The Speech that Launched Two Brilliant Careers
Bobbit and Erica
We call it the "Balloon” speech from the first line in the body of the speech. I did not realize that I wrote two balloon speeches, one, when I was just a high school sophomore at 15 in the Philippines and two, as a young mom in the States.
My late sister, Alice, who became close to the dela Cruz clan of Malibay asked me to write the valedictory speech for the young son of Sianing and Mely dela Cruz. Amiel or Bobbit as he is fondly called graduated at the top of his class in prep school. This is what I wrote:
"Monsignor Cruz, Brother Thomas, Mrs. Benipayo, Mrs. Delarments, Miss Daco and dear parents.
You see balloons on stage tonight, white frills and laces, ribbons and shiny shoes. We are celebrating an occasion, a good day our daddies and mommies will be proud to remember. Today is the start of a new beginning.
Dear teachers, our classroom days are over. You'll miss our smart answers, our voices when we sing, our bawls when we miss home, and tantrums when we can't have the things we want. You will miss the bright little eyes that delight in your stories, the tiny hands that clap the rhythm of the music you teach, the gleeful voices that you hear in our games. But, we will miss you, too, your voices that turn sweet when you instruct and stern when you discipline. We’ll miss your hands guiding ours in writing, putting us in places when we line up, patting our heads when we behave well. We like to thank you for these and many more. We are prepared now to learn new things in Grade One.
Mommies and Daddies, thank you too for being there all the time. With you, we’d like to bid farewell to dear San Isidro Catholic School, to its classrooms and playgrounds, its teachers and students. It provided a proper atmosphere in our formative years.
Yes, you see balloons on stage tonight. Beloved principal, teachers, dear daddies and mommies, and my little friends --- they are ALL for us here!”
This young boy, who barely reached the mic on stage, delivered this speech with great aplomb for such a young age and moved on to participate in elocutions, declamations, and oration in school. He earned a medical degree in nephrology from the University of Santo Tomas, teaches at the Department of Medicine at Ateneo University, and is a respected member of the Medical City Department of Medicine. He was recently conferred the title of Life Fellow by the Philippine Society of Nephrology, Inc.
Many years later in the States after that first balloon speech, I co-wrote my daughter’s 5th grade valedictory address in which I managed to write in the balloon line somehow. Maybe that was the secret ingredient for success because Erica grew up to be a prolific writer, graduating magna cum laude from Wellesley College, awarded a scholarship at Oxford University and now works as Executive Communication Lead Manager and writes speeches for vice-presidents at Google, Inc.
I eventually married into the dela Cruz clan, to Bobbit’s uncle, Roli. His mom, now my Insong Mely, lovingly kept a copy of this speech. Such thoughtfulness cheered me up no end. Now, I would like to think I had a hand in Bobbit’s and Erica’s achievements.
