Times like these I wonder what my elementary history teacher, Ms. F, would think. She taught history back in 1990 and 1991, which was just 4 years from the events of EDSA. I remember her telling us about the abuses of martial law. And while these were not written in our history books (which were obsessed with Aeta-Indones-Malay trifecta A and Kastila-Amerikano-Hapon trifecta B), she would regale us with her nightmarish personal experiences of having lived through the entire Marcos regime.

Mrs. F was a favorite among the student body, because she could really teach history. She sadly became one of my patients a few years back. When she got out of bed in the middle of treatment to go to the bathroom I asked the nurses to assist her, quickly, as she had very poor eyesight. She got all annoyed and scolded us, because apparently she had undergone lasik from the last time I had seen her (she was blind as a bat back then). I felt like a Grade 5 student once more, getting scolded for chatting away in the middle of her class.

Behind her veneer of courage and strength I could feel that she was very anxious. She died shortly thereafter. She was the second teacher who became my patient and died. More will probably follow, as this field deals with diseases that become more common in the elderly.

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