my lola had finally gone to rest. for years she had been in the hospital and for more than one year, she laid in a coma. it's funny because when you see us at the mortuary, you'll find nobody shedding tears. in fact, parang piyesta ang meron sa amin. we're all happy that lola's in a much, much better place. who wouldn't want to have a death like hers? i mean, in terms of reception of the last sacraments--which she had over and over, priests refused to give her viaticum in the long run.
one of my vividest, yes it is the correct superlative term of the word, memories of lola is when i'd sit beside her in the afternoons watching pinoy telenovelas like agila, valiente, anna luna and mara clara--at ang mailap na diary ni mareng susan. sa kanya ko nalaman ang ibig sabihin ng salitang VALIENTE. i asked her, "lola, ano ang valiente?" she then answered raising her arms as if a man showing his arm muscles for a competition, "valiant; strong." even when thalia's string of shows came, i watched with her. you can only imagine, high school na ako noon. hehe! umamin kayo, hindi lang ako ang nadala ng hype. after those shows came the 3 o'clock habit on tv. sa mga pinsan kong nandito ngayon, raise your hand if you did try mimicking the voice over for the 3 o'clock prayer. tapos dapat kasabay pa 'yung, "JESUS, WE TRUST IN YOU."
i remember the last time she was able to go on a vacation with us in baguio; the year i learned to cross-stitch. hehe! we brought everything, oxygen tanks and all. most of us, cousins, are technically capable of what caregivers can do: suction, operate the tanks, etc. LOL. that was the time that lola's kakulitan was at peak. she'd call each of us and tell us, "'wag niyo akong pababayaan, ha?" at one time in quezon city, inside her room with me and mommy, she had forgotten something and as if plainly sulking, "anak, ito ang sampung piso. bumili ka ng gaas at sisilaban ko ang sarili ko." funny talaga si lola. who cannot love her?
over the years after that, one can only imagine what she put people through. may pinagmanahan nga kaming
lahat ng kakulitan. hehe! she never was a burden to us. of course, she's family. everybody's just happy that she had lived a good life. inggit ako sa kanya.
i am proud and i laud this family, my family, OUR family, dahil hindi namin pinabayaan si lola.
i would like to leave everybody with this message. this is something i learned from a retreat with our choir: TO LOVE IS TO REMEMBER. thank you for being here, the whole abantao clan is very grateful that you also loved
and love our lola.
we love you lola!
one of my vividest, yes it is the correct superlative term of the word, memories of lola is when i'd sit beside her in the afternoons watching pinoy telenovelas like agila, valiente, anna luna and mara clara--at ang mailap na diary ni mareng susan. sa kanya ko nalaman ang ibig sabihin ng salitang VALIENTE. i asked her, "lola, ano ang valiente?" she then answered raising her arms as if a man showing his arm muscles for a competition, "valiant; strong." even when thalia's string of shows came, i watched with her. you can only imagine, high school na ako noon. hehe! umamin kayo, hindi lang ako ang nadala ng hype. after those shows came the 3 o'clock habit on tv. sa mga pinsan kong nandito ngayon, raise your hand if you did try mimicking the voice over for the 3 o'clock prayer. tapos dapat kasabay pa 'yung, "JESUS, WE TRUST IN YOU."
i remember the last time she was able to go on a vacation with us in baguio; the year i learned to cross-stitch. hehe! we brought everything, oxygen tanks and all. most of us, cousins, are technically capable of what caregivers can do: suction, operate the tanks, etc. LOL. that was the time that lola's kakulitan was at peak. she'd call each of us and tell us, "'wag niyo akong pababayaan, ha?" at one time in quezon city, inside her room with me and mommy, she had forgotten something and as if plainly sulking, "anak, ito ang sampung piso. bumili ka ng gaas at sisilaban ko ang sarili ko." funny talaga si lola. who cannot love her?
over the years after that, one can only imagine what she put people through. may pinagmanahan nga kaming
lahat ng kakulitan. hehe! she never was a burden to us. of course, she's family. everybody's just happy that she had lived a good life. inggit ako sa kanya.
i am proud and i laud this family, my family, OUR family, dahil hindi namin pinabayaan si lola.
i would like to leave everybody with this message. this is something i learned from a retreat with our choir: TO LOVE IS TO REMEMBER. thank you for being here, the whole abantao clan is very grateful that you also loved
and love our lola.
we love you lola!
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