Exactly one year from the day of the death, a final mourning called ‘Waksi’ is celebrated in the Philippines. In a Waksi, the family prepares a feast and, together with the visitors, offers prayers to the deceased. Some provinces consider this as the day where the family can go back to wearing colored clothes.
This coming Sunday (August 8), I am preparing a simple lunch ( Honey Baked Ham- Chicken Macaroni Salad, Pancit and some other Pinoy Dishes to celebrate the first anniversary of Macrine's death. I invited Macrine's sisters, nieces and other relatives, but none will be attending. So, as of today, I have only 10 guests coming, all fully vaccinated but will still wear their masks for safety and precautionary measures due to the surging Covid-19 Delta variant.
I am just planning on lighting a candle to honor Macrine and her Memories. Speaking of Memories, may I have the pleasure of reposting Macrine's short biography.
Macrine passed away last August 10, 2020. She had lived a good life
for she had touched many other lives through her community involvement
here in the US as well as in the Philippines.
This post is
to remember Macrine(RIP) in her community involvement during her
productive and well-lived life here in the US as well as in the
Philippines.
The three awards are Macrine's involvement with Marinduque International, Inc and the Marinduque Association of the Capital Area. For details read:
https://hubpages.com/politics/medical-mission-of-love-to-marinduque
Macrine was actively involved with Filipino-American
community in the tri-state area of Maryland, Virginia and Washington,
DC. SHE was also active with the Marinduquenos of the Capital Area (MACA).
Some of MACA's projects were giving scholarships to needy students in
PI. We also collaborated with the humanitarian projects of “ Feed the
Hungry, Inc”in Marinduque. In 1998, we participated in the medical
mission to Marinduque. We donated 100 used eyeglasses, medical supplies
and equipments to the local hospital. In May, 2001 we again participated
in the medical mission sponsored by Marinduque International,Inc.. I
helped in the distribution of drugs and served as acting treasurer
during the mission week, while Macrine was Executive Director of the
organization.
Macrine short biography was published in MI, Inc
Newsletter when she was elected President in 2003 as follows. "Macrine
was born in Boac and a product of the Immaculate Conception Academy High
School. She obtained her Bachelor in Business Administration degree in
1957 from the University of Santo Tomas. Two month after graduation she
married her college sweetheart, David Katague from Iloilo, who was then
teaching chemistry at UP Diliman. They immigrated to the US in 1960.
Macrine
stayed home for 18 years raising her four children but decided to go
back to nursing school in California. In 1979, she received her Bachelor
of Science degree from Holy Name College in Oakland, CA. as well as a
Certificate in Public Health Nursing specializing with Spanish speaking
patients.
In 1990, Macrine and David moved to Maryland where
she worked for nine years as Quality Improvement Nurse Manager for several home
health organizations in the Washington, DC area. It was then, when she
joined the Marinduqueno Association of the Capital Area (MACA) and
became an active member of the association. She retired in 1998 and got
involved with the Filipino-American organizations in the DC
metropolitan area".
In June, 1999, Macrine was elected overall
chairperson of the Festival Committee that was in charge of the
celebration of Philippines Independence for the whole month of June. An
article was published by the Manila Mail, dated June 15, 1999. An
excerpt of the news article written by Bing C. Branigin reads:
RP TAKES CENTER STAGE-45 GROUPS JOIN PARADE IN D.C.
“A
big crowd watched the Philippines took center stage when
Filipino-Americans stage a colorful parade, fair and cultural show along
historic Pennsylvania Avenue on June 6.
Filipino Americans
display their pride in their culture and heritage to mark the 101st
anniversary of independence from Spain and more than a century of
Philippines- American relations. 
More
than 45 Filipino- American organizations participated in the parade and
whole day fair and cultural shows. They are groups from Washington,
D.C., Maryland, Northern Virginia, South Carolina and the 40 strong
Ati-atihan group from Virginia Beach.
The Marinduquenos who are this year hosts, showed their Moriones, clad in colorful costumes and mask.
Macrine
Katague, Philippine Festival chairperson, said she was really impressed
by the number of groups who participated. For the last six months, the
Philippine Committee had been meeting regularly to make this year's
event better.
A group of twenty food vendors sold favorite
Philippine dishes, like lechon, pancit etc...For drinks, there was San
Miguel beer, sago at gulaman, coconut juice and halo-halo. There were
also twenty tents filled with dry goods, like T-shirts, jewelry, gift
items, travel agencies and phone cards. One of the highlights of the
fair was on-the-spot painting contest for the kids. The Philippine
Embassy displayed stamp collection, fabrics and handicraft from the
Philippines
Ambassador and Mrs Raul Rabe, patiently stayed at the Fair from 9:00AM to 6:00PM, enjoying all the activities. Rabe will end his term the end of this month. He will be replaced by Ambassador Ernesto Maceda.
Mr. Rabe told Manila Mail “ This is a great thing that we are celebrating our independence here in Pennsylvania Avenue. I noticed that every year we are getting better and bigger,. Hopefully we will keep the momentum going”..
To show their support to their “kababayans”, Marinduquenos from New Jersey came to town. Al Molato who represented the Eastern Seaboard Marinduqueno said, “ This is fantastic, imagine our small island is so small and taking a big role in the capital to host a big endeavor like this. I would like to salute my co-marinduquenos and Macrine Katague the chairperson, for a wonderful job.”
Meanwhile, enjoy this photo of Macrine during our trip to London at Wembley Stadium watching the Football Game between the Redskins and 49'ers.
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