hanggang sa susunod na red horse, noe.

noe tio, june 26, 1961 - february 11, 2008

it all happened so fast. last saturday, february 2, noe, chris, and i were out celebrating chris's birthday.

february 9, 2008, i was on my way to la union to celebrate my nephew's second birthday when chris called me to say that noe had suffered a stroke and was due for a CT scan and surgery.

i came back the next day and went straight to the hospital. noe was in bad shape. so i said my goodbyes and left. he died a few hours later. i visited him at the morgue. he was still warm. pardon me if i seem a bit morbid.

we hung around a while, me with my laptop (i had a hearing at 830), bebang with all her bags in tow (she just came from manila), chris with a smoke and a bottle of water.

he was such a happy soul. i didn't know where he was from, i didn't know his history, i didn't even know how old he was. but it didn't matter because when he was with you you didn't need to know these things. all you needed to know was that he made your soul smile.

noe, mamimiss kita. sayang, hindi ka pa naman seloso. pabaunan kita ng red horse.

*image courtesy of www.joeyayala.com