“Goodbye purple rose, and it seems to me you lived your life like a candle in the wind…your candle burned out long before your legend ever did,” Elton John’s tribute to Princess Diana.
Blessed with loving, caring and supportive husband Per Anders and daughters Anna Aurora and Aina Virginia Bituin with brother Kidlat Tahimik and sister Virginia Abiad – Patricia de Guia-Eriksson left us in dash.
Patricia was our princess. She loved her family and the family loved her back immensely. She was a wife, mother, daughter, cousin, niece, aunt, film maker, adviser, linguist, traveler, administrator, event planner, writer, organizer and realtor boxed into that beautiful, cosmopolitan and sophisticated lady. Characteristics of a princess that she has clearly passed on to her daughters Anna and Aina.
She lived her life alternately between Baguio and Sweden. Seeing to it that family bonded with Christmas trips to the beaches of La Union and Pangasinan. Otherwise, family gatherings at home, or family trips to Balian, Pangil, Laguna – the hometown of the de Guias and where her parents built the first foundations of an elementary school in honor of her late brother Victor “Vijoe” Oteyza de Guia .
Patricia spent her time caring for her home in Sweden, doing outdoor activities like hiking, tenting in the mountains during summer, skiing, traveling to forest and mountains with snow mobiles in winter. While in the Philippines, she and Per would travel to off-the-beaten path destinations. And with family to old churches in Laguna and the beaches of northern Luzon and took care of households in Baguio and Laguna.
Swedish husband Per reminisces, “We took solace in going through her departure together, during the most intense and beautiful period of the year in our home in Osta. We would sit outside for hours, talk, drink and eat together with a well bundled up Patricia. Friends and family came to visit and say goodbye.”
Patricia’s sickness was diagnosed in September of last year. She was put under treatment at the Uppsala University Hospital, came home to Baguio for Christmas, had a family beach trip and celebrated her birthday with sister Genie and family before going back to Sweden for another round treatment, then palliative care.
“Looking back on this time in our life, I became overwhelmed to realize how brave Patricia was. How resourceful and full of inner strength she had to hold out, to learn how to dress, stay warm, fight mosquitoes in summer, loneliness many times, get along with strange people and still appreciate a life like that. And above all to be able to create a loving home for us under such alien conditions.” he continued.
Patricia was full of life and care. Early life with cousins was full of mirth. She knew how to love and took care of the family abodes in Baguio, Laguna and Sweden.
“Tita Patricia was like a second mother to me. She was the glue that kept the family together. She loved her family a lot. I remember how much she loved Kidlat and how much it broke her heart when he passed” recalls Lissa Romero de Guia. Kidlat, was Kidlat Tahimik’s eldest son. He passed away last year in Madrid, Spain after the egress of his father Kidlat Tahimik’s exhibit.
Another nephew, Kublai Abiad said, “ I remember Pata in Gallivare and the Northern lights, of how small we all are in the scale of the universe. She was so cosmopolitan. She taught me how to open a bottle of wine, introduced me to comic books and helped me grow up just like the aurora borealis.”
Brother Kidlat Tahimik (National Artist for Film) recalled their life in Paris. The flight of stairs of their apartment located at the attic, the long corridors and how Patricia was quite amused meeting her brother who turned artist with his bell bottom pants from an economist. “Pata was very organized compared to his sloppy brother. She had so much patience. Salamat sa pagsasama”
Cousins Ria and Emma remembered their teenager days, the laughter and the giggling.
Cousin-in-law Pete Siapno, recalls, the “little tumorsecret” of Pete and Emma which was first told to Patricia. He and Emma retired in 2018 and went back to Baguio to be with family. That was enough time to spend with family, especially Ed and Patricia and Uncle Bucky during the pandemic.
Katrin talked about the life of Patricia as a filmmaker.
To my family, Patricia was more than an aunt. My husband Ed treated Patricia like a sister. Ed would never allow Patricia, or her sister, Genie, Per, Anna or Aina travel to and from the airport without him, to make sure they were all safe. That love radiated within the family. And so, my children did not just see Patricia as a Tita, but a sister to my beloved husband Ed. My children saw Patricia’s children as their siblings too. But it is also that kind of love in a family, that makes it very special. It transcends all.
There are so many things we want to thank Patricia for. Words will never be enough to express how thankful we are. But we want to thank the Great Forces that allowed us to share our lifetimes together as family. We love you our dearest Patricia! We will hear your voice in songs we used to sing with you, we will hear your laughter in jokes we shared together, we will feel you in the warm sun. We will miss you terribly.
And finally, her husband Per, of how the family of Patricia accepted him. Coming from a very small family in Sweden, he is glad that he is now surrounded by family in this time of life. “ It is a relief that life continues and that I am not alone, we are together and everything will be alright.”
So, good bye our princess Patricia. We miss you. Your family will be okay, we will be okay. Fly to Heaven and watch over us with Ed, Kids and uncle Bucky! — Stella Maria L. de Guia
