Hiblang Abo: Dealing with aging and death

By Anna Valmero and Marjorie Gorospe INQUIRER.net IT has been said, companionship is best appreciated in old age. After experiencing all the highs and lows of life, those who are chronologicall y advanced seek to be with people. This was the least of their concern when the y were young, when they seemed to have time for everything. This is the recurring theme in a recent play, called âHiblang Abo,â a productio n of Gantimpala Theater Foundation under director Tony Espejo. We recently went to view the play at the Luneta open auditorium. Hiblang Abo talks about the lives of four men in a home. Huse, one of the four characters, narrated how they shared memories and how one by one -- Sotero, Blas and Pedro â gradually left the picture leavi ng him alone in a dilapidated room. During light moments, they talked about Huse's inspiration, Rosa, who is a ward in the institution. Sometimes, they talked about how proud they were being cla ssified as the best to be interviewed in the institution by visiting college st udents. They made Blas recall his glory days as labor group leader when he was younger. All four shared their age-old dreams and aspirations. Sotero longed to find his daughter, Victoria, to share his last days with her. But this irritated Blas w ho despised Sotero's story saying they were untrue. As the play went, Huse recounted how their days were spent unnoticed just like their gray hair. The gray strands eventually got thinner over time, until they shed. The feel that they went on with their lives unnoticed, feeling like they have evaded the mirror as they refused to see the truth about their lives. It was just like Hiblang Aboâs main points: the play is about three inevitable things in our lives: sickness, aging and death. As the four men grew older, they too experienced sickness apart from suffering the usual back pains, blurred vision and memory deterioration. The play was clearly stating that each of us will age. It is inevitable unless possibly, we enter a cryogenics capsule. However, getting old alone is one bitter pill to swallow. Watching the actors portray the four main characters brings to mind this questi on: âHow does one feel growing old under the care of a facility and not with lo ved ones?â Death -- not only of the body but of the soul -- is the meanest tragedy in life . Thus when all grains of sand are nearly spent, and we have yet to fulfill our dreams, we feel that our dreams are like huge balls chained to us each time we think what we could have done when time was not yet our enemy. And that proverbial ball can ultimately weigh a person down, as they await deat h, which Huse compares to a theaterâs curtain closing, or in the vernacular,âBu maba na ang talonâ (The curtain has closed). As much as it is a tragedy, the playâs theme hinges on the beauty of life and i ts counterpart, death. While it seems remote to have a life without any bitter tragedy, companionship can make life easier. But most donât have the luxury of enjoying that at the ti me when it can be most cherished -- during old age.