His Happy Battle ends..

POSTED: MARCH 16, 2009 6:44AM Last Friday, March 6, 2009, the king of rap, Francis Magalona died due to complications of leukemia. He’s survived by his wife and 8 childern, Unna, Nic, Maxenne, Francis Jr., Saab, Elmo, Arkin and Clara. He was laid to rest last Wednesday, March 11. Honestly, I was never a fan of rap or of the master rapper. I grew up seeing him in TV and even his songs which are mostly about our nation. Nationalistic, that’s how I see him even then. When it was announced on national TV that he has leukemia, it was a complete shock. He seems so healthy and full of life. Even then, he remained positive and strong. His interviews are always full of hope. It is then that he became more interesting to me. When he passed away, me, just like the rest of the nation, can’t believe it at first. I thought it was just one of those cruel jokes in the internet. But when it was confirmed, my shock, turned to confusion. I thought he was getting better? I thought he can get through this.. death is like something so foreign to a man who has the energy of a young boy. And yeah, he’s only 44. With all these questions I yearned for answers. It is then that I came across his blog site in multiply: free mind. I also searched for his wife’s blog site which was also in multiply. Since then my lunch breaks and free times are devout to reading their blogs. Aside from that, I read every article about them in Pep. I wouldn’t call it obsession, but rather, I suddenly became interested to know how they are as a family before FM’s sickness, during and now that he’s gone. After reading their blogs, I was in awe. FM is really more than I expected. I knew him only as a rapper but it turns it out he is also a painter, photographer, businessman (his clothing company is FMCC) and a GREAT father. His blog entries showed how passionate he is as an artist, and as a family man. I’m always touched whenever I read his blog on how much he loves his children and how they are his “riches”. The more that I read his blogs, the more I admire him. For him, mediocrity is not acceptable. I he gets into something, he makes sure to give it his all. It’s sad that he already left us but as they say, “He’s in a better place now” and I could not agree more. My prayers are more for his family whom I know must’ve been having a hard time adjusting to the loss of a husband and a father. But knowing all the love he gave them, I know that eventually they will get on without forgetting him but rather, living by his example. As for me, life goes on as they say. But having known a portion of the life of master rapper I will take me with the lessons that I learned from him: 1. Live each day as if it was your last. make the most out of everything. be passionate in everything that you do. 2. if you fall hard, stand up, learn, change. 3. loving your country doesn't entail you to do great things. just be the best that you can be. love your job and craft. that's the best that you can do for this county. 4. hold on to the power of God. Goodbye Francis Magalona! thank you for being an inspiration!