By Joy B. Miranda

The cheerful smile on his face never failed to cover up the pain inside. As always, Jun, in the picture below with Mama Terry, managed to show his signature smile, unmindful of the struggle he did earlier while going up to the stage of Ateneo De Davao University to receive his diploma in Marketing. Painstakingly he walked up there slowly, limping, one step at a time, yet on the last leap, he stumbled, yet again, the smile did not disappear and he was wearing it until the end of the ceremony.

Perhaps this was what strike me most about him. His unrelentless fighting spirit. He was not okay because it was on the early stage of his strange illness. The illness was later known to be multiple sclerosis. With the picture above, hopes were yet visible in his face, positively thought that what he was suffering at that moment would vanish in no time. Remembering this, my heart melts…

Second picture shows Jun during one of his heydays with friends Henry Sy and Mark Rina and the third photo with his girl friends. These are some of his old lovely photographs that I dearly kept with me. Today is August 8, 2008. It is the opening of 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. It is also the day when I received my US visa issued by the Consular Section of the US Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus, and a day to remember the birthday of Dinos C., my newly-found special friend in this part of the world. Most of all, it is Jun’s first year death anniversary. Yes, he is gone physically, but remembering him is easy because in my heart, he stays.

To all the people who knew my brother Jun so well, to all those that he considered “friends” and vice versa, to all those that he cared for, and whom he believed that cared about him too, I can never thank you enough! He had a short-lived life but in those times that he was with you, I knew he had it grand. Thank you for being there for him when he was still active and alive. Wherever you maybe right now, may the thought of an old lost friend named Jun Miranda resurface in your mind, and when it does, hope it accompanied with a smile. God bless! (Please read the articles about Jun’s life story which I posted last August 10, 2007 and September 20, 2007 (sentidokomon archive). The former was first published in 2005 at “The Epistle”, the quarterly magazine of St. Paul Anglican Cathedral Church in Nicosia, Cyprus).