Leonie Vic Marie Haguisan

There were a sensitivity and a beauty to her that have nothing to do with with looks. She was one to be listened to, whose words were so easy to take to heart.

It is said that the true nature of being is veild. The labor of words, the expression of art, The seamingly ceaseless buzz in common the need to get at what really is so. The hope to draw close to and posses the truth of being can be a feverish one. In some cases it can even be fatal, if pleasure is one's truth and it's attainment more important than life itself. In other lives, though, the search for what is truthful gives life.

I used to find notes left in the collection basket, beautiful notes about my homilies and about the writers thoughts on the daily scriptural readings. the person who penned the notes would add reflections to my thoughts and would always include some qoutes from poets and mystics he or she had read and remembered and loved. The notes fascinated me. Here was someone immersed in a search for truth and beauty. Words had been treasured, words that were beautiful. And I felt as if the words somehow delighted in being discovered, for they were obviously very generous to the as yet anonymous writer of the notes. And now this person was in turn learning the secret of sharing them. Beauty so shines when given away. The only truth that exists is, in that sense, free.

It was a long time before I met the author of the notes.

One sunday morning, I was told that someone was waiting for me in the office. The young person who answered the rectory door said that it was "the woman who said she left all the notes. "When I saw her I was shocked, since I immediately recognized her from church but had no ideas that it was she who wrote the notes. She was sitting in a chair in the office with her hands folded in her lap. Her head was bowed and when she raised it to look at me, she could barely smile without pain. Her face was disfigured, and the skin so tight from surgical procedures that smiling or laughing was very difficult for her. She had suffered terribly from treatment to remove the growths that had so marred her face.

We chatted for a while that Sunday morning and agreed to meet for lunch later than week.

As it turned out we went to lunch several yimes, and she always wore a hat during the meal. I think that treatments of some sort had caused a lot of her hair to fall out.

We shared things about our lives. I told her about my schooling and growing up. She told me that she had worked for years for an insurance company. She never mentioned family, and I did not ask.

We spoke of authors we both had read, and it was easy to tell that books are great love hers.

I have thought about her of ten over the years and how she struggled in a society that places an incredible premium on looks , class, wealth and all the other fineries of life. She suffered from a disfigurement that cannot be made to look attactive. I know that her condition hurt her deeply.

Would her life have been different haf she been pretty? Chances are it would have. And yet there were a sensitivity and a beauty to her that had nothing to do with looks. She was one to be listened to, whose words were so easy to take to heart. Her words came from a wounded but loving heart, very much like all hearts, but she had more of a need to be aware of it, to live with it and learn from it. She possesed a fine-tuned sense of beauty. Her only fear in life was the loss of a friend.

How long does it take the most of us to reach that level of human growth, if we ever get there? We get so consumed and diminished, worrying about all the things that need improving, we can easily forget to cherish those things that last. Friendship, so rare and so good, just needs a care maybe even the simple gesture of writing a little note now and then, or the dropping of some beautiful words in a basket, in thw hope that such beauty will be shared and taken to heart

The truth of her life was a desire to see beyomf the surface for a glimpse of what it is that matters. She found a beauty and grace and they befriended her, and showed her what is real.

Hello! I am Leonie Vic Marie Haguisan, still studying at Hercor College,Roxas City as a BS Computer Science student. I am a Horse person because I was born in the year of 1990, they said Im a jolly and fun to be with person, that's why I love collecting many friends. For someone who is interested of Zodiac Sign, I am a Piscenean.My birthstone is Emerald and it is also my nickname. I like loyal, jolly, fun to be with, wise,sweet person just like me. I hate those person who are plastic, arrogant, insecure and backbiting person, that's why Im very careful in choosing my friends. I like color black because it makes me white and it's a universal color. The food I like most is,ofcourse, the Filipino food especially those that are sour just like the sinigangMy favorite flower is white rose because it means purity. My favorite Cartoon Character is Winnie the Pooh because it's very cute and I like it's attitude,hehehe. My favorite Princess Character is Cinderella because she's beautiful and her story is very cute. Im an avid fan of Celine Dion, I like her powerful voice that's what made her popular.