My Maryknoll classmate Marissa Tay remembers our classmate Maricel Lopez Hahn who passed away last Aug. 27, 2020. ~ Cecilia
Remembering Maricel Lopez Hahn
By Marissa Tay
Our friendship
half- a century ago, was superficial, we both agreed. Those years found ourselves shy, unsure of
being accepted by new friends, full of
insecurities so we did the safe thing, we limited our friends to those from our
provinces. Except for the assigned dorm-roommate (mine was Alice Edano) I stayed
with the Davawenos and Maricel with the Ilongos. We recalled good college days. So many adventures and
misadventures . In the Villa we learned to smoke, drink, eat someone’s care package food without
permission of the owner and played “hookie” with class attendance because of
over-sleeping after a party night before. All these we kept from each other. We continue to think we were shy, quiet
and “goody- 2- shoes” girls from the provinces.
Fast forward, 2014, after almost 50 years, we reconnected again in Toronto.
Now more confident, sure of ourselves, full
of life experiences, our ‘salmon run’ in a foreign land made us women of substance,
so we believe. We compared notes, so
much in common, interesting and interested to get to know each other more. So
we did.
In 2015 a
mini-reunion in Vancouver, Canada hosted by GV, Pachot, MariquetConsing and Lina Flor brought all of together one more
time. Another opportunity to re-acquaint with the
hosts, Cora Kilayco, Angie
Concepcion-David and Cynthia Lazatin. It
was always a joy to meet again. A marathon
sharing of our lives well lived.
Maricel then extended
an invitation to some of us to visit her in her beautiful place and scenic island of Chebeague, Maine the following year.
In 2016 Maricel was a
perfect host to 5 more of our Class 68 classmates (Celine, Alice, Tere, Tina and
myself). Before reaching Maine, we
passed by Boston, MA to visit Anita F.
( who was just recently widowed). More sharing, tears of sorrow and laughter, exchanges
about grandchildren, eating, cooking, each sharing our wonderful and sometimes
challenging life story. Deeper
friendship fostered. We promised to keep
in touch.
Between these
years, since we had become friends, we had a lovely dinner once with her
husband Jeffrey. She also came to visit
me for a few days where we went to Ossining to the Maryknoll Motherhouse to
meet with some of our teachers in Maryknoll, like Sr. Dorothy, and Sr. Gabriel.
Then in 2017, we
saw another opportunity to meet once again in Toronto for a Mini-reunion just prior to the big reunion in Manila for
the 2018 Golden celebration. More
classmates from Canada and US, Switzerland and the Philippine.We did so much together. Talked until wee
hours of the morning! So much to share. We
returned to our own homes feeling blessed for the opportunities to renew
friendships.
Then the reunion
of 2018, a most special gathering of of classmates after 50 years. With open arms the Philippine hosts left
nothing unturned. Those of us who came
from abroad were treated like royalties, with cars assigned to groups in
different places, so we were sure to find
a ride. A group of us were invited to
share an apartment in Makati by our host, Marily Ysip-Orosa. Significant to us, the place was called “Beacon”, as later those who were there (Maricel,
Tere, Tina, GV myself with a few other invited friends) formed an internet thread
we named Beacon.
We remain connected through that thread to this
day . So much recent sharing, I feel we
have become more than friends. Sisters, in fact. And I feel bereft that I lost
a sister, in the absence of Maricel.
~~~
Read also:
The Class Reunion - Remembering the Salmon Run by Cecilia Brainard
Tags; Maryknoll Quezon City Maryknoller convent school collegialas Manila Philippines
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