Her epitaph reads:
“She is courage, strong will, and love personified”
She was born with roaring thunder, some blistering lightning and a heavy downpour that caused massive flooding. It must be some ominous sign for the child born that day – her birth date best forgotten by others for the huge damage it brought to crops of the land but cherished by her parents, being the day when the only other girl born into the family, after 4 boys as siblings, had breathed fresh air for the very first time. It was September 24, 1938 in a small sitio of Banlas in Barangay Azagra, a rural agricultural community that thrives on rice cultivation and copra farming. The low lying community was irrigated by a medium sized river, a tributary from the mighty Tanjay river that was both a blessing and a curse to the village. The frequent flooding gave the village a very fertile land that’s best suited for rice farming. However, when the rice is ripe for harvest and flooding would happen, it brought hunger to the small population that depended it’s life on the fruits of the land.
She was born into a what we can call a modest, comfortable life, her parents having lands of their own and with life was so simple then. She inherited the patrician genes of both her father and mother gaving her the bearing with a proud nose and a prestine skin complexion. As the youngest daughter and a father’s girl, she rebelled against the institution and maintained an independent decorum. She put her life in danger after having disobeyed her father for the nth time when she took a drink from strangers. This changed her life completely – now a stickler for rules and self discipline.
She married young when her father refused to send her further in her studies on the pretext that women were meant to be homebodies, hence, there was no need for higher education. Her frustration with her father about education made her work hard and determined to never let this happen to her children thereafter. Her marriage resulted to 6 children but the marraige did not last after about a decade and a half of togetherness. She refused help from her husband and decided to raise all her children by herself. She was a pillar of strength, resiliency and resourcefulness in working at odd jobs, selling produce and raising livestock just to make both ends meet. She faced danger head-on, determined not be put-down by trials and tribulations that was determined to break a soul. She was steadfast on her faith, believing it will be all right and that her Creator will provide her family’s need.
She ran a tight ship, almost military in precision and discipline with every member made responsible to contribute what they can for the betterment of the family life. The day would start very early, with chores to attend to within the house – trivial things like, fetching water from the common faucet, tending the vegetable garden, feeding the chickens and pigs, cooking food, cleaning the house etc. The day would be quite long and often would end towards eigth or nine in the evening – after work in the rice paddies or selling of produce or school and the daily routine of house chores. It was plain hardwork nonetheless but it created a cohesive and happy family atmosphere.
School is always fun and way too easier a life to attend to. Nobody complained about school work as she never imposed about getting high marks at the end of the term. Her only dictum was, that the children should study hard as it was the only legacy she can bequeath them. She only wished she was not deprived by her father of the education she longed to finish. Hence, she became an ardent supporter and cheerer for her children and their achievements.
She is a mother first and never ceased to be a mother to her children and even to her grandchildren. She is the ardent protector and vanguard of the name and legacy she created. She lived a simple life and even insisted to live like the way it was, shying away from the little life’s frivolities that was already affordable in the later years. She loved and loved her children the best way she can. And she sometimes forgot how time flies and that her once small children have all grown up and minded families of their own. It is really true when they say, a mother never ceases to be one, always.
She bade goodbye amid the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s. Once in a while, sinility and old age would ravage upon the once proud woman of sheer determination and astute strength. A good daughter was with her till her dusk, always caring for her and attending to her needs. She asked, for the last time, the company of her youngest son. When she learned her son was coming home, she felt happy and relieved. After less than an hour, she breathed her last and finally joined her Creator. She lived a full life and she lived her life just like the way she wanted it. She lived and she loved - her God, her family, and herself.
The night after she joined her Creator, the heavens at doing it again! Deafening thunder roared, razor sharp lighting struck and a dose of heavy downpour of rain that brought the entire city in a state of blackout. It took 3 days to restore power after the thunderstorms brought down several power lines and flooded her birthplace once again, the sitio Banlas in Barangay Azagra. Maybe, that’s how her life should be best described – tumultous and with much aplomb but quiet and serene after the storm. It was the day she said goodbye – August 17, 2010.
