Grey Skies | Silver Linings

Those who've known me or my brother and had the privilege of being welcomed into our humble abode have all, at one time, wrongly identified who our mother was. It would come as a complete shock to everyone that the short, skinny, brown-haired woman they saw inside our home is not our older sister, but actually the woman from whose bosom we were brought into life. More often, people would point to somebody else when they ask me or my brother, “Siya ba nanay mo?” One of the usual suspects was this stout, sharp-tongued blonde who always seemed to be preoccupied with something – a book, her phone, the laundry, a television show she was watching, or her garden.  No, that woman is not my mother. She is my grandmother, Solema Pilar. She is known to plenty of people as Emma, Kims, Ate or Ma'am. But I knew her by a different name... I knew her as Mommy. You see, we have weird naming conventions in our household. “Mama” and “Papa” are obviously my paren

(12 January 2015) 'Di naman ako nagkulang sa bilin. Nung bata pa ako, narinig ko na halos lahat. At hindi lang galing kela Ma at Pa. Maski sila Tito, Tita, Lolo, Lola, at maging mga great-grandparents ko (noong kasama pa namin sila) meron ding mga pabaon sa'kin. Gaya nito: Umuwi ng maaga, apok, ha?   'Wag mo kalimutan lunchbox mo. Mag-aral ng mabuti! Mag-text ka kung pauwi ka na. Hoy, 'wag mong ilalabas cellphone mo pag nasa MRT ka! Magbihis ka, may bisita tayo... Aaminin ko, medyo weird 'yung huli. 'Di ko na nga rin nasusunod 'yan e. Kung magbibihis man ako, siguro shorts lang. Pero wala masyadong effort sa idadamit ko kung merong dadalaw sa'min. Una sa lahat, bahay naman namin 'yun. In basketball terms, home-court advantage kami. Kung may kailangang magbihis ng maayos, 'yung bisita dapat. Saka expected na rin naman nilang at-home na at-home kami sa lugar namin. Kasi nga amin 'yun. Pero siyempre, ayaw din naman nating magmukhan