BIG DAY
There she is looking funny with her red curlers. Her hair must look pretty for tonight. She’s now starting to cook the ‘pancit’, the last to prepare on her menu. Her macaroni salad for dessert, was the first one she did, is now chilling in the fridge . That’s how I remember my Mama during birthdays. Normie she was called. She died when I was 12 and our youngest, Ikah, among six girls, was only 2 years old.
That’s my Mama, making birthdays really special, a day standing out among all the days in a year.
Now that its my turn to be "mothering around", its backbreaking to do that. Plus you’ll do a lot of tasting ending up with no desire to eat what you’ve cooked. You thought everything was done and you are to put the candles on the cake buuuttt wait! I forgot to buy the candles and its Sunday, all shops are closed. That happened to me on my son’s 5th birthday. Its good my neighbor had a used number ‘5′ candle. I was saved!
My Dad phoned me up too greet me this afternoon and asked me how old I am. I bet he knows but asked anyway. I told him neighbors came yesterday for a simple dinner and my two sisters with their families came for lunch last Sunday. I said to him, you don’t feel like celebrating when you reach 3′iesh and he told me, "Apil importante e tawen basta kaurnungan ni love ones adi lalu pay ket naiadawi kayun sig-ami."(The age is not that significant, what matters is - its an occasion to gather your love ones specially so that you’re far from us).
OOhh no, Dad’s voice is trembling, he is getting nostalgic again. I just keep on making him laugh. Its good he can’t see me, I’m like crazy with tears rolling down my cheecks. Its good the line was cut cause I can’t hold my joy anymore. It burst into sobs and it was so relieving.
Boogie told me, "You are special to them(My Dad and Mama) ‘enya’? And I told him, "No, I’m not special, its just that, THEY ONLY MADE ME FEEL I’M SPECIAL."….
