Sep 14 - Day 4 to 50
So many interesting and life changing events happened in
this day, 14th September across history. In 1938 Graf Zeppelin
II, world's largest airship, makes its maiden flight resulting in disaster that
killed 36 people. In India, in 1949, the
Constituent Assembly adopts Hindi as an official language and celebrates today
as Hindi Day. From this time, ten years
later, 1959 Soviet
Union's Luna-2 is the first spacecraft to land on the Moon, yes, not the
US. A year after that, in 1960 Iraq, Iran,
Kuwait, Saudi-Arabia and Venezuela form the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC).
But enough of history, as I’d like to use this day to honor
my grandmother, Concepcion Jardeleza Linco or my nanay Concing. Incidentally, today in 1985 "The Golden
Girls", starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue
McClanahan, and Estelle Getty,
debuted on NBC, so it’s really fitting I use this day to pay tribute to my lola
who I only call nanay (mother).
She was my first mother, my first love, the one who I know
truly cared for me and loved me. Nanay
Concing raised me as her own, helping my biological mom, her eldest daughter,
who was breadwinner then. Nening Minda
was a full time worker and was very busy so Nanay was my caregiver from the
moment I was born. Yes, she was my hero. She made it a point to be there, when one of
her children would be having a new addition to their families and stayed for
several years taking care of the newest baby. From my eldest brother, Noel, who
is the oldest grandson up to the youngest ones, Nanay had been the very first
"yaya" - caring for each one of us like a grandmother and mother
rolled into one would.
She was the only girl amongst her siblings and naturally
enjoyed special love and treatment from her parents and brothers but never grew
up spoiled. One of her best friends
growing up was my grandaunt, tia Meding, or Remedios Castro who was often
visited and even lived with us.
Together, they’d cook up a storm of native delicacies, or have sewing
projects while talking about relatives from near and far and how everyone is
doing.
She's lived a hard life but she never complained. She found ways to earn extra income to
support her family. For years she was
both mother and father to her five children when her husband was in
Manila. After a while she decided to look
for my grandfather, taking in jobs as house help and washerwoman to wealthy
families so she could, on her off days search for him. When they finally reunited, no questions were
asked, no accusations. Her capacity to love and forgive is boundless and I
admire her for that. Later in life, when
all grandchildren had grown, she went to live with us in Manila. When I left
for the UAE and my mom was working in the US, Nanay was again acting mom and
caregiver for my younger siblings and even to my dad. In June 2009, she passed away in her
sleep. She was 87. All her life had been of service and caring
for others. Despite all her hardships,
she never became harsh or cold. She kept
her humor and kind nature intact. Today
I honor her and her memories as I continue to share stories about her to my own
daughter.
No comments:
Post a Comment