Inang, au revoir

My remaining grandparent died around 8:00 this morning at
the age of 87.

My grandmother was the oldest person in our village in San
Miguel, Tagudin, Ilocos Sur. She is called Nang Maria by neighbors;
Inang by my mother and her siblings and my cousins who grew up in the
province; but she is simply Lola to me and my cousins here in Manila.

She lived with the teenage orphans of my youngest aunt.
Many times, we asked her to live in Metro Manila but she couldn't
leave the old two-storey family house and all it stood for. Who would
like to live there now, I wonder.

I guess that our family still have a lot to be thankful for.
She had very near misses in the past but she tenaciously hold to
life. She could have died a few months after my grandpa died in 1997
but she willed herself to live for the family, especially the children
of my youngest aunt.

My grandfather died on February 2, 1997 at the age of 82.
And my grandmother died this February 4. My Lola survived my Lolo by
nine more years! We were given nine years more of memories and
loving.

One loving example she left pertains to my cousin Leonard.
He is the first child of my deceased aunt. He didn't like attending
school. And my Lola was aware that he used to cut classes. One time,
my Lola gave Leonard's adviser/teacher money. My Lola asked his
teacher to bribe him to attend his classes. Imagine my cousin
bragging about being a teacher's pet and being given daily allowance
by his teacher.

My grandmother had a long, hard life.

But I wish that I could have made things easier for her. I
wish we spent last Christmas in Ilocos rather than just sending my
gifts and money through my cousin.

Since my Lolo died, my mother and I made it a point to go to
Ilocos Sur once every year, usually from December 26 to December 30.
But we didn't visit in December 2004 and last December. We figured
that the money for our fares was better added to Lola's budget.

We'll miss Lola a lot. She was the fulcrum that held the
Silapans together.

sayong
02-04-06