A booklover will tell you that to have a glimpse at what makes a person tick beneath his skin, try checking out the books he reads. Some people know this technique all too well that they would display rather profound works on their shelf so as to give an impression that they too gravitate towards reading material that make your head swirl. Perhaps they have yet to realize that sometimes, the best written words which overflow with wisdom amidst unmatched simplicity dwell in the pages of a children's book.
One such book is The Little Prince, the classic favorite by Antoine De Saint-Exupery. It is a rather thin volume, consumable in about an hour or less. The Little Prince, the central character in the book, actually hails from a small planet which has three volcanoes and a rose. The Little Prince takes care of his planet by removing the trees which grow there as these have the capability of turning his planet to dust. However, he pays special attention to the rose because he thinks it is the only one of its kind in the entire universe.
In the course of the story, he visits planet Earth and there he encounters an entire row of rosebushes. Upon seeing the rosebushes, he is immensely saddened because his little fantasy of his rose being the only one of its kind in the universe has just been sucked into nothingness. However, this situation gives birth to the most memorable lines in the book and in the literary world:
"But my rose is more important than the hundreds of you other roses. Because it is she I have watered, it is she that I have put under a glass globe, because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen, it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars, because it is she that I have listened to when she grumbled, or boasted or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose."
In the course of my story, it should have been clear to you that I have seven roses. My seven roses may be a rosebush to other people but I certainly do not care. These seven roses are mine, these are my roses and each of these seven roses is unique to me. They are not like each other, each one is personal, each one has a unique bond attached to me, each one is my rose. If the Little Prince had his rose, I had my sisters. They may be Ramona, Pening, Ester or Nanay to others but to me, they were my sisters because they were the ones I grew up with, they were the ones I tried to shelter, they were the ones I tried to look out for in our old age, they were the ones who I listened to when they grumbled, or boasted or even sometimes when they said nothing. Because they were my sisters.
No one could have been more ready to go home and face her Creator than any of my three older sisters. They had each lived a long life and each step of the way, God had been with each of them. God had promised in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: "Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and I will take care of you. I will carry you and save you." He fulfilled that promise to them until they breathed their last, all because in the eyes of their Creator, they were His. They were His creation, they were His own. Nene Moning, Inday Pening and Inday Ester were God's roses.
- In loving memory of Moning, Pening and Ester
