In loving memory of my Lolo Pastor
May 25, 1920 - January 14, 2015
Lolo, anong oras na po diyan sa heaven?
Ano pong ngalan ng anghel ninyo?
Babae o lalake po ba?
Gano po katagal paglakbay niyo papunta diyan?
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December 25, 2014
Lolo's last Christmas
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For as long as I can remember, my Lolo was always the doting kind of grandfather. Whenever we'd visit him in his house in Cubao, he would always make sure there was plenty of food to eat, complete with dessert (usually mocha ice cream bought from the nearby tindahan). Whenever we'd call him over the phone, he would always ask about every little detail of our lives:
Me: Hello
po, Lolo!
Lolo: Oh ano, apo ko, kamusta naman ang iyong pag-aaral? (How are your studies?)
Me: Ok
naman po, Lolo. A-Student
pa rin naman po ako.
Lolo: Mahusay, apo ko. Eh apo ko, ano ngalan ng maestra mo sa iskuwela? (What is the name of your head teacher?)
Me: *gives a name*
Lolo: Ah, eh yun ba Miss or Misis
na? (Is she a miss or a misis?)
Me: Misis
na yata po, Lolo.
Lolo: Ah eh maiba nga tayo ng usapan apo ko. Anong oras na ba diyan? (What time is it there?)
Me: 6 o'clock
po, Lolo.
Lolo: Anong airline
sasakyan mo pabalik ng Estados Unidos, apo ko? (What airline are you flying with going back to the US?)
Me: Delta
po.
Lolo: Anong rota mo, apo ko? (What's your route?)
You get the idea. :)
When I was younger, I couldn't get why my Lolo kept on asking about every little thing during phone conversations. My dad then explained that it was my Lolo's way of keeping the conversation going because he wanted to stay on the phone with his
apos (grandchildren) for as long as he could.
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2005 - Lolo with his girl apos :)
(Lolo was never the smile-y type when it
came to picture-taking. I guess he didn't want to show his teeth,
or lack thereof hehehe labyu Lolo) |
Lolo makes our birthdays extra special by giving us coin purses every year, with the number of coins inside corresponding to how old we turned that year. 24 years old = 24 coins. 1 year old = 1 coin, lol. Such a simple, cute, and heartwarming gesture. Gotta love my Lolo :)
Lola was also our true war hero. He fought in World War II, survived, and brought with him endlessly fascinating stories from his war experience. Oh, his stories! I once wrote a whole reflection paper about WWII using only the details of the stories he shared with us. (And yes, of course I got an A on it, hehehe) Lolo was our greatest history teacher, our champion story teller (every detail ingrained in his mind as sharp as knives), and the best extemporaneous speaker in the family (he could recite a whole inspirational speech at a drop of a hat--in English, Tagalog, and even in Spanish!). Simply put, my Lolo was pretty amazing.
On August 13, 1997, my Lola (grandmother) passed away. Lola was the ultimate love of my Lolo. So when she went ahead and took a one-way trip to heaven that year, Lolo was devastated. A huge part of him was lost, and we could all tell that his joy and will to live greatly decreased. He wasn't depressed, but it was evident that he felt lonely and was missing Lola every single second of every single day.
But my Lolo was strong. He went on to live 17 more years after he had lost his best friend and partner-in-crime. He would have turned 95 years old this May (95 years old! Whoa and you thought you were old lol), but I guess it was time for him to take that same trip to heaven and finally be reunited with my Lola.
