Sr. Rose of the Roses (A Valentine for our English Teacher)

I remember the haughty blue rose, potted at center.

How you hummed, whispered, weeded and sprinkled;

Your affection more vital than a diadem of dewdrops

Or a golden mantle of morning sunbeam on velvety petals.

Yellow roses bloomed lustier than the crimson petit minis

Bordering the bursting bower where you sang and pruned

At daybreak throughout my high school years - long ago.

Just a potted rose now, looking forlorn among the pink bougainvilleas.

No more songs to coax the petals to yawn in cold mornings;

No more whispers to prop each dew-swathed serrated leaf.

Your limbs have grown roots with every graduating batch;

Your dreams are plucked moss-covered, scattered in the shade.

Day by day, year by year, you plowed through the

Rocky meadows of our fallow minds, uprooting weeds,

Nurturing sprouts of would-be orators and novelists.

Our blossoming became the quotidian of your rose garden.

Roses, I remember, bloom with a touch and a song.

You are our rose, softer than its sepals or petals

Curled in bliss; sharper than its thorn pricking blood.

Your fragrance evokes all the treasures we keep in our camphor chests.

Marlinda Angbetic Tan, High School Batch ‘68

Sacred Heart School for Girls

Today is the 85th birthday of Sr. Rosario Justiniani, F.I.

Happy, happy birthday, Sr. Rose!

With love and fond memories,

Class '68 Graduates

Cebu: Anita Ngosiok-Chua, Linda Chua-Ong, Sally Tan-Atinon, Posseg Ong-Yongco, Luz Tan-Diaz, Remedios Sy-Rabor, Sally Carvajal-Po and Marlinda Angbetic Tan;

Outside Cebu: The Sy sisters - Elizabeth & Basilisa, Dr. Mellionora Sia, Cynthia Diama, Jeanne Te, Loreta Pascua, Miguela Go, Veronica Bendigo, Lydia Lim and Silvestra Torres;

Abroad: Dr. Rosemary Lim-Law, Laureana See-Tochip, Dr. Norma Lugsanay-Uy, Menelea Lao-Masin, Cirenea Moreno-Lim, Benny Huang-Yu, Aimee Lua-Leung, Elsa Kho-Arreza, Susan Reyes-Huber, Carmen Quintos Occiano and Modesta Villalon;

Deceased: Perla Go, Ellen Ventura and Jeannie Carvajal