Ang Puno ni Nanay

We were eating these juicy green mangoes that we brought from Alaminos. We spent a good amount of the past weekend there after my arduous comprehensive exams—thank God for the opportunity to rest. It was good to spend sometime there in the old house beside the highway where I grew up. Last Saturday night, contrary to the blanket of humidity during the night here in Manila, there in Alaminos last weekend, I actually had to put on a fleece and Amats wrapped himself in a blanket because it was cold during the night. We slept there with open windows and can see the swaying trees. Now, thinking about it, the cooler clime there was because of these trees. Going back to my story about the mangoes and of course the trees, these are planted by my ancestors, including my late great grand mother and my Lola Abeng and Inay Tita Ching. When I was younger, we used eat the “suha” or pomelos and she would always and would never fail to say that her father and mother planted the trees that bear the fruit that we were eating. Every year during summer, there would be guavas, star apple, rambutan, lanzones in October and during December the chico would bear a lot of fruits, my Lola and Inay would never fail to mention and remind me that one of our grand parents planted those trees. Years and some storms have past, the chico tree due to its hugeness and old age was not able to witstand the recent year's storm. Eventually, the younger trees took over like the mango tree. Recently, we had someone go up the mango tree and it was these fruits that we were eating now, Aling Nimfa reminded me of a story that Inay said to her before, that it was Inay Tita Ching who was the one who planted that mango tree. And I remembered it was Mothers Day last Sunday and even though she has come to pass, still the fruit of her tree was her gift to us. Salamat sa iyo Inay. The tree lives on to tell your story.