Who Am I?

2020 Q3

Question begets answer. But in the midst of a pandemic, it may be an exception. Not an exception to the rule but exception to reality. Removed from reality, I am an aberration. I depart from the usual, normal, typical, and on to obscurity, absurdity, and I dwell headlong as a menace to society. I am not an explorer but I have circumnavigated the world freely, swiftly. I am not a conquistador but I conquered many — in millions across continents and seas. I am not a muay Thai boxer but I forced many to hopeless submission. Home invasion is my craft. Creating havoc to families is my specialty. For I am that which lurks beneath fears of health and safety.

Every day I chart results, of those infected, of those hospitalized, of those who passed away. I defy explaining because I am devoid of substance, clarity, and purpose. In my being there is nothing worth telling. I have many colors but none of it depicts youth, life, and happiness. I exist but am despised by all in strongest terms. I am invisible but I manifest largely in many ways, that no one wants to be a part of. I am in symptoms that foretell sickness. I am in coughs and sneezes that drive away people. I am not ill but I am in hospitals. I may be in a beautiful being but there’s nothing beautiful about me. None. For my existence is a scourge of life.

Everyone wants me dead and buried, not in a celebrated memorial but in memory. And most especially not when I am inside a person. Let me rather dwell alone on objects, on surfaces, on doorknobs, on pushbuttons…on anything that people touch. Hindered by face mask and shielded away, I better be. With a splash of alcohol I better not thrive. With a drop of hand sanitizer, I should cease to exist. I better be gone, wiped out, eradicated with no goodbyes and farewells. No legacy to leave behind. No trails of hope that someday I might be back in worse form than I have ever been.

Who am I? This is me. Unseen but my presence is larger than life. I am beyond measure though expressed in minuscule. Frame me, hang me on the wall, admire me for in this instance I am just a replica, a product of one’s creative imagination, given life in canvass so I can represent the odious realism. Let this picture be your constant reminder. That safety and health are one life’s fender.

Note: The painting shown above as well as the other two below are owned by Fray Noel aka Leon Paulo Zaragoza. He painted this creation to depict the havoc that coronavirus has inflicted on humanity. The 3 paintings featured are part of his creation he called “Quarantine Series”. Leon is a world-class photographer, a painter, a gourmet chef, and a restaurateur.

Ted Fullona

“Fray Ted” entered the Dominican seminary in 1973 at Peñafort Hall in Aquinas University of Legaspi (now UST-Aquinas). After completing the novitiate at Villa Lizares in Jaro, Iloilo, Ted majored in English at Letran (and cross-enrolled for journalism in Lyceum), where he served as reporter for The Lance, vice-president of the Letran Chorale, and president of the Humanities Literary Circle, up to the time of his departure from College and the seminary in 1978. Ted briefly worked for a stock brokerage firm in Manila before joining Saudi Aramco in 1981. While there, he managed the publication of the weekly Oasis Times. He married Mayette in 1982 and two years later was blessed with an unico hijo, Thomas John. The family immigrated to Canada in 1988 where he landed a job at Cadbury. The computer knowledge he acquired from Aramco made Ted indispensable as Technical Support Coordinator. In 1990, he augmented his credentials in the field of Computer Systems at Sheridan College. In 1993 he founded Cadbury’s in-house graphics department where he catalyzed and transformed several in-house graphics systems. As graphics manager, he led his team in developing and designing advertising and marketing collateral for a variety of Cadbury iconic brands. Ted’s tenure with Cadbury, and later became Mondelez Canada Inc., was capped at 27 years when he took advantage of an early retirement offer in 2017. Not wanting to be sidelined, he attended George Brown College for a Copywriting course. Ted is now managing his own design company, Artyoom Inc., contracting product catalogs design projects and writing brand style books for a number of brands.