I received a precious gift recently.
It came from my new-found friend Marilou Rodriguez. We both attend a ladies’ bible study.
“Why Yay?” She asked me one day, curious about my name.
“It’s the name of my father’s favorite writer during his time,” I replied.
Then on my recent birthday, she handed me a book—its pages already brown with age, a compilation of articles from a popular magazine column entitled “Where a Country Begins,” from 1955 to 1962. It’s author: Yay Marking.
Marilou scribbled: “This book has sentimental value to our family. We have taken good care of this book for about 48 years. Hope you’ll take care of it.”
I was close to tears as I leafed through its pages. Then it dawned on me. Tatay must have prophesied about my purpose, even when I was just a baby. Well, father knows best!
And our heavenly Father definitely knows! The bible says He calls us by name. He definitely knows me! All my days have been ordained by Him from the beginning of time.
What could have caused my father to own that name for his bunso? I never imagined I would—could—be a writer, much less a book author. No wonder Tatay didn’t allow me to take a course I wanted after high school; and I even begrudged him for that. He definitely treasured something in his heart for me.
Tatay passed away a long time ago. If he were alive, he would surely be grinning from ear to ear, knowing that his little girl finally fit into the mold.
No wonder I found that name cool, and use it more often than my real one. When I started to write for magazines in the 80s, a friend suggested, “Use Yay!” And so I did, ever since.
Oh, wow! I have a name to keep up with. Yay!
If you look up the dictionary, you'll find that yay means: pleasure, approval, elation, or victory. Isn't that neat? Yay!
ReplyDeleteI always wondered, how you got your name Tita Yay, but I never asked. I figured, the last syllable of Celia was not pronounced correctly by either mom or Tito Dan. :) That was very thoughtful of your friend to give you such a treasured book. I'm now curious about Yay Marking. Mom says was also was a guerrilla fighter. I had to google her and found out that she was a Fil-Am guerrilla. I came across some of her writings, will be reading them after this.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Grace. Yes, I'm so glad I stand for delight and joy and elation and anything pleasurable. That name feels so cool. Haha. Lich, I was really in awe when I got that book. My friend really searched for that book stashed somewhere in her house. Yay finally reads Yay. How cool is that again, huh.
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