There is a song that Lorna Tolentino likes to listen to nowadays. During the cover shoot for Good Housekeeping, Lorna indulged the GH team by singing a few lines of the song "Far From Home" by Dana Delaney:
"Never thought I'd feel alone with people everywhere / All familiar faces then / Now I can't find the strength I knew so well... And it breaks my heart to see the pain / I'm willing to do anything just to hold you for a while, just to see you smile / And it breaks my heart in two / Knowing what we have to do to make it home again / And will we be together in the end?"
It's almost as though the song were written with Lorna in mind, especially as the ending offers the hope she needs: "We'll always be together, my friend."
The song is part of the CD compilation of inspirational songs that Lorna is currently recording for the benefit of the Rudy Fernandez Cancer Foundation, which she put up with the help of family and friends. The lyrics resonate with her feelings at present. "For me, he's always around, he's always present," Lorna tells Good Housekeeping. "'Yun siguro yungdenial ko; although physically he's not here, I know he's with me."
It has been five months since she lost Rudy Fernandez to the Big C, and it is only now that Lorna is finding the courage to look beyond the pain and begin the long and arduous journey towards healing. "Before, nung masyado pa siyangfresh, we dealt with the loss talaga," she says. "Now we're thinking more of how we will surpass it."
Lorna recently went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with her two sons Renzand Raphe. She has since resumed work, recently switching networks and accepting new endorsement deals. While keeping busy helps ease the sadness, Lorna clings to one thought to keep her going. "I think he's at peace. And I think I should also be, even if there will always be an empty spot here," she says, pointing to her heart.
Lorna talks more about finding the courage to move on in the October issue of Good Housekeeping, now available in newsstands, bookstores, and supermarkets nationwide.