Roxanne Abad Santos of Miracle of Love

FIRST the hi's and hello's from across the globe. We have a lady who emailed and this is what she said. "Hi there, I'm Lanie and I'm an avid reader of your articles. I'm presently working here in New Zealand. I wonder how old you are coz it seems that your fave music are the same as mine...you know, Junior's "Yakap", etc. Hayyy, 'kakainlab! Sana mainlove uli ako. Don't forget the greatest hit of all time...Against All Odds by Phil Collins...daming luhang tumulo sa 'king face d'yan! Thanks for nice articles, keep writing!"

Well, you just brought last week's shortcoming though. Remember when I said Junior's other love track? DJ Andrew of MOR was very kind to share its "Excuse Me". Well, what else can I say?

Quite a few good artists, especially in the 80's make it to the daily really. So, it's an honor for me to do this retrospective thing as my beat. It's kinda self-fulfilling, too. Nothing beats the feeling of sharing old pictures, reminiscing the good old days, recounting unforgettable scenes from movies and remembering the stars that played them.

Just unfortunate some of these stars come and don't stay long. Not long enough for the now generation to see them shine, only to be remembered once in a blue moon. This is just one of those instances. This may interest buddies Anton and Ronald (we met at Gimmix with City Information Officer Noel D of Samal in one of his endeavors of late), since these two, Ronald especially, were loading me with feedbacks about this column.

Word for today: REMINISCING! Enough reason why the Little River Band came up with one appropriate title for a bouncy yet song.

If you remember decades ago, the movie world saw the emergence of one promising celebrity who would have made her mommy proud because of her wits and courage. Showbiz caught up with her very briefly though.

Yet she made a tremendous impact on everyone particularly those who believed in her and sympathized with what she was going through. She would be rearing children by now or still doing the catwalk or even making movies.

That, of course, could have been pluses to the equation that's Roxanne minus leukemia.

She is known to all and sundry in showbiz as Roxanne Abad Santos. Well, I won't force the issue whether the name rings a bell or not. She is best remembered for her spoken English and the way she graciously spoke it.

Fans knew her as a model and a promising flight stewardess (this idea occurred to me suddenly as if I heard her say it). In her interviews, she oozed with beauty and confidence. She was a good actress on her film debut and she could have made it internationally as a model or a beauty queen. But then again, God wanted her for Himself early.

Roxanne left a legacy to proud parents and kins, memory to fans and friends and a beautiful movie called "Miracle of Love" produced by Gabby Concepcion under his own GC Films.

The movie was shot abroad. Europe for sure, but it was in Venice where they had most of the scenes. Tell me, the pairing was great and the film bordered on the ideal: frail girl meets sturdy boy.

Boy gets shooed and girl shying away because she feels they are not meant to be. The film also bordered on reality: Roxanne, in real life, was actually ill. She was dying.

There were scenes that I myself find very hard to handle like falling hair because of cancer treatment. Roxanne effortlessly played that part, although she did not have to. She was just being herself in that movie. Wonder if the bleeding part was real or not. Can't really tell.

Gabby, as co-actor and producer was very supportive, so was Snooky Serna. In the film, Snooky played the daughter who was vowed by her parents to the monastery life. Bad, her life got complicated when she fell in love with Gabriel. Worse is, they parted ways and Gabby left the country, and once abroad, he met the sick Roxanne who was no longer in fine form when she met Gabriel (played by Gabby). Her ways showed not a hint of malignancy in her and what not.

In the end, love conquers all. Gabby was reunited with Snooky. So what happened to Roxanne? Love moves in mysterious ways as God does. Roxanne did not die in the movie though. She became a nun. I was very happy the movie had a happy ending!

Unfortunately, Roxanne passed away before she could even watch the movie herself. "Miracle of Love" was her first movie and it was also her last.