Uncle William

HAPPY WEEKEND

By Gina Dizon 

(A eulogy delivered during the burial rites of William L. Pacyaya who died Sept 2, 2015)

Uncle William is the brother of my mother, Shirley Pacyaya Dizon. An uncle to the true sense of the word and to the true sense of a family relation. Uncle William stood as a  living reminder of what  and who an uncle, an ‘alitao’ means.

His presence means much.  His presence within the immediate and wider family circle where we have our reunions and family gatherings.   

Saw him sitting with old men and other men in a wedding celebration of one of the relatives in the Pacyaya side and I am glad. My grandfather, Alfredo Pacyaya must be smiling that someone sits and stands for him in a gathering where he is the oldest man in our immediate family.

Saw him also sitting with older men in the Pacyaya reunion December  2014 last year at our home in Dagdag and too I had that warm feeling.  And in that reunion last year he was elected as the president of our organizational clan.

And for our next  reunion this 2015 at the home of auntie Carmen Bawing Pacyaya, spouse of uncle  Esteban Pacyaya, Uncle William shall be in living spirit with us and continue to  connect and be with the rest of the family  to bless the gathering of the clan.

So where older men come together and Uncle William is there visible is a most welcoming sight and feeling for me.  A role that my grandfather, Alfredo Pacyaya held and with the passing of my grandpa, Uncle William having taken that role. 

A fatherly role which meant in unity with other members of the family.

And that in our  immediate  family circle, he continued this  unifying role my niece  Karen now staying in another country wrote via Facebook  and I would like to  re echo it: “For a time at ur house.... and the smile reminded that you were alive and that time with us is ever perfect...we would go picnic on the top of the mountain near the house with you and d relatives, the anti's, uncles, kakasinsins, kaanakans during our trip back home...visit us as we celebrated various occasions and say "sha dadlu na, madagup taku"...we will really miss you Lolo William... ur musky scent that filled the air, ur "aka u ta id sina kau ud ta dakau et menkape"... and ur face with the glasses that always had smile to evryone.... it was a shock to hear such news... am deeply saddened n still cant believe life can be so short... May ur soul be guided by the Lord... u will always be remembered... We love you lolo William to the depth of our hearts.... remembering the last time we had with you...”.

And that is most touching and moving.  Gathering  my  siblings and their children, my nieces and nephews and having lunch or dinner in their house  at Makingking or at the  hill top at  Mobtok with his  children, our cousins and their children  is a most  happy  thought and feeling  I treasure. For that is where relationships get closer and so with the significance of a relationship within a family and a wider family.

Also in the recent coming home of my younger brother and his family after some years in Canada, Uncle William gathered the family and we had dinner at his house.

From living family connections makes a family come together to relate to a wider community. Amed isnan Ili tako isnan Sagada ay culturally knit where families and clans come together during weddings, babayas, birthdays, buniag, senga, begnas, and dangtey where a family, a household is counted.

Which means connecting, caring and existing for another.

His presence of seeing him drop by in the house of their parents here in Dagdag to see my mother, his sister is a most reassuring presence that I have to an uncle. I get a warm feeling inside me tugging a reassuring thought that I have an uncle I can call an ‘alitao’.

Life is a relationship, a caring and my grandparents must have wanted a brother for my mother.

Uncle William is a blessing and this I noted for the many years he had been an uncle, a brother to my mother, a second father for my younger brother who took his education in Bontoc, and a father and mentor to other relatives who stayed with his family in Bontoc while they took their education at Mountain Province College, now Mountain Province State Polytechnique College (MPSPC) where he worked. 

Personally, I take great value isnan advises na- what he considers good and what he considers bad. He must have taken this trait from my grandfather whom I noted instill discipline of what is good conduct.  

And with his character and personality, nu sino nan kaipogaw na must be the kind of discipline and breeding he must have acquired from his parents, my grandparents. With what he showed to us his nieces and nephews stay as a living reminder of our grandparents that we continue to come together and treasure their being, their relationship from their ancestors.

Which in this moment I take special mention on the side of my grandfather, Alfredo G.Pacyaya, whom  Uncle William when he was laid in the coffin gradually showed the face of my grandfather. I am most moved that he tried to show something to continue the legacy of my grandfather who takes his roots from Sagada and Bontoc.  

Et isnan mangsabatan  Unle Will isnan nallus ay inmey isnan pagarian Apo Dios  si pakukumbaba, si raragsak, siwawaya, willingly, and without reservations, nalag-an ya natalna ay  maiddum isnan pagarian nan namarswa isnan daga ya isnan nalawlawa ay batawa ay sha gedan nan nangsapo isnan angin, daga, daya, nan buwan ya nan  agew. Ya sha gedan nan ikakakan tako ay mangi wayang ya mangi palubos isken sha isnan calling nan Apo ay makidagup isnan pagarian nan Dios.

Datngana et gedan nan paryentes na  ay nangipabala ya nangsiken ken sha ay inmuna ay  inmey et  dada ituloy ay mangtakdo ya mangbantay, nan ispiritu da isnan  natatago ay mataynan.

Tay pud  nan  natey et nan kararwa, nan ispirito, nan soul et wada da among the living ay mangituloy ay men bantay isnan nataynan ay pamilya da.

Kayet ay mabati nan gawis ay adal, pamagbaga, ugali ay inpaila nan naay umey ay alitao, si Uncle William ay nen serbi ya mangituloy ay mensirbi ay inspirasyon ya guide isnan  inagew agew ay mabibiyagan isnan rabaw di daga ya isnan umayana ay mangsab-atan isnan pagarian nan Apo tako ay Jesu Kristo.