A COLLEAGUE and a dying friend sent me one of her last text messages which I feel I must share with you.

It is a farewell note of a dedicated writer and The Daily Guardian’s Guimaras bureau chief, Bassinette Noderama. She sent the message while dying of cervical cancer. It was her way of saying goodbye to her friends

I am not sure if time is a blessing before dying. Knowing that you are slowly dying must be dreadful proposition but Basinette had the guts to write farewell notes to friends and colleagues, in the process inspiring us. After all, how many of us get the feeling of a vague sense of abandonment when someone we love and admire dies without saying goodbye? The words of a dying person mean a lot to those who value life and the lessons that life brings.

Below is one of the last text messages of Bassinette:

“Gud pm, kaina gin-interview ako ni Bombo Divine, hambal ko last wishes. Lain na gid matyag ko. Wen d time comes; u may interview my high school barkadas, Rahman Nava, Bokbok Mondejar, Pane Rosales of Eros Botika and UCPB Iznart branch manager Helen Jomantoc. Kilala ni Don Dolido ang mga friends ko sa Central Market. Doctor friends r Malbar Ferrer and Vic Pido of St. Paul . T.Y.”

Bassinette, 45, died of cervical cancer 3am Wednesday. She was best known for her daily column “Paying Forward.”

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One remarkable thing about Bassinette is that she always reminded me to enjoy life while I am still young. Bassinette was always willing and able to teach her colleagues and share her experiences with them.

Bassinette continued her commitment to her work even during the final months of her life. I remember one Friday afternoon when Bassinette and I met inside the old editorial office of The Daily Guardian in La Paz. I was about to leave after a meeting with publisher Lemuel Fernandez for our regular radio program when she briefed me about the plight of Central Market vendors.

Bassinette made an in-depth discussion of the controversial Iloilo City Tax Code which she said is disadvantageous to market vendors.

Even though she was very sick, she would come to the office to champion the vendors’ sentiments through The Daily Guardian and our weekly radio program “The Daily Guardian on Air.”

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Several weeks before Bassinette passed away, I personally received another text message from her that she needed “type O” blood donors because the blood bank has no available stock. I received the message during her last confinement at Saint Paul’s hospital. I immediately sent a text message to anchorman Junjun Sornito of Aksyon Night Patrol, believing that through his program, type O blood donors will respond to her call.

And I personally thank Junjun for his sincere accommodation and concern for a dying colleague.

Luckily, several listeners willingly called up and texted Aksyon Radyo to donate blood to Bassinette.

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With the passing of Bassinette Noderama, we lost one of Iloilo’s best journalists. A compassionate, sensitive, gentle but strong woman, a lover of life and a great professional, she was the exemplar of a conscientious and dedicated journalist.

Everybody who spent long or brief moments with Bassinette will surely have fond memories of her. As we bid Bassinette our final adieu, we request our readers to pray for the repose of her soul.

Goodbye Bassinette! We will miss you and continue praying for you.

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