Da Lolo ken Lola

On September 13...

     They are our parents' parents. We call them lolo or lola, abuelo or abuela, or Apong. They live for the role we must be grateful of in many ways. This day marks a special remembrance of them.  

                  An ordinary couple 

     who is the symbol of faith and love

          going the artistic description-

           the enduring tests of time...

    "Adu-adu kami'y mankakabsat, wa-o kami . Nu waday makan, manpipinit-ing kami. Dakami'y mamanang, iyuy-uya mi din iyu-ugtan mi (There are many of us siblings, the eight of us. If there's something to eat, we share. If it needs so, we big sisters give way to the younger ones),"  we heard from our mother who let us partake from their story.

     My lola was a public school teacher who in her younger days was as radiantly beautiful as her wrinkling smile folds and grizzling locks. Lolo who was then serving in the Philippine Armed Forces resigned, tried this odd job of operating a bulldozer and later left to ask for the hands of his now wife. They settled with Lola still teaching and Lolo farming and venturing into local politics. The brood of eight children, four older girls and four younger boys, grew and were sent to their choices of courses. One of those I can still say privileged is my Mama, the third eldest. 

     The freshest in my mental picture with the old folks is I have this oldest cousin, the first grandchild named Joan, by whom my lola always mistakenly call me when I lived with them my first and second grades. "Joan, ay este, Crista..." she'd say if she gets my attention. She is...a nagger? Nope, she's just a woman, a wife and a mother. That is who she is. If she scolds me, I get quiet (Oh, I am a meek sheep. LOL). She slids baon in my bag when I had some activity I had to attend. No, there were no verbal thank you's. But I had the happy heart inside as I leave for school activity. She had me by the tub on wash days and showed me how to scrub shirts primarily on the sleeves, the collar or the front. My lolo? Ah! My second father, my grand, so grand, grandfather... He is the twin of another good-looking lolo. But he is lucky that we still have him his age. Lolo was a craftsman for my projects in elementary, a spoiler to the only grandkid in the house then and a soft voiced person... Lolo used to chop tobacco for smoking but it was the bad habit I say easiest to have been broken. Yes, he drinks occassionally... His tears are as superficial in pains of burden and joys of yesterdays. I consider him a man next to my father... 

     We are double, triple lucky to still have them this long. 

The impetus for a National Grandparents Day originated with Marian McQuade, a housewife in Fayette County, West Virginia. Her primary motivation was to champion the cause of lonely elderly in nursing homes. She also hoped to persuade grandchildren to tap the wisdom and heritage their grandparents could provide. President Jimmy Carter, in 1978, proclaimed that National Grandparents Day would be celebrated every year on the first Sunday after Labor Day.

http://grandparents-day.com/