mpany,

His

HUSBAND & WIFE

0 letit he
musiyears
er he
D help
del
acal
opriateas the

The Special Child

an up-

By JOSE M. JR., and ANITA S. MEI LY

nt off
ivolved
very
and subLina
Mang
'am
g civic
t Juve-

iram,

ribut-

iter
mained
nd

'road-

till is
ted
I 3) du-

Lion and

nist

ay era.

D Cruz
to have

31 inclia lovely

3,metown
zuelas.

for her

im,
But

the end.

hild,

) now

ral hos-

Mang Emil with wife, Anastacia.

up with two records, revivals actually "You Belong to my Heart"

and "Kung libigin Ma" and directed some radio shows. He also
starred in a Passion play, -Panata
sa Pasiong Mahal,"with former matinee idol Fred Montilla. The play
is presented in Makati every year
and is broadcast over several radio
stations.
In late 1978 Mang Emil went to
the United States and made guest
appearances on some radio and television shows there. Upon coming
home, he rejoined the "Fight Juvenile Delinquency" programin May
1981, however, the krimlinum king
underwent heart bypass surgery and
last August his left leg had to go.
For a while it seemed as
though the once mobile and gregarious man would be totally broken.
But something happened, he says,
on his way to the operating room.
"I felt I saw Christ giving me all the
strength and encouragement I needed. For a minute or two, my doctors said was clinically dead. Any
how, after that incident, my attitude in life changed. l'fn now willing to face life with a happy
heart."
He is glad that his contemporary,

drawn

Cecil Lloyd the mystery singer of

iitial

the thirties, has rkeived the recog-

ffice

nition long due him. Mang Emil is

for
unsuc

wvas
manathe

ted to

disappointed, however, that his beloved kw/di/min is no longer appreciated by the present generation of
Filipinos. He suggests that the next
Metro Manila Pop Music Festival
include a search for new km/din/an
singers and composers. It is a dream

nil de-

he nurtures while, from his wheel-

tieback.

chair, he continues to sing his haun-

came

ting love songs.

ARENTS feel sad and often-.

times resentful when one of
their children has severe mental
and emotional problems re-

quiring psychiatric help. Among these

problems include the autistic, the
schizophrenic, the hyperkinetic, the
depressed.
An autistic child has a set of disabilities in his response to his surroundings deaf at times, insensitive to
pain. One of the main causes of
this type of emotional disturbance
is rejection by the mother in infancy.
The schizophrenic is akin to the
autistic. Both have the problem of
separating reality from fantasy.
Hyperkinetic children are believed
to have had minimal brain damage,

possibly at birth or after an attack

of measles. In the case of the
depressed child, a sense of loss,
like the death of a parent, separation, divorce, a transfer of the
family residence to another neighbor-

hood, are some of the causes of

depression among the young.
Parents of emotionally distressed
children certainly need comforting
and strengthening for them to
comprehend and accept God's will.
There are moments of anguish,
of questioning God's wisdom in
gifting them with a child different
from the rest.
Every child, irrespective of his
physical, mental, and emotional
condition is a gift from God and
should be treasured as such. It is
not for us to question God's will.
God's will is always for the good, to will
the good. Therefore, a child, every
child, is a blessing: good to have, to
love, to care for, nourish and rear_
Perhaps, God creates the special
child and makes the assignment as to
who his parents will be, what family
will have him. The whole family
the parents, the brothers and sisters
should work together, taking
turns in giving love and attention
to the disabled brother or sister.
Maybe, God gives the special child
to families, specially to fathers and

mothers, who He would like to

come closer to Him. It is in these
trying circumstances, when parents
can only watch helplessly as their
loved child suffers, that they cling
most to the Lord.
If there are special children, there
are also special parents chosen by
God to rear His unusual youngsters.
The Lord must be confident that
they are the parents best qualified
to care for them. These parents
are the select ones. It is indeed a
privilege to be chosen, hard and painful though it may be at times. But
love is sacrifice, and sacrifice is
love. Nowhere else is this more true
than in parenthood. And the special
child makes loving more meaningful
than ever.
And so, to parents who the Lord
has chosen to bequeath His special
children, we dedicate this poem we
picked out from a US newspaper:
Heaven's Very Special Child

by Edna Masaimilla
A meeting was held quite far
from Earth!
It's time again for _another birth,
Said the Angels to the Lord above,
This Special Child will need much love.
His progress may be very slow,
Accomplishment he may not show,
And he'll require extra care,
From the folks he meets down there.
He may not run or laugh or play,
His thoughts may seem quite far away,
In many ways he won't adapt,
And he'll be known as handicapped.
So let's be careful where he's sent,
We want his life to be content,
Please, Lord, find the parents who,
Will do a special job for You.
They will not realize right away,
The leading role they're asked to play,
But with this child sent fr9m above,
Comes stronger faith and richer love.
And soon they'll know the privilege
given,
In caring for their gift from Heaven,
Their precious charge, so meek
and mild,
Is Heaven's Very Special Child.

1/23/83 Philippine PANORAMA 33