A fond farewell to my Tito Cesar Bautista, who passed away shortly after New Year’s Day. Husband to my dad’s sister Tita Menchu, he was an engineer and an entrepreneur, and a man with a big heart and a huge family.

In my childhood my parents when traveling would sometimes leave me and my brother with Tita Menchu and Tito Cesar. I was a confused little kid, and at some point during one of these childsitting stayovers I adopted my tito and tita as my own “Mama Mintsu and Papa Titay,” relegating my own parents to uncle/aunt status. Now, I love my parents, so remembering that is a bit of an embarassing matter to me today, but it’s an illustration of how loved and welcomed I felt in their house, a love that Tito Cesar shared with all through his life.

Tito Cesar leaves behind Tita Menchu, and a family of eight kids, all married with kids of their own, some kids with kids, so he had gotten to see some of his great-grandchildren. I was happy to hear that he got to spend one last Christmas with them, even getting out of his wheelchair to dance a bit with Tita Menchu. I hope to see him again some day at the resurrection, but for now, he rests, and we mourn, but also rejoice in that hope.