Sunday, April 25, 2021

What Bro. Roly Dizon said at a funeral totally changed the way I started living

 



April 25, 2021.  Today is the ninth death anniversary of Bro. Rolando R. Dizon, FSC.  Bro. Roly, as he is fondly known by the many who have met him and loved him has always been a person esteemed for the wisdom that would flow out of his mouth.  Very articulate in his words, I would always be careful to listen to the nuggets of truth that would be delivered with his well modulated voice.

Bro. Roly, for me was not just the Bro. Roly we commonly know.  As it was, Bro. Roly was also my uncle.  A cousin of my mother through the Ramos family of Bacolod, Bro. Roly (or Tito Roly when I first met him as a 6 year old) was the first one to welcome me to La Salle Greenhills in 1974.

Through the years and by way of the many occasions Bro. Roly would have the chance to speak, be it at a lectern on an official school occasion or over the dinner table when we had the chance to be at family gatherings, I likened myself to a beggar with cupped hands waiting for his next few lines of wisdom to be handed out.

Yet nothing prepared me for what he would say at the funeral of one of my great aunts in the mid 1990s when he was already based in Bacolod as President of the University of St. La Salle.

At any funeral regardless of who is speaking, we often hear the same thing over and over again, that is how good the person was throughout his or her lifetime, or even how Christ-like he or she was. 

What Bro. Roly said about my great aunt that morning totally changed the way I started living and gave me a good mental picture of what to aim for.  In today's business-speak, it was as if he had outlined a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) for goodness.

In reference to my late great aunt, Rachel C. Estrebillo, Bro. Roly said, "Rachel was a person who enriched the life of others".  When I heard that, it struck me so deep that it made me realize that it's not just all about being a good person, but really being good and making impact to enrich the lives of the people around us.

I'm sure we all know of people who may not be rich in the way the world measures financial wealth.  Yet they are the people who bring more than wealth into our lives and by doing so enrich us in a way deeper than what money could bring.

From then on, I have always borne this in my mind. "How could I enrich the life of this person?".

As a husband I ask myself, "How could I enrich the life of my wife today?". 


As a parent, I ask myself, "How could I enrich the life of my kids today?". 


As a friend, I ask myself, "How could I enrich the life of my friend today?".

As a newly introduced acquaintance, I ask myself, "How could I enrich the life of this person today?".

That was how Bro. Roly impacted me.  I hope that this has enriched your life too.

God bless you, reader.  Have a great Sunday!





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Lloyd Tronco

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Lloyd Tronco. Artist. Writer. Entrepreneur. Undiagnosed ADHD. INTJ.

 

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