MARY ROSE DAMASO REMEMBERS

Mary Rose would be with Sr. RegiVic during her chemotherapy sessions.  It can be said that Mary Rose was groomed for her role in MEI by Sr. RegiVic.

The last Chapter of Sr. Regivic’s life was one filled with color and mixed emotions of worry and anxiety, fear, uncertainty, acceptance and joy. Yes, joy.

SRV was open to the grace of the present moment. She was slowly realizing that she was not in control and allowed God to take over totally. In our private moments during her Chemo sessions, she would share her thoughts with me and would casually say. “I don’t think I will have much time left…”. She was concerned that she has not properly and totally endorsed the work in the archives to Sr. Aremar. She was concerned that she had not fixed her room since transferring to Cana over the holidays. She wasn’t worried about her mom though, because she says that her siblings will take care of her. She would share other thoughts but I could feel that she was slowly letting go…. As if to say, “It is what it is”… someone will carry on.

SRV had a way to make you feel welcome and loved. There was a time she was waiting for me in her hospital room. She called me to ask how far or near I was still (as I told her I was caught in traffic), as she would send her caregiver to Pancake House to buy her favorite Chicken sandwich, which we always shared. And over that chicken sandwich, we talked about ordinary things – of her new diet (foods that she could or could not have), the kind of bread she wanted (soft dinner rolls). We talked about her sickness – how she had her hair cut short in preparation for chemo, how the sisters had to order her chemo meds from Singapore yet, the schedules of her treatment… the side effects of her chemo on her etc… She always thanked me for being there with much affection.

Joy and her faith in God:

The first time I accompanied her to her chemo session, she handed me 2 things: her Rosary and a book entitled , “Between Heaven and Mirth” by James Martin. I was to read to her 1 chapter of the book for every Chemo session. But we didn’t go far. But one of the excerpts from the book that struck me in our journey together was this:

“Finding joy in times of pain begins with understanding that true joy is rooted in God. Thus, keeping one’s relationship with God at the center of one’s life is essential to discovering areas of joy, comfort and solace.”

She was ready. She has gone home to her true joy.