A Year Has Passed
One Full Year
For mother's day I shared our London adventure with our Mama. How she was able to attend my younger sister's wedding, how she was able to hang out with her favorite sister, how she was able to stay for a few months in London and shared precious moments with my younger sister and her family. How she was able to meet her first grandchild - my daughter. And of course, how she was able to spend precious time with her favorite child - that's me! LOL.. JK. Lynbe was her favorite child. She bares her name for crying out loud! Or maybe Kuya (older brother) Rodel was her fave. He was the first child after all.
Roughly a month after Mama made it back home from her six month long London get-away, she got hit by a scooter/moped while crossing a busy street at a pedestrian crosswalk. Side note and FYI.. the main streets in the Philippines to put it mildly is insane!
Mama was a heavy set lady but he lost some weight while she was in London. But her legs have seen better days and she's in her 60s so the impact was great enough that he broke her hip bone and needed surgery.
After the surgery, there was a bleeding that the doctors thought they've patched. She was strong enough that the doctors let her go home. Kuya got her a hospital bed and he took care of Mama day in and day out after work. He made sure that one of his kids or Mama's friend is watching over her while he's not home.
A week later, Kuya rushed Mama back to the hospital. Something to do with internal bleeding again and having a hard time breathing. She was in pain. We were on Facebook Messenger almost the entire time. I am so glad that Kuya knows exactly what to do but still.. I can't feel so helpless. All I can do is give them words of encouragement. I remember singing a lullaby, in a silly way, to Mama. Kuya said that it gave Mama a little comfort hearing mine and my sister's voice.
Then one year ago today, Mama’s situation took a turn for the worse. We were in a group chat, watching Kuya, trying to keep Mama awake. Then the doctors and nurses came in the room and asked Kuya to step outside. We waited. Nervously but still hopeful.
When the doctor finally came out, we were still on the group chat. I mentioned before that my younger sister is a Nurse and my older brother is an EMT. The doctor's words to me were all gibberish. Or maybe that my brain just can't focus to her words. All I can do was watch my brother and sister's reaction. As soon as I saw my sister burst into tears, there's nothing left to say. It was debilitating. Trying to comfort your love ones over a video call is not ideal but that's the best that we can do.
It's not scientifically proven but we think that Papa knows that even if Mama survived, she won't be the same. She will be in pain all the time and he did not want that for her. He did not want Mama to suffer any longer. So he and his mom, Lola Belen, greeted her at the pearly gates.
The year before, June of 2023, I went back home to pay my respects to my Papa. I did not expect to be taking another trip back home to pay my respects to his better half.
I was able to work while travelling which is what I wanted to keep my mind off from what happened the past few days (thank you, work!)
The trip from the east coast of the US to SE Asia is long! There's no direct flight from my state airports, BGR or PWM. International airport hopping it is: BGR > JFK > AMS > SIN > MNL.. almost a 2 full day of travel. Two interesting things happened on this travel. First is that SIN crew's face are stuck on their phones! I can't believe it! If there's no customer right in front of them, their phone is right in front of their face. That was unexpected to me.
The other interesting thing.. or more of a surprise is that I was able to upgrade my AMS > SIN seat for free, got two free nips and birthday card from KLM. Yes, I was set to arrive to MNL (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) seven days after Mama passed, on my birthday. It was the first and hopefully the last time that an airline company would greet me on my birthday (thanks again, KLM!)
When I got to the funeral home, after greeting immediate family and I get to sit down in front of Mama's casket, my sister came out with a birthday cake and started singing the saddest sad birthday song that I've ever heard. For the longest time, I have wished to celebrate one of my birthdays with my family again. But not this way. I wanted so bad to be reunited with my siblings. But not this way. It was bitter-sweet. It was heartbreaking. It was overwhelming. It was calming. I've never cried and laughed so hard at the same time. I felt so loved.
A few days later, we laid our Mama to rest. My siblings gave the best eulogy. My sister said: "mahirap maulila" (being an orphan is its own kind of hardship.) I did not realize it until she said it. It didn't hit me that my siblings and I are now orphans until she said it. It felt unreal. I held on tight to my brother as a summoned every courage I got to look at our Mama and say my last goodbye.
It was heart breaking to see my sister struggled as we watch our Mama's casket lowered to her final resting place.
"We'll see you again, Ma. Say hi to Papa and Lola for us. You raised three strong children. We'll be just fine."
In The Midst of it All
I get to spend more time with my family and friends. My siblings and I got matching tattoos. It means kapatid (siblings) in Alibata. Well.. my sister and I got ours in London. Our Kuya got his at home - from a tattoo artist who does at-home service. But to say that we all got a tattoo all at the same time, my sister added Mama's birth flower with Papa's constellation tattoo and I added another mountain/heartbeat wave on top of my existing one to make it look like an Aquarius sign, Mama's zodiac sign. 
I get to take a few laps at UP Diliman campus. It's said that only smarty pants gets accepted to this college...
And cool cats.
I also get to hang out at Padis Point. It's a popular place especially at night as you can see the glowing city lights from their patio deck.
And if someone ask you if you want to explore Bonifacio Global City (BGC), you say, "yes, please. Now na."
Malls in the Philippines is like no other compared to the malls in the US. But. There's one thing that they failed to display accurately.
The Trip Back
Where to next, Puu?
