Celebrating the Life of “The Voice” – Arriving in the Philippines
This is Day One of a special series of blog posts capturing the experiences and activities of a how the Sapaula-Carballo family handles the death of a beloved family member, sparking an unplanned international, trans-Pacific family reunion. It is my intent with this series to help share and enlighten the celebration of the life of my late uncle, a pillar of the media in print, radio and TV broadcast journalism – Cris “The Voice of Davao City” Sapaula.
We finally arrived in Manila at little after 3am. The 13+ hr flight wasn’t all too bad, was expecting a lot more soreness. T-Mobile has a pretty cool international plan as I can receive text messages for free, but costs me .35 cents to send. One of the first texts I received was from my father who is already in Davao City, informing me that my cousin-in-law, whom I have never met, is also in Manila International Airport awaiting a flight as well.
Meeting my cousin-in-law, for the first time! Pictured in the middle, is Richelle "Itchie" Sapaula. We were on the same connecting flight to Davao City...wow!
Richelle “Itchie” Sapaula, was commuting back from Hong Kong when we ran into her. She has been traveling back and forth, once a month, taking classes in Hong Kong to get certified to do dental implants. She has a very successful dental practice and quite the entrepreneur! Onward to our final destination together, another 1.5 hr flight to Davao City…
My father and cousin Michael Sapaula, picks us up from Davao Airport. I mention to them that I have been quite impressed with the modern look, feel and comfort of these last two airports in a supposed 3rd world country. I was happy to enjoy a cup of coffee, toast and eggs during my trip.
Speaking of food, we drop by to grab a proper breakfast @ Provinsya. We tore up some garlic rice, tosino, longanisa, fried eggs, pancakes, watermelon and mango juice!
Afterward, we head right away to the funeral home, to where my late uncle’s body is. Cosmopolitan Funeral Home seems to be THE place for funeral services, it takes up a whole block…great curb appeal, by the way!
As we enter the room where other family members are, I see that many people have sent huge flower stands, offering their condolences to our family for the loss of their great friend. Many of the flowers have come from radio and TV stations, politicians and big business people that my uncle has impacted in his 30+ year journalism career.
My father Adelmo Sapaula, younger brother of Cris Sapaula, enters into the funeral home where other family members are gathered. Flowers from family and friends overflow the area.
One of the first things I see after entering the room, is that this story has hit the front page news! It reads, “Cris Sapaula Signs Off”. Wow!
Unlike most parts of America, the newspaper is still a main medium of communication here. He was spoken about within the news as a journalist of fairness, objectivity and justice. I didn’t realize that my Uncle Cris was the first broadcaster of TV news on Channel 13 in Davao City when TV was introduced in the early 70s. In fact, he also pioneered talk radio shows in this city! I guess it runs in the blood, eh?
Holding up the Mindanao Times where my Uncle Cris's death has made the front page and a whole page of commentary inside.
It was great to be reunited with my cousin, Michael Sapaula, pictured above with my father who now lives in Davao City. He lived with us in Chicago while obtaining his degree in Electronics Engineering @ Devry, I was a young teenager then. My sister, Jocelyn and I, looked up to him as a big brother. Hence the way we call him is, “Kuya” Mike
Being around family is always something great to treasure. We are living in parts all over the world and family is something I never quite valued, as a youngster. But it is more apparent to me now, as I am a father of my own three kids teaching them the value of family, tradition and our heritage.
We all talked about the greatest memory of our Uncle Cris and what he meant to all of us. We focused on the one thing he said or did, that as we look back on where we are at today, has mostly impacted us in a positive way.
It is tradition in our family that the oldest sibling takes care of the next youngest one after them. The oldest child of course is in charge overall. It was funny to hear my aunts and uncles, all whom have strong personalities and character, break down into almost child-like conversation speaking of their childhood growing up.
One great element that came up, was that over the last nine years since my late Uncle Cris who suffered from a stroke, fought through rehabilitation, dealt with the blow of lung cancer (and not from being a chain smoker either!)…was that he never complained. He never gave his wife, Auntie Norma, a hard time or sat their pitied in “whoa is me”. My Auntie Nena would describe being by his side, feeding him, bathing him and caring for him. Uncle Cris never was expressed embarrassment from being in such a vulnerable position to his adult siblings, nor get upset about his predicament. He simply cherished the fact that people where there to love and care for him.
I think of times, in the busyness of my life, that I act impatient or complain about the situation I am in. When I do, I realize that I take away from the gratitude and love, I should be expressing to the people around me. Our children are not the reason we work so hard. At times I have been confused thinking that and unfortunately blamed them for my non-stop days. No, it is my own selfishness and self-centeredness that gets me in trouble. All our kids care about, is the TIME and LOVE, we give them and the skills they need to help them make better decision as they start spreading their own wings in life.
To finish off the evening, we had a service to honor the friends and family who came out to pay their respects. I was honored to have been asked by the oldest sister of my Uncle Cris, Auntie Macring to play a song during the service. I chose the song, “Shout to the Lord“, something I do when I feel I have exhausted all my choices in whatever circumstance I am in. It works for me!
One of my favorite past times...keeps me loose and limber...especially when playing "Shout to the Lord!"
Afterwards, onto my more fellowship and family time. In other words…time to EAT! Davao City does not have a shortage of places to eat, especially late at night. We inhaled more garlic fried rice, sweet n’ sour LapuLapu fish and of course, steamed Dungeness crabs! Delicious and nutritious! While eating, I talked to my cousin Eric, who is a fashion designer, to possibly come up with a new clothing line for professionals. I get asked all the time what brand name suits, shirts and ties I wear so why not refer them to a line I would trust – the SAPAULA line ! See, I’m speaking it into existence right now…who knows? I have seen God do amazing things. Perhaps a new business will stir out of this conversation. Keep that in prayer, please!
You CAN think more clearly when you have some food! Especially a late night snack...if this is what you want to call it!!
Combining a full stomach, a day of sadness succinctly balanced with laughter, jet lag and an air-conditioned room in this jungle weather…it is time to crash out! Tomorrow is the day we have the funeral and committal service. My father has been practicing a song he will sing. My mom says he hasn’t been able to get through the whole song yet, so we’ll see how it goes.
Until tomorrow, love, peace and hair grease…
I have been following you on twitter and knew about your trip back home and I am happy that your reunion abeit on sad circumstances was fruitful and filled with happiness as you reconnect with family and relatives here. Death indeed has a funny way of helping us in alot of ways… Have a good day and I am looking forward to listening to your show!