Oh and yes! She too had the proverbial slap that most tagalog movies are famous for. It would be interesting if she were to write her memoir, because this was one turning point of her life. It was after the war (1940's kind of thing) when my mommy was a teenager, that she was prohibited by my grandma from seeing my dad. But the rebelliousness in her defied this rule. So one day, a snitch told my grandma that my mom was watching a movie with my dad. Off goes lola, waiting outside the moviehouse until the show was over. When lola saw mom come out with my dad in tow, my mom got the slap of her life . From then on, after the humiliation she got, mommy vowed she will have to marry my dad no matter what.
As a disciplinarian, my mom brought us up in fear with the “don't do this or else....” If there was something she didn't like in us, she would then relate to us about making the moomoo, the abat or the madre unhappy and they would sweep us off to their abodes! By the way, the mabolo convent at that time was really horrifyingly huge for a child and the carmelite convent had invisible nuns singing from a caged enclosure. So you can imagine how careful we were lest we displease the spooks mommy talked about.
But the one thing that my mom was famous for was her being a comedian and the life of many parties.
My mom was comfortable with just about anyone. She could rub shoulders with the crème de la crème of Philippine society and make them laugh. And she could also be sipping sikwate and eating budbud with the tinderas of carbon and pasil, while reading them their fortunes through playing cards.
Then in one of her friend's reunions, she would don a colorful long gown (mumu) and decorate herself with whatever fancy jewelry she could handle just for fun and then make a grand entrance. Her friends would laugh and cajole with her even while she was limping from walking with high heels she never was accustomed to. If there was a lady gaga in costume during her time, she was it.
In the later years of her life, mommy became very religious. She would attend prayer meetings, often hear mass and join bible studies. She and Tita Nena Garcia, her confidante and best friend, would be seen together in many of those events. Last year, there was an occasion where she graced a function intended for the widows/widowers of Bukas Loob. A young lady obliged her in a conversation and asked, “Tita Lolly, when diay namatay imong husband?” (Tita Lolly, when did your husband die?)
My mom looked at her with a devilish glance, “Na unsa ka man, inday (What ever happened to you?) I have two husbands and they're both alive.” After which my mom would guffaw to her hearts content.
Lately, my mother was not feeling well. And in many of our phone calls, she often reminded us that if anything happened to her, we were not to come home but instead move on with our lives. She had also told that to her sisters, who are all residing abroad. Then the inevitable happened.
Last week my mom was hospitalized and her health was slowly deteriorating. She was rushed to the hospital and stayed in the Intensive Care Unit, where tubes and medicines were her bed mates. My oldest brother Steve, who is techno savy, was burning the lines from facebook, emails, text messages etc , informing us of her condition every moment necessary.
Every day, I would cry when I'd hear that although she would respond to the medicine they were treating her for, another complication would arise. It was a roller coaster of emotions, because when you think you'd have hope for a treated finding, a new one would occur.
Then the inevitable thing happened. A life threatening decision of which only the immediate members of the family had to decide. We had to be pragmatic at the same time sensitive to the many issues presented. Is it about the quality of life she will go through if ever, religion?, money?, time?, relationships?
It is moments like these that make a family (even the extended ones) closer together. It is moments like these that you will know and realize who your true friends really are. And it is moments like these, when prodigal children, sibling rivalries and broken relationships slowly ties you back like the umbilical cord that you once had shared at one time in your lives. And that was a good thing.
A couple of days ago, we had decided to let nature take its course and ease her suffering by not allowing too many tubes poke into her. From the ICU, where she would receive only one guest at a time, we believed that she wanted to be with family, listen to them and be with them. So, together with only the necessary machine mates, she was transferred to a regular room. The doctor said we had to hope for the best and prepare for the worst...And that's just what we did....Wait, Pray and Love...
Yesterday, I had a chat with my sister. She said mommy's tube had been taken off, her color is returning and she is now on her way to recovery. She has started to talk but with a blur. ALLELUIA ! My GOD BE PRAISED!
Things are steadily getting back to normal. My mom is being herself again, arguing with the doctors orders of wanting to go home. Welcome back, mom! And in this comedy of life, my mom had the best laugh after all!
And as my tita would say........to be continued...sa susunod ulit na kabanata....(until next time)
my mom with 'the look"...you know, that kind that a kid knows there's something going on. Maybe mom was kinda upset that i wore my favorite dress which was too small for me revealing my undies..."but MOM, it's the trend nowadays to show your undies and I set the trend 50 years ago."
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