She was ecstatic when I was born. At last, she had a baby girl to dress up (with lovely embroidered dresses, with her being a dressmaker) after having four sons in a row.
She served as my model when I myself became a mother myself, and I am indeed lucky to have her as my model.
She was a hardworking woman, the disciplinarian of the family, and an entrepreneur. Aside from doing all the household chores, she sewed all our clothes, curtains, pillowcases (with embroideries), and she taught all of us how to use a sewing machine.
As a disciplinarian, the story was told of how she hang one of my brothers inside a sack at the center of the room for being naughty. She instructed us, or pinched us in the thigh whenever we did something wrong.
She was an entrepreneur at the time when this word was not coined yet; she made some goodies for me to sell to my classmates when I was in grade school; she also grew mongo sprouts which my brother and I sold in the market. She also accepted sewing and laundry jobs.
She was a staunch supporter of family solidarity, gave us sound advice along life’s journey, and was our No. 1 cheerleader.
While some families were separated geographically because of the lure of jobs in Guam, our mother opted to have our family intact, even if we had to struggle when World War II ended. She put it this way: “Even if we will eat bananas everyday, as long as we are together.”
I remember an aunt who did not have a child of her own, and asked our mother if she could adopt one of my brothers. My mother curtly told my aunt, “No, I cannot give any of my sons to you.”
Our family eventually migrated in 1947 to Davao City. Words of wisdom never stopped to emanate from her as we grew up. She helped me choose my career by telling me: “Be a nurse.” I wanted to become a pharmacist but she wanted me to be a nurse.
In my travels from Davao to Dumaguete as a student, she always reminded me not to touch the goods of the vendors (“They will get angry if you end up not buying.”)
She cheered us both in our high and low moments. She was a loving, caring, and thoughtful mother. Our birthdays were celebrated with simple dishes. She also nursed us back to health when we got sick by inducing perspiration when we had fever, followed by an enema. She gave us soft foods and Royal True Orange until we got well.
During Christmas or New Year, our table was laden by delicacies like arroz valenciana, adobo, aripajol (made of cassava), baye-baye, suman sa ibus (sticky rice cooked in coconut milk wrapped in young coconut leaves), kalamay hati, and taho (ginger beverage) — all prepared by her. She taught all of us to be God-fearing and to be kind.
She also did not give up on her other dreams: of owning a piano and playing it, as well as enjoying foods which she could not afford before, but which were fulfilled later in her life. (Just a small problem there: By the time I could afford the expensive foods, I couldn’t eat them because of my hypertension and diabetes mellitus.)
We are lucky that our mother lived a long, happy, and fulfilled life. She died at the age of 68. Thank you, Mama Natividad Pedrosa Parreno. We love you.
It was Abraham Lincoln who said: “All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe it to my angel mother.” Will Leamon had also said: “God could not be everywhere, so He created mothers.” May God bless all mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers!
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Author’s email: [email protected]
