THIS HAPPENED TO ME
A Promise Unkept
Honouring a promise even if delayed is the right thing to do
MOVING house, especially when you’re downsizing, is not a cakewalk.
You have to decide which sentiment-laden house stuff would go with the move, or if the same would even fit in the downsized residence.
But of all the nitty-gritty of moving, emptying closets, drawers and cupboards was tough for me. Tough because I needed to sort out which items to keep, and which ones to bin.
The task, however, turned perplexing when I found a Mirage-branded keychain, a souvenir, tucked in my old cosmetic bag. It was shoved at the back of the drawer of a dressing table.
As I’ve never been to Las Vegas, the keychain could only have been given to me.
But souvenir keychains have a rather short shelf life in my possession, so why did I keep this one?
When it dawned on me who the giver of the keychain was, I felt cold as guilt washed all over me.
Bituing Walang Ningning (A Star Without Sparkle)
The keychain was given to me by a good friend, Nerissa Cabral, during a rare get-together of Philippine writers about eight years ago.
She was in an expansive mood — she always was in all the years I’d known her — as her famed novel, now a Philippine classic, Bituing Walang Ningning, was adapted for the stage as a musicale. It was being shown, at the time, in Manila.
As my flight back to England was just two days away, I gave her my promise that I’d watch it when I return.
But, woe to me. I forgot my promise. I was always on work- and deadline-mode all my waking hours that I hardly even noticed when her text messages (which I always replied to; never ignored) stopped coming.
Soon after, I learned from a common friend that Nerissa passed away. I was heartbroken, unable to attend the funeral because I was, again, overseas.
The unkept promise bothers me
Finding the keychain represented to me my unkept promise. This bothered me a lot as I do not make promises lightly.
So I am keeping this keychain, not binning it.
I want to make good, somehow, on my promise to my late friend whose humility and graciousness I had long admired.
There’s YouTube. Whichever of her novels that were made into films, or adapted for TV series, and yes, even musicales that are available, I’ll make time to watch them.
What about you? Have you any unkept promise hiding in your drawer? Honouring promises in whatever way could never be late.
Tagging my Medium friends who might remember Nerissa Cabral: Elvie Lins, Dennis De Silva, Olivia Marlene, Lei Mercado.
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