A song for Tita Lacambra-Ayala
Magic Mom
A mother’s gift of wonder. A morning in the sun. A song to carry it forward.
“Magic Mom” grew out of the eulogy I gave after Mom, Tita Lacambra-Ayala, passed away in 2019. The words began as a goodbye. The song returns to what she left with us: a way of seeing the extraordinary in an ordinary day.
Magic Mom — Watch & Listen
Magic Mom — Lyrics
Intro: fingerpicked acoustic guitar.
Verse 1
Growing up I’d see Mom
Sittin’ quiet in the morning light
Coffee cup beside her chair
Smoke drifting slow into the sky
Pall Mall, Camel, sometimes Kool.
Eyes half-closed against the sun
I used to think she’s doing nothing
Now I know what she was up to.
Verse 2
These days when the world feels heavy
And my thoughts get way too loud
I remember how she’d sit there
Far away from the crowds
Now I step outside at sunrise
Feel the breeze before the heat
Listen close for tricycles waking
Birdsong drifting down the street
Chorus
Look through my eyelashes slowly
Let the morning fill my eyes
There are little bits of magic
Hidden in ordinary life
Colors dancing through the sunlight
Rainbows floating in the air
Mom was teaching me to notice
Magic’s always been right there
Verse 3
When the noise inside grows restless
And the day feels hard to face
Morning light warming skin can
Put the world back in its place
Hear the dogs bark in the distance
Leaves moving softly overhead
Feel the warmth and feel the coolness
Like the things Mom never said
Bridge
Maybe that’s what she was doing
All those mornings by herself
Not escaping from the world
Just seeing deeper than the rest
Final Chorus
Look through your eyelashes slowly
Let the sunlight warm your face
There are worlds inside the ordinary
If you stop long enough to look
Colors dancing through the silence
Tiny rainbows in the air
Thank you Mom for showing me that
Magic’s everywhere
Outro
Magic’s everywhere…
Soft humming; fingerpicked guitar continues, with the final chord left to ring naturally.
Arrangement Notes
Conversational Filipino acoustic folk, with warm, restrained male light-baritone vocals and fingerpicked acoustic guitar. Tempo: 70 BPM. Key: G major.
The melody stays narrow and natural, using small steps and repeated anchor notes. Verses feel spoken, with gentle emotional warmth and lullaby tenderness.
Intro and verse progression: G – D/F♯ – Em7 – Cadd9.
Chorus: G – D/F♯ – Cadd9 – G; Em7 – D – Cadd9 – D.
Bridge: Em7 – Cadd9 – G – D.
The Story Behind the Song
Some things our mothers teach us only become clear when we try to see the world through their eyes.
Growing up, I never doubted that Mom would be home when I returned from whatever adventure—or misadventure—I had wandered into. Her presence was as dependable as the air in my lungs. It took losing her to begin putting that certainty into words.
She made room for people. Friends, strangers, writers, and our own wandering friends found their way to the dining table. There was refuge in being near her: a place to talk, to make something, to be yourself without being judged.
Books, paper, canvas, coffee, food on the stove, pens, brushes, and typewriters were part of the world we grew up in. Looking back, I understand how much of a gift that was. She encouraged the inner child to come out and explore. Wonder was something we were allowed to practise.
I gave the eulogy at the memorial gathering at Ponce Suites on January 16, 2019. It took me a few years to get the gumption to publish it on my old blog, on August 16, 2022. Eventually, that remembrance found another form in “Magic Mom.”
The Morning Sun
One memory sits at the heart of it all: Mom sitting quietly in the morning sun, eyes slightly narrowed. As a child, I saw an ordinary moment. Later, trying to imitate her, I discovered something else.
Let the inner noise settle. Notice the sounds nearby and far away, the cool air, the warmth on your face, the colors that seem to change when you stop hurrying past them. The eulogy ends with that small discovery: the world still holds magic, even on a morning when you feel tired, sad, or ordinary.
“It reminds me that I live in a world of magic.”
Credits & Origins
Song created: May 23, 2026
In memory of: Tita Lacambra-Ayala
Eulogy and personal remembrance: Fernando L. Ayala
Source: Eulogy delivered at Ponce Suites, January 16, 2019; first published on DaddyTechie, August 16, 2022.
What the Song Carries
There is a lullaby’s tenderness in the idea of carrying a mother’s comfort forward. The child who once trusted that she would always be there becomes the adult learning to live with her absence—and with what remains.
For me, that is where inherited wonder meets memento mori: remembering that life ends can bring us back to the life happening around us. The morning light, the breeze, the simple act of paying attention. Grief and gratitude can share the same breath.
“Magic Mom” is a thank-you for that inheritance, and an invitation to keep noticing.