The Baby Grandmother

            When I introduced my mother’s youngest sister whom we called “Auntie Baby” as “Lola Baby” to my then five-year-old daughter, she looked at me, then at Auntie Baby, and whispered, “Ma, she’s an oxymoron,” never once stumbling at the four-syllable word.

            That set me thinking, well, Auntie Baby is indeed a complex woman, who may at times seem like a walking contradiction.

           

            Back when we were young, Auntie Baby was the strictest among our aunts. She would chastise us when we slouched or when we did not finish our vegetables. In my pre-pubescent mind, I sometimes I thought of her as the “Baket nga Ung-unget” (Angry old Woman) of Ilocano folklore.

As if clairvoyant, she knew when we messed up her room. If even one pillow on her four poster bed was slightly askew, she would know.  I remember thinking of her room as a haven where things were always in their proper places. The narra planks gleamed from the sunlight streaming in through the big capiz windows. It was a corner room which gave perfect access to the roof of the ground floor from where we could pluck low-hanging caimito fruit. The trick to not getting caught was to be careful not to let any of the sweet caimito juice drip on the narra floor.

When my sisters and I were in our early twenties, it seemed that she had magically transformed into a fun-loving woman out to savor life to the fullest. We called her “Ganado nga Baket” which in Ilocano roughly translated to “excited old woman”, though at close to forty, she was hardly old. She was “game” to out of town trips, and would keep a conspiratorial commentary on our suitors.

Fast forward to the 21^st  Century. She is now happily married to Uncle Vance, a kind, loving American lawyer. No wonder she exudes such joy.

They spend their days in idyllic retirement in the sunshine state of Florida, taking frequent vacations, mostly cruises all over the world. When my daughter and I went on our first cruise, they gave us better tips than most travel sites.

Though a practitioner of Ilocano thrift, Auntie Baby is generous, sometimes to a fault.  She is quite thoughtful, greeting us on special occasions, and letting us know she thinks of us fondly.

She will be 72 on February 4 and she still holds herself poised and erect.  She is as sturdy as the pyramids of Egypt, though in no way as ancient (he-he-he). Maybe we should have taken her admonitions about posture and vegetables more seriously.

Aside from maintaining a beauty queen posture and eating grass, Auntie Baby says she keeps her youthful energy by not worrying unnecessarily. She is focused on the present, enjoying her hobbies such as quilting, knitting, and of course eating. They rarely eat out, so they make their own food fresh. This domesticated side of her is also something new for me. I had always thought of Auntie Baby as a driven career woman. She was Director of Fisheries when she was here in the Philippines.

Auntie Baby also credits her youthfulness to her positive outlook in life. And of course, there is Uncle Vance, whom she describes as a “wonderful mate”.   

Above all, she keeps faith in God, strengthening it with an active prayer life. No wonder she has aged so gracefully.

Happy Birthday, Auntie Baby! May God continue to shower you with blessings and give you many more joyful years to come. May you continue to bloom as you enter the next decades of your life.