What's Inside



Forum
She finally made it (2009-01-05) Baguio City, January 5, 2009-- For almost two years she was almost alone in a relatively big house which made the irony even more stark. She was unable to utilize the house, unable to feed her dog, and the surroundings were deprived of her loving farmer's hands. For company, she only had a middle aged help, a caregiver of sorts to minister to her needs including cleaning her as she was bedridden. She had a full life which validates the virtues of the Igorot lifestyle of old. Simple natural food of camote, vegetables and rice whose drudgery was broken every now and then by gorging on meat when someone would throw a feast for a wedding, canao or other Igorot celebration. Though physically diminutive her tenacity was legendary. How else to survive backbreaking work and going up and down mountains of the Cordillera from dawn to dusk? This was in a way good as her bones were surely packed with calcium due to the unrelenting exercise, added to by the calcium-rich "tengba" (rice left to ferment in a clay jar with crabs) which people would bring out to cook into a thick soap whenever somebody gave birth. People would come to partake of it and bring anything to give to the family as a way of sharing the joy of welcoming a new member of the family. Yes, the traditional Igorot lifestyle took care of their nutritional needs. They did not need a doctor to tell them a new nursing mother needed a lot of calcium. So in her late age the woman coped physically and the loneliness of being almost just by herself. After almost two years of yearning to join her Maker, she finally succeeded. She crossed the great divide last Jan.3, 2009 at 3:00. She was about 95. She's our mother-- Emilia "Dalimana" Dalayon. While I would like to go on, I have to go and buy a pig for the old folks to satisfy what they think are "ritual imperatives" for her wake. She will be interred Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009. -- The Publisher
ReplyView all threads



Website Visits
28275 hits
Forum
She finally made it (2009-01-05) Baguio City, January 5, 2009-- For almost two years she was almost alone in a relatively big house which made the irony even more stark. She was unable to utilize the house, unable to feed her dog, and the surroundings were deprived of her loving farmer's hands. For company, she only had a middle aged help, a caregiver of sorts to minister to her needs including cleaning her as she was bedridden. She had a full life which validates the virtues of the Igorot lifestyle of old. Simple natural food of camote, vegetables and rice whose drudgery was broken every now and then by gorging on meat when someone would throw a feast for a wedding, canao or other Igorot celebration. Though physically diminutive her tenacity was legendary. How else to survive backbreaking work and going up and down mountains of the Cordillera from dawn to dusk? This was in a way good as her bones were surely packed with calcium due to the unrelenting exercise, added to by the calcium-rich "tengba" (rice left to ferment in a clay jar with crabs) which people would bring out to cook into a thick soap whenever somebody gave birth. People would come to partake of it and bring anything to give to the family as a way of sharing the joy of welcoming a new member of the family. Yes, the traditional Igorot lifestyle took care of their nutritional needs. They did not need a doctor to tell them a new nursing mother needed a lot of calcium. So in her late age the woman coped physically and the loneliness of being almost just by herself. After almost two years of yearning to join her Maker, she finally succeeded. She crossed the great divide last Jan.3, 2009 at 3:00. She was about 95. She's our mother-- Emilia "Dalimana" Dalayon. While I would like to go on, I have to go and buy a pig for the old folks to satisfy what they think are "ritual imperatives" for her wake. She will be interred Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009. -- The Publisher