A Mother's Story: My Mother-In-Law

*I almost forgot I still have this in my draft. Good thing it is still May, pwede ko pang ihabol. =)

"Alam mo bang chikboy 'yan si R?"

Yan ang unang sentence na sinabi sakin ni mother-in-law. At nawindang ako mga mare. Unang punta ko nun sa bahay nila sa Mindoro. First time ko rin silang makikilala and vice versa. I arrived early in the morning when everybody was still fast asleep. Around noon na ako lumabas ng room ni R kasi (1) maagang lumabas ng kwarto ang mokong (2) hindi ko alam kung saan sya pumunta, at (3) hindi ko alam kung sino ang bubungad sakin sa labas ng kwarto nya. Bilang babae na hindi rin naman ganun ka-liberated and bilang nasa probinsya ako na malamang conservative ang mga tao, nahihiya talaga ako nung mga panahon na yun. Ano na lang ang sasabihin nila, di ba? Na ako pa talaga ang pumupunta sa bahay ng anak nila. Gayunpaman, wala na akong nagawa kundi kapalan na lang ang aking mukha. =)

After I heard those words from Nanay, yung ngiti ko na hanggang tenga eh unti unting nawala. R noticed it right away. He asked me what's wrong and led me back to his room to talk. I cried mga mare. Hindi ko napigilan. Ewan ko ba, pero I told him that if I heard it from his friends, I wouldn't mind at all. But hearing it from his mom meant a lot. Nagpaliwanag naman sya and kahit sya nga daw, hindi nya rin alam kung pano nasabi yun ni Nanay samantalang pangalawang babae pa lang ako na pinakilala nya sa kanila. Siguro Nanay only wants to see how I will react. Or pwede rin na she was not ready to let go of his son to another woman. =)

Nanay is a school Principal in Oriental Mindoro. Being so, she is fondly called Madam (Maaa-dam). Ganun sa probinsya, di ba? Nakakatuwa ngang pakinggan. But she has to endure a lot before she was able to fulfill her dreams. Would you believe, she just went back to school when she have two(?) kids na? So sabay sabay sila ng mga anak nya na pumapasok sa school. I admire her for that. Wala syang pakialam sa kung anuman ang sasabihin ng ibang tao, ang importante, matupad nya mga pangarap nya. She never quit. Ayaw nyang habambuhay silang ganun lang ang buhay. Simple lang kasi talaga ang kinagisnan na buhay ni R sa probinsya. I remember he told me how young he was when he started working for Tatay. They own a talyer in their backyard. At a young age, pinaunawa agad sa kanilang magkakapatid nila Nanay and Tatay na hindi magiging madali ang buhay kung hindi sila magttrabaho. And I thank her for that. Namana sa kanya ni R yung pagiging responsible at masipag. Kaya I feel so lucky kasi sigurado akong hindi magugutom ang pamilya ko. Sure na sure ako dyan! Hindi tamad ang asawa ko. Dahil yan kay Nanay.

I can never thank her enough for raising my husband so well. Thank you, 'Nay!

Great job, 'Nay!

Nanay with his only grandson..so far. =)