Orly, I'm so, so sorry'

Orly, I'm so, so sorry'

By FR. BEL R. SAN LUIS, SVD

July 3, 2011, 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — I would like to share this poignant story which has a valuable lesson. Two days before Christmas in 1996, the parents of Anna and Carl Tolentino invited two orphan siblings Virgie, 13, and Orly, 10, from an orphanage to stay in their house under  the “Share-a-Home” program.

* * *

They were supposed to stay for three days but because the poor children adjusted so well to their new home, their stay was extended to three weeks. The parents even thought of adopting them. However, problem arose when Anna, the host’s daughter, noticed that the parents were becoming very close to Orly.

* * *

Where Anna was the center of attention before, now the spotlight shifted to the cute and cuddly Orly. Boiling inside with hatred and envy, she tried to make life miserable for poor Orly, like scolding him for little mistakes. Silence and withdrawal from their company was a weapon she used. And it paid off because from then on, her parents didn’t talk about adoption anymore.

* * *

At the end of the third week, the family drove Virgie and Orly back to the orphanage. Anna recalled, “Orly was in tears as we said goodbye. I told him we’d be back to visit soon, and we might even come to get them for good. It was a lie, of course. I never wanted to see them again.”

After a few days, Virgie called, asking how things were. Anna sensed they wanted to return and even wanted to know her mother’s phone number in the office but she didn’t  give it. More phone calls followed within a month, and then they stopped.

* * *

It had been 13 years in 2009. Orly would be 20, Virgie 23. Anna felt remorseful, justifying she was an immature 11-year-old then. “If we had adopted them,” Anna asked herself, “Would they have been better educated, more comfortable, more loved? Would I have eventually loved having two more siblings? Did I save my family from trouble and heartache, or did I deny them a more enriched life?”

* * *

Guilt-ridden Anna said: “Orly and Virgie have disappeared. I searched for their orphanage, but it doesn’t seem to exist now. I called its affiliate center and when they asked who I was looking for, I could only give the names Orly and Virgie. It occurred to me that I never even bothered to ask their last names.

* * *

“My only hope of making contact with them is if one day, walking along a street, a man would in some vague way recognize me. Maybe he would approach and tell me that we had met before and I’d tell him ‘I’m from the family that promised salvation but never followed through.’ And I’d tell him, ‘Orly, I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry.’”

* * *

We appreciate Anna Tolentino for being so candid in narrating her remorseful story. Her experience should remind each and everyone never ever to neglect an opportunity to do a good deed. As somebody said, “I shall pass this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now. Let me not neglect nor defer it for I shall not pass this way again.”

* * *

YOU ARE INVITED... to join a pilgrimage to the Holy Land on September 12 - 22, 2011.  This is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit the land where Jesus Christ lived, died and resurrected.

* * *

I will serve as chaplain. For inquiries, call Broadway Travel Inc. at 465 United Nations Avenue, Manila (cf. tel. directory) or e-mail:mailbox@broadwaytravelph.com.