As I was sipping my coffee early
this morning while listening to the chirping bird which J and I call
“George”, I was struck with a moment of Dejavu! In this moment I
was transported back in my life many years to when I was much
younger.
Life in my province, and
specifically Dumaguete City, Philippines 20+ years ago was way
different from what I have come to know now in this dreamland called
“America”. The kind of life I had then was simple, there was no
electricity, no cars, less pollution, stray dogs all over the
neighborhood that where constantly fighting with the stray cats (why
do cats and dogs never seem to get along? Just wondering!), A.M radio
with pictures of our celebrity on the front blasting on. You would
see smoke coming from each houses kitchen, kids playing outside the
houses, while on weekends the neighborhood moms would be lined-up in
stair ways picking lice out of their daughters hair especially during
summer. The group of dads or men would gather without shirts in their
small stores attached to the house with their bottle of gin and
roasted peanuts. All of these memories bring a smile to my face and
even give me a little pinch in the back of my heart because I miss it
all so much. I miss it because when I look back it reminds me of who
I am and I couldn't be who I am today without all of those
experiences; its something that reminds me to keep my feet on the
ground. And most of all of these things, there's only one particular
person that I was reminded of and am always thankful of and that is
my Grandma Sofia.
Grandma Sofia is my Mamcy's
wonderful mom. She stands 5'1'', she weighed about 95 lbs, but you
shouldn't underestimate her because she could do amazing things like
balance a load of folded clean clothes wrapped in a white blanket
that was about 4 feet tall and probably weights 15 lbs on top of her
head. Seeing her balance those really was pretty impressive for a
very petite, Grandma; she was tough. Our Grandma Sofia is our Hero!
Grandma Sofia's days would start
as early as 4 am, she would take her shower, get dressed and start
rolling her tobacco (now that is the real start, when the tobacco is
lit!). She has a particular place nearby the water pump where she
would do her laundry, this place is open to the public for all sorts
of things like bathing, washing clothes, doing dishes, drinking or
for whatever purposes. Way back then, there's only a few people who
could afford for tap water; I can even count them all with my
fingers. Life was hard back then, I was about 6 years old when I
started to see the real world on my own. Hoping to provide a better
future for us, both my parents left for Manila the capital of
Philippines for work leaving me and my brother with our Grandma.
Without an education she managed to raise us children by means of
doing laundry for our neighbors. Once Grandma lits her rolled tobacco
that is game on! Grandma spent hours hand washing laundry while
smoking her tobacco squinting frequently trying not to get the smoke
in her eyes. My oh my how that tobacco stays in her lips until its
gone, even until now I cant still figure out how she did it; Only
Grandma knows!
Did I ever mention how great a
cook she was?! She was born with a natural talent for cooking, and to
make ends meet she also worked in her friends cafe as a Cook. She was
my mentor, I was 6 when I first learned how to cook rice with her
guidance and patience. Washing the rice, measuring the exact water
level, building a fire with wood and setting the pot on top of it. As
a first time cook, her rule to me was keep your eyes on the pot, make
sure to add wood if needed and scream if it boils, because she would
always be there to rescue me (I told you she's my hero!). At 7 am
she would start her second job after walking a good ½ mile to the
Cafe I mentioned before; this was all while her 7 grandchildren were
still snoring, and drooling. Around 11 am grandma would come home and
starts cooking lunch for us, her famous dish was a “Pig brain
Omelet” (keep away from the iPads, laptop or keyboard from you just
in case your about to throw-up!).
It is still fresh from my memory
how she does it, she would carefully boils the pig's brain in a clay
pot over wood fire on low heat, scrambled the eggs, fried it and
place the boiled pigs brains and rolled the eggs kinda looks like
burrito roll. Then she sliced the omelet in 8 pieces, one for each of
us. Pretty creative huh! After making lunch for us she would head
back to rolling her tobacco and doing laundry which always lasted
until 5 pm. After a long day washing clothes, she would make dinner
and after start ironing, but she would use a charcoal iron. While she
was ironing, us 7 grandchildren would entertain her with songs.
During these family concerts we would be trying not to get too close
to our single candle that was our only source of light, singing our
hearts out to Diana Ross's “If We Hold On Together” over and over
again. This Diana Ross song is really special to me because it brings
back fond memories with my grandma, cousins and brother which is
something that I can't bring back but it will always stay in my heart
forever. I so miss you Grandma!
And this very day at age 28
turning 29, with a coffee in my left hand, I find myself roaming
around my keyboard listening to the same song of Diana Ross's “If
We Hold On together”, so far a few tears have rolled down my
checks, because I loved her so much, I still miss you Grandma. I can
honestly say now that, I get it. I know the answers to all my
questions and that is “You served your Purpose”. Today January 5th, 2012 marks your
19th year death anniversary. Its almost been two decades
but your memories and your unconditional love still lingers on with
me. You’ve been gone for too long and now your back in the hands of
your Creator. Please continue guiding us and protecting us. You'll
always be Missed and you'll always be Loved.
Thank you and I love you Lola
Sofia Elnas!
-Love-
