Hello Kitty grandmoms—Socorro Ramos, Ambassador Vea. Behind are Virgie Ramos and Kunihiko Tsuji. (Photos by SANDEE S. MASIGAN)

‘God knows what’s best for us
so why should we worry?
We always want the sunshine
but He knows there must be rain.
We always want the sound of laughter
and the merriment of cheer
but our hearts will lose their tenderness
if we rarely shed a tear.
God tests us not to punish us
but to help us meet tomorrow.
So whenever we are in trouble
and everything seems to go wrong,
just remember…
it’s God working on us
to make our spirit strong!”

- Justice Consuelo Y. Santiago

It would have been the 55th wedding anniversary of Cory and Ninoy, the nation’s most loved and admired couple today, and their ardent supporters will not let the day pass without celebrating with a mass at their gravesite at the Manila Memorial Park in Sucat, Parañaque.

Still a popular site to visit, say a prayer or put some yellow flowers, this hallowed ground will be the venue of a mass today at 11 a.m. according to the CorVets or Cory Veterans, a non-political alliance of rabid supporters of “Tita Cory.” The CorVets is an aggrupation of informal groups fully supportive of the candidacy of Senator Noynoy and of course his vice-president, Senator Mar Roxas.  It’s peopled by a mix ex-Cabinet secretaries like Jun Factoran, Frank and Mila Drilon, Tony Gonzales, Cesar Sarino, Gem and Bebot Carague, Amb. Miguel Perez Rubio, Amb. Alfredo Rocha, Popoy and Margie Juico, Dondon and Delia Paderanga, Cef Follosco, Danilo Gozo,   and ex-generals  of Cory, like Lisandro Abadia and Ramon Montano, friends like Maritess Lopez,  Elvira Chan,  Dolly Nazareno, relatives like former senator Butz Aquino, other first and second generation supporters of the Aquinos like the young founders of Power of Nine, a unique people-based fund-raising project. And representing the Noynoy for President Movement are the “originals” of the Cory for President Movement, Ed Roces and Salvador Rivera.

They have numbered cans for those who want to make “taya” (bet) on Noynoy for small donations like one peso and Ed recounted to the CorVets how this campaign has really taken off! They plan to present all the filled cans to Senator Noynoy on his father’s birthday, Nov. 27.

So please remember Cory and Ninoy today, how they inspired all of us to be selfless, to care for each other and to love our country!

* * *

And speaking of remembering emotional moments, Sandee, her daughter Amanda and I were among the droves of Hello Kitty fans who converged at the opening of the super store of the world’s best-loved kitty at the Greenbelt 5. It was just a day before we all felt the fury of typhoon Ondoy.

It was sweetly nostalgic for me to accompany Sandee and her ten-year- old Amanda to the grand opening of “Sanrio Luxe.”  My late Beloved and I used to haunt the Sanrio stores in Hongkong and frequent Gift Gate here in Greenhills to get Hello Kitty, Twin Stars and other collectibles for our only daughter Sandee when she was growing up.  Now it’s the turn of my only girl “apo” to collect Hello Kitty knick knacks! We recently resurrected Sandee’s 32-year old Sanrio dollhouse to Amanda’s amusement that her mom really went “gaga” over Kitty.

Well, the white , mouth-less kitten with the round face,  pink button nose, cute eyes, perky red bow  is now all grown up at 35, but it seems her fans have also grown up with her , still “besotted “ with her and have bequeathed their fascination for her to their children!

Sanrio’s franchisee here, the super mover lady, Virgie Ramos, who also has the Swatch brand under her, threw a fabulously happy bash for the Hello Kitty fans. The items were of course more grown-up with lots of “bling” and other “fashionista” accessories that captured the hearts of the young and older fans anyway.

Socorro Ramos, the matriarch of the National Book Store clan and I gamely donned the red bow and headband of Hello Kitty. Other guests wore their red bow on their wrists, or on their chest, as bow ties, etc. But all got into the mood of the launch, especially Amanda and her friends, the Angeles siblings, Cammy, and the twins Kirsten and Chelsea.

They could hardly wait for the store doors to open and when it did to a gorgeous shower of gold confetti, out popped the live models in their best Hello Kitty outfits, bags, shades, and what-nots, including the ‘ hunk,’ Derek Ramsey in his Hello Kitty signature pajamas!

All the guests made a dash for the store to admire Ed Calma’s minimalist design for the interiors, the display cases with the tantalizing new line of merchandise and even the ceiling lights reflected the new glam image of Hello Kitty at 35! What fun!

Kunihiko Tsuji ,  the son of  the Sanrio founder, and Virgie ( who is in Paris right now to source more Hello Kittty merchandise) happily watched the swarm of guests checking out the Hello Kitty evening clutch bags, the trinkets, pendants, stuffed Kitty dolls in designer outfits, even an all-white junior golf bag that was absolutely fabulous. (Good thing Amanda isn’t into golf –yet!)

We saw a Hello Kitty mom, Pinky Cuaycong going through the store happily, with a very patient son and hubby, Anthony, who is president of BusinessWorld. She looked like she was in paradise and she told us later that she was, indeed, overjoyed with the new Sanrio Luxe!

I probably will never have the chance to wear my headband with the red bow again, but for that one evening, it was fun to be young again with Hello Kitty!