Friday, January 16, 2009

Thanks Mama Khryss!


I'd like to share a personal letter to Khryss Adalia, director of several soap operas (Mula sa Puso, etc) who has passed away late last year:


Dear mama Khryss,

I am saddened to hear that you have already passed away. And I never had the chance to thank you for the inspiration you have given me. We were never close. But you are one of my teachers whom I always hold dear in my heart.

I met you on a crossroad in my life. I was 19, about to go to the US to take up nursing. And while processing my papers, I enrolled in your class for theatre acting in PETA (Philippine Educational Theater Association).

During our training, you christened me with a nick name, which I would never forget – “Meryl Streep”. You told me I was like Meryl – able to attack a character with depth and subtlety.

Looking back, I knew such comparison was just a hyperbole. But for a lanky and insecure teenager like me, I admit, it was one of those things that I treasured.

Your stories about how you loved to role play when you were young made me think about my own childhood. Such stories gave me a reason to think that perhaps, someday, I could also be successful as you are.

Thank you, Mama Khryss. You were one of the people who inspired me to take that bold move in following my dreams. I decided to cancel my enrolment in my school to pursue a career in entertainment here in our country. And I was right, I couldn’t be happier.

I hope someday, I’ll be successful as well. And I hope I’ll be able to also touch young dreamers the way you have made a difference in my life.


Lex Bonife

2 comments:

LoF said...

thankfully you didn't take up nursing in the u.s. (for whatever reason). a whole generation of men in the Philippines and beyond will be thankful for this decision.

Anonymous said...

that was so touching, lex. you always look back the kind gestures that anyone touches your life.

saludo ako sa iyo sa ugali mo.