01-032 [Family]
1882.[?].08
From: Narcisa Rizal
To: José Rizal
More family news — Rizal’s letters are eagerly awaited — Lack of town news.
* * *
(No date. August 1882?)
MY DEAR BROTHER,
Our sadness at first has given way to endless joy in our heart. Every time we receive your letters we thank the Almighty that nothing untoward has happened to you, despite the great distance that separates us. Don’t resent our failure to write you in the last mail. Even though we don’t write you, we don’t forget you a single moment, especially in our prayers to the Lord and the Virgin. The children also are always talking about you during their play. I often hear the three E., A., and Antonio,[1] discussing you. And when they hear your name mentioned in our conversations, they at once ask if you are coming home and where you are. Icang is good, because she can say that you are at Barcelona; E. says Colombo; and Antonio says Paña;[2] and so the three often have an argument; they cannot agree about you. María, Pangoy, and Trining say that they will not write you for the present because they have nothing more to tell you, as we have exhausted all the news. As you already know, here we lack news, so that our letters to you are devoid of news except family ones. However, the plague, that is said to be in Manila, has not yet reached our town, thank God. No one has yet died among our friends. T. Luis has a difficult ailment; he has gone to Manila for treatment but he has not improved. Icang has not become stout since you left; Chabeng is like a melon.
Our relatives, friends, and above all we your siblings who can never forget you send you our best regards. Father and Mother bless you at all times. Don’t expect them to write you because their eyes are already weak. Don’t fail to include them in your prayers and ask the Lord to grant them a long life and strength so that on your return you may receive the tight embrace and blessing of our dearest parents.
Your sister who esteems you tenderly.
NARCISA RIZAL
[1] Emilio, Angélica (Icang). and Antonio (Tonio) are the names of the children of his sister Narcisa, married to Antonino López.
[2] That is España (Spain).