - Flordeliza (Liza), Mariditas (Ditas), Maria Cecilia (Beng), Reynaldo Jr. (Jojo), Vivian (Vivs), and Joan (Anne).

Needless to say, it was a herculean task to raise six kids; but the couple managed to survive because of their determination, hard work and faith in each other and in the Lord.

In 1980, a hard decision was made by Betty and Reynaldo. He and their eldest child, Liza, left the Philippines and tried their luck in the United States. Betty suddenly became a "single mom" to the five other kids. She single-handedly cared for them. It was a tough job but she was always proud as she knew she raised them well.

One thing that made their family merrier was the "adoption" of certain people into their household - Tita Conching, Lola Sedon, Atse Lolit, Tita Imay, Marlon, Abet, Cecil, Eloy, Lurina, Kuya Jessie, Nancy, Mang Toots, Alex, Orly, Joey, etc. She was not just a single parent to her own kids, she was also a second mom to her "adopted kids" who were either relatives or just close friends. As her favorite niece, Chat, would say it in Filipino, "Si Tita Betty, mabait kasi talaga 'yan eh."

In 1983, Betty decided to visit her husband in the US whom she dearly missed. It was an inexplicable excitement. She was finally able to see him and spend time with him after three long years. In the meantime, the five children in the Philippines were attended to by their "adopted" family members.

Reynaldo was, however, unlike most people. He was always practical, no matter how emotionally painful it was. He would rather save his hard-earned money and send it to his family in the Philippines instead of buying things he thought were unnecessary. Instead of spending for plane tickets, he would rather send his money to his family. As a result, he did not get to see his children until 1989, which was almost a decade, when he finally came home to the Philippines for the first time.

In the meantime, their children were able to finish their education and became professionals in their own right - Liza became an executive secretary at a semiconductor company, Ditas had established herself as a community dentist, Beng finished accounting and worked for the government, Reynaldo Jr. had become a physician (neurologist), and Vivian and Joan had become registered nurses.

At this time, no words could explain the couple's pride. They knew their being earnest hard workers had good results.

Betty eventually retired from her job in the early 90's. It was an event that was kind of painful to her because she had developed strong ties and camaraderie with her co-workers. She then put up a small store to keep herself busy. Her kids, even if they were already grown, were more than happy to spend more quality time with her.

In 1992, Betty, along with Joan, finally left the Philippines to migrate to the US. Again, it was a mixed feeling. She was ecstatic to be with her husband and her eldest child, but at the same time, downhearted, as she would leave the rest of their children in the Philippines.

Eventually, her two other children - Jojo and Vivian - migrated to the US, too.

Her life in the US was generally joyful, exciting and interesting, mainly because of their children-in-law Reggie, Allan and Jeff, and their grandchildren - Jaymee, Nico, Nica, Jeremy, Jazzy, Arvin, and Julianne. Often, Betty and Reynaldo would come home to the Philippines to spend time with Ditas and Beng, their sons-in-law Ruel and Gil, and their grandkids - RR, MM, Vince, Audrey, Kevin, JR, and Harvey. They would travel between the two countries, and that was enough to keep them pleased and blissful.

In August 2011, Betty and Reynaldo made another decision that was hard and easy at the same time. They felt they were too old to be in a temperate country like America and started feeling that Philippines was where their hearts were. It was with pain that they started packing their bags for their native Philippines because in the process, they would leave their four children and their grandchildren. On the other hand, they were eager to once again live with their two other children and their grandchildren in the Philippines.

For over a year, they had nothing but pure fun in the Philippines.

In mid-2013, Betty started feeling ill. She had gone to different physicians for her nonspecific symptoms. Most of her tests were either confusing or non-revealing until six months later, a diagnosis was finally made. Betty had lymphoma.

During this time, Reynaldo's health was also failing. It was extremely difficult for Betty to take care of her own health and her husband's. The good thing was they became even more inseparable as a couple, and their faith in God even stronger. The Santa Mina family ties were more solid as ever.

What a coincidence it was one day, both Betty and Reynaldo were at the same hospital. Betty was admitted and Reynaldo was undergoing dialysis. Unfortunately, he passed away suddenly, and the sad news had to be broken to her. She surprisingly accepted his death calmly because she knew it would happen one day. We remember many times, she would randomly tell us that she felt his failing health would result in his demise, sooner or later. And so it did. He passed away on December 2nd.

After Reynaldo's funeral and cremation on December 6th, Betty was flown to the US for definitive treatment for her illness. She and the whole family were thrilled. Finally, she would be cured. Or so we thought. Unfortunately, she did not seem to tolerate the treatment. Her body gave up. During her hospitalization, she was visited by family, friends and relatives, especially those who were close to her, those who truly loved and cared for her. Even those in the Philippines were able to connect with her through internet and communication technology. It was something that made her delighted and satisfied despite her fate, for she was able to see those people that were important to her.

In her last few days, Betty would often say, "Let me go. I'm tired. Your father did not let me go through it." We did not fully grasp what she meant by the last statement, but we're thinking, maybe, Reynaldo was serious when he said it days before he died - he and his wife could no longer be separated.

It's true: Death sometimes keeps people together.