My sister had just passed away, my brother-in-law had remarried my aunt, on their wedding day, a special woman appeared that made the whole hall pale
The night before Tita Rosa and my brother-in-law Carlos’s wedding, I stayed up almost the entire time. The scent of incense from my sister Isabel’s altar mixed with the scent of newly replaced white lilies, creating a cool and bitter scent. Outside, the early season Manila wind blew through the lace curtain, gently lifting the mourning scarf placed on her photo frame, making it shake like a sigh that wouldn’t stop.

Inside the house, everything had changed. The living room, which used to be a place of worship, now had a red backdrop, hanging a pair of sparkling golden couplets. The pre-printed wedding photo of Tita Rosa and Carlos was propped up on a wooden shelf. In the hidden corner, there was still an old teddy bear of Isabel’s daughter Maya, holding a frayed bow. The yellow light shone on the crane decals stuck on the wall, they stood in pairs, their necks stretched out in some direction I didn’t know.

Sister Isabel died in March. The bus from the Baguio mountains to Manila encountered a landslide. People said she was swept into the stream. The only thing found was a gold ring stuck in a crevice of the rocks, like a ray of sunlight stopping on green moss. Her funeral was quiet. Carlos cried until his eyes were swollen, and Tita Rosa carried little Maya around, handing out candy to the guests, afraid that the little girl would miss her mother and cry.

But not long after… people gathered… for the wedding.

Murmuring voices echoed throughout the barrio. “Just finished mourning, now getting married… strange.” – “Tita is getting married bayaw… Diyos ko.” Everyone glanced at me. I tried to stay calm. In the kitchen, my mother arranged raspberries and gac fruit, whispering: “These days, Mom keeps dreaming about ate mo.” I could only bow my head.

Since childhood, Tita Rosa – my father’s younger sister – was close to the family, taking care of everything like a second mother. When Isabel married Carlos, Tita cried as if she were marrying her own child. So when I heard Carlos wanted to marry Tita, I thought I heard the sound of glass breaking in my head. He said, “This is so Maya can have a mother, so that the school admission papers are convenient… para may kasama sa bahay.” He spoke as if reciting an explanation. I asked, “What about ate Isabel?” He was silent, his eyes red.

The wedding day came as quickly as all the sadness had not yet subsided. The tent was set up to fill the yard. White cloths covered the tables, chairs were wrapped in satin. Red paper flowers were hung everywhere. Maya wore a white dress, running around between the tables, still unconsciously calling: “Mama… Ah, Tita…”

Just as the MC shouted: “Please come in, bride and groom,” the tent door opened.

A thin woman with her hair in a bun, wearing a brown shirt, walked in. Around her neck was a wooden rosary. Her hand tightly held a person wearing an old conical hat. Everyone was silent. And then… the hat fell off.

I stood still. It was Isabel – my sister.

Her face was thin, tanned, with a small scar on her forehead, but those eyes… were the eyes I had seen through the photo frame for months. Maya screamed: “Mama!” then rushed out of my arms, hugging her tightly. The whole hall exploded, crying, calling, people trembling and covering their mouths.

Carlos turned pale, standing still on the red carpet. Tita Rosa beside him slowly buttoned his shirt, as if closing a door.

The woman in brown put her hand on my shoulder, her voice low: “Daughter… don’t be afraid. I am Aling Trining. I picked up your sister in the middle of a stormy night in Zambales.”

The story broke out: Isabel was swept out to the river mouth by the flood, caught in a fisherman’s net. Aling Trining took her to a hut by the sea, and cared for her until she remembered. She didn’t rush back, because she was afraid of returning while her family was still angry, not yet understanding each other.

Tita Rosa stepped forward, took off her hairpin, straightened her back:

“This wedding… isn’t a wedding. It’s just an excuse to gather relatives. To have enough witnesses, to protect Maya, and… to give Isabel back a home.”

The lawyer standing next to her pulled out a stack of papers: a power of attorney signed by Carlos, giving Tita Rosa the right to represent Maya, separating the assets from the debt he was in. The whole theater was in an uproar.

Carlos was weak, stammering: “Isabel… I thought you were dead…” She looked at him, her voice soft: “No. If you thought I was dead, you wouldn’t have to apologize. But I’m still here. And I saw everything clearly.”

The atmosphere was heavy. Maya hugged her mother tightly, sobbing. I felt both pain and lightness in my heart, as if a rock had fallen but the soft ground caught it.

That afternoon, the wedding party turned into a family meal. Everyone sat together, my mother cried and laughed. Tita Rosa returned to being the simple woman in the kitchen, no longer the “bride”. Carlos quietly applied for a new job in the carpentry shop, taking care of Maya every day. Isabel opened a small class for the children in the neighborhood.

A month later, when the whole family celebrated the anniversary of their father’s death, the atmosphere was peaceful for the first time. In the house, there were only the sounds of children practicing reading, the sound of mother stacking dishes, the sound of Tita Rosa smiling gently, the sound of Isabel lecturing, and the clear, unmistakable sound of Maya calling “Mama!”.

In front of the door, a new salakot was hung, inside of which was written the words Aling Trining:

“For the roof on land. The sea breeze has passed. The wind from the fields is also cool.”

If anyone asks: “Who was that special woman that day, that made the whole hall pale?” – I will say: it was Aling Trining, the one who saved my sister from the water. But actually, there was another special person – Tita Rosa. One person brought my sister home, one person staged a fake wedding to keep the roof.

And I believe, from then on, our roof learned to tilt properly towards the wind. Just that, it was warm enough.