JESUS ANTONIO "TONY" MATAMOROSA CARPIO
(Oct. 25, 1931 - May 26, 2010)
Former NBI Director, Human Rights Lawyer, Writer
Faithful Spouse of Bernardita Zalazar Carpio ( )
Father of 14 (3 girls and 11 Boys), Grandfather of 24
An Officer and a Gentleman
On May 26, 2010, Papa passed on to join Mama with God. His death also brings us to ponder upon the mystery of life.
"Each one of us will render an accounting when we stand before God at the end of our lives," says Papa's favorite teacher at the Ateneo de Naga, Fr. James B. Reuter, SJ. And for Papa, we can take a glimpse of his journey through the first line of a song he used to sing-with Mama on the piano: LOVE CAME TO ME.
Love came to Papa through Mama and through us their 14 children.
"Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise," as the song's title goes, so did Papa carry on with life's challenges. He was a quiet and unassuming man, always reflecting on beyond the daily grind. He kept in mind from the same song that "So ends each story. Softly, as in an evening sunset, The light that gave you glory will take it all away."
Thus, he wrote following Mama's death:
God Gave Me a Saint!
Bernardita, my beloved, my darling, my bride!
Mother of my Fourteen! My woman fulfilled!
Blessed are we, pilgrims by your side.
Blest be your son-priest and as many Christ has willed.
Marylike, you were all love and understanding
Serene and smiling thru all stress and strain!
And when our sorrows were utterly demanding,
You showed us how to embrace God's gift of pain!
Your radiant beauty was mine to have and to hold!
I shall sing of my Treasure all the days of my life
Far dearer than fame and fortune and mountains of gold,
God gave me a Saint! To be my wife!
And sinner that I am, God kept me true!
I knew no other woman! No one but you!
And early on as a soldier he also wrote:
The Reason Why
I gazed what had caught my eye-
The early sun perched on the hill
As red and ominously still
As an egg yolk painted in the sky.
Enrapt in beauty I stared
At this portentous whitening or
Until my eyes could not absorb
Its burning brilliance shining unspared
Long had I sought the reason why
My mind could never comprehend
The mysteries that know no end
That reason fails to satisfy.
Yet, if the naked eye goes blind
At the glory of this finite sun
How can I, O Infinite One,
Contain Thee in my finite mind!
"Uwi na tayo," (Let's go home.) Papa asked Connie, our third girl, in one of his last conversations with us.
He certainly got his wish. More, love came to him once again-to be with Mama in our true home with the Infinite One he had long sought.