IT was not until she retired in April this year that I came to know her surname. Zeny and I have been colleagues in a newspaper office for 10 years (since 2009) but we seldom socialized, except during Christmas parties or anniversary celebrations of The Manila Times.
Maybe the reason was that she was with Layout and I was with Editorial as copy editor, which deployment leaves little time for lengthy conversation or even small talk.
I am older than Zeny by five years (she’s 65, and the mandatory retirement age for Filipinos like the two of us working in the private sector is 60).
Silent and efficient on the job, she told me that she did not retire when she was supposed to because she still was enjoying the work, and not the least the company of young people (reporters, correspondents, researchers) in the newsroom.
And never mind that she lived in the province of Cavite, south of Manila, meaning it was a daily commute of four hours (two-way) for her to our office in Manila’s historic Intramuros district.
Zeny also told me that when she did finally decide to leave her job for good last March, it did not take her long to do so, partly because she had longed for spending more time with her two grandchildren.
At The Manila Times, she was motherly, especially to the editorial assistants and other layout people less than half her age.
Occasionally, she would bring to the office suman and other delicious rice cakes from Cavite for all of us in Editorial.
On her last day at work one day last April, Zeny surprised female editors Tessa, Lynette, Leena, Remia and Lea and reporter Iza by giving each of them paper flowers (vases included) in mostly yellow, red, pink and white.
I was not to be left out.
Zeny gave me a beach towel, also in yellow, and I think I was the more surprised receiver of a Christmas gift in April. The cloth did not come wrapped in a box or placed inside a paper bag. Zeny handed it to me, and, well, you can say I stammered as I got it from her.
Thank you very much, Zenaida “Zeny” Erispe and I know you’ll take good care of your grandkids.
Just don’t forget to take your maintenance medicines and you’ll be alright.
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