really glad to have known you...

a dear friend recently passed away unexpectedly. just got the sad news this morning while on my marketing chores and really had me in shock! you see, this friend was a "tindera" (vendor) in a nearby market here in our place. my acquaintance with this "tindera" was based on a "suki-tindera (customer-vendor) relationship. i favored this "suki" of mine over the others as she most often gives me discounts on practically everythting that i bought on their stall. i say their's because the stall is being run & managed by their entire family; mom, dad and younger brothers and with my "suki" herself manning the late morning to late afternoon shift. she strikes me as a very hardworking person and in a short tete-a-tete with her, came to know that their entire family was not from these parts but from the island of luzon as well. she's a very jolly person, very talkative and she seem to have this knack of luring customers into buying stuff that they sell. you see, a greater part of my time is spent on the market being in the food business and all. and this young lady would always holler in her big booming voice this words: "kuuyyyyyaaaa! bili na! kumusta ang araw natin?!" those were almost always her words upon seeing me approaching their stall. she almost always brings a smile to my face with her funny salesmanship and antics, and her funny stories and what i like to call "market-talk". whats unique is that, she would always ask not only me but her other customers as well this question: ... kumusta po ang araw natin? (how was your day?). funny but, i was never one that responds to this kind of questions especially late afternoons when i am already tired from working the whole day and just would like to finish up and head home for some much needed rest and a cold shower. but she seems to really have this keen sense of knowing how you're feeling and would instantly blurt out a funny joke which would almost always put a smile on my face. in short, she'd perk up my daily late afternoon marketing interesting. in her, i found that the daily toils of our lives can be as interesting as well, its just the point of looking for a way to make it more interesting. i just want you to know michelle (yup, thats her name), wherever you may be now, that you are going to be missed, not just by me but all the others whose lives you have touched in one way or the other. farewell, my friend.