I am among the fortunate ones who grew up with a hands-on mother who taught me by her examples the value of simple living. Simple because we were too poor to afford the complexities of life. But Mama made sure we were provided the basic necessities to survive like normal kids. We eat, we play, we sleep and we went to school and she gave us 10 cents for baon, became 25 cents when I was in grade 5 to keep up with the cost of nutriban. Then raised my baon to piso when I was in high school. Boy, I could already afford a coke and a banana que.
We grew up in a small house in a small island by the Pacific Ocean that served as our playground and I learned to swim at an early age. I considered myself a good swimmer, like a shark swimming in the great big ocean until one time I almost drowned swimming in the pier thanks to my sister who bravely swam to my rescue - then I realized I was only a dilis swimming in the ocean. That incident didn’t stop me from conquering the ocean but led me to the discovery of many different lagoons just in front of Salvacion during low tides. During low tides, we scour the sea bed for edible sea weeds to make salad and shells to grill that comprises our normal diet. It became my favorite playground and during full moons we kids will congregate in the shore singing tunes like “O maliwanag na buwan”.
Tomorrow is Mother's day. This one’s for you, Mama, I know this will make you laugh. Still remember the crazy things I did when I was a kid?
Remember when:
I stacked sea shells in my nose when I was 5 that broke you down in panic?
You wouldn’t let us leave the table unless our plate is finished and find me sleeping in the table with mouth full of food?
I woke you up in the middle of the night many times because I was hungry and you would make me food and watch me eat while my eyes are closed?
You bribed me five cents/ per “kuto” (head lice) so you could exterminate the “kuto” in my head? I made lots of money from that business -- haha.
You draw lines in the house to separate us (me and my younger brother) because you thought it will bring disaster to mix us together? Were like cats and dogs ready to devour each other and you made sure I was in the red corner and my brother in the blue corner. You were a full time referee.
We drooled with envy over our neighbors kids because they were enjoying coca-colas and sylvanas for merienda while we, lemonade and “linupgasan na maiz” or buko juice and camote, taro with coconut, or what ever harvest from our small backyard? Sometimes fresh mango juice extracted from 1 mango shared by a family of 6. Those were the times were mangoes were a novelty. 3 people will share 1 mango, and I pray that I don’t get the portion of the seed because it doesn’t have much meat. We never afforded sodas growing up and I look forward to getting sick because that’s the only time you would ask us what we want and I would always ask for royal tru-orange. We grew up snacking on papaya, pineapple, wild rambutan, dalanghita, banana and guava. I felt inferior to kids who enjoyed breads, sodas, junk foods and candies because their parents have money to buy. While we masticate on root crops and fruits because that’s what we could afford. Meat was a luxury. We will have to wait for a fiesta to be able to taste humba or bistig. We were raised on cocido and inon-on made from the fresh catch of the day. Now that I think of it, I really miss your cocido (stewed fish with lemons with malunggay) and inon-on (fish cooked in garlic and vinegar) not only that your “ginataang gulay” (vegetable cooked in coconut) as well. Malunggay was the favorite vegetable then, our house was surrounded with malunggay stakes for fence so we supply the whole Salvacion with malunggay for free.
When you were making puto and I would sell them to the neighbors and you rewarded me 25 cents for my efforts? You cooked camote que for me to sell, I sold half but then I ate half and you never get back your capital? I was never reprimanded for that. I know then you were already seeing my entrepreneurial potentials as a kid because I was your favorite salesgirl (why not the rest of my siblings, I was the youngest, why me?) I was making money out of it too even if sometimes I went empty handed, not because it was sold out but because I ate them so I could go home. I miss your puto. No one makes good puto like you did.
Today, I honor you for taking care of us the way you did. I couldn’t imagine myself other than the person you have raised us to be. Even if we were poor, looking back at our life, I know we were not entirely poor, you raised us the way rich parents today would raise their kids. Even if we didn’t have expensive toys to play with, you let us play in the shore and in the plaza and let us be with other kids to play hide and seek, tumba lata, moro-moro, body bending, chinese garter and more. Even if I was sometimes subjected to painful "padlos" because I misbehave, painful memories are overshadowed with memories of my happy childhood.
Thank you for being the mother that you are: loving, caring and gentle. I cant wait to be a mother myself, because I will want them to experience the life that you have made us experience. I pray that God continue to keep you in good health and may you live long enough to see my children play in the shores of Salvacion.
I miss you and love you. Happy Mother's day, Mama.
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