Sundate with Mame (Remembering loved ones on Sunday)

Will be missed Forever

About 13 years ago, a very painful tragedy happened within our family. My mother in law joined our creator at the age of 62. Just two years after she underwent dialysis because of her chronic kidney failure. Prior to her death she was also in comatose for almost a month. She also underwent to a series of surgery while she were in comatose. But after an almost a month of fighting for her life, she didn’t make it. Just a few days ago was her 8th year death anniversary.

Meet my mother in law

She is a mother of five boys, so yes she is the only girl in her family that is why, my husband along with his brothers love their mother so much. A hardworking and very kind mother to them, that is what my husband is telling me before I meet her. And yes, it is indeed true. When I got the chance to know her personally, all I can recall is her being so soft spoken and has a very warm personality. She is the kind of person that you wouldn’t be felt out of place. She welcomes me in their family wholeheartedly. Oh she also love to sings, that was why we bonded a lot in videoke we had at home.

Living with my in laws

While I was working with my job as a customer service assistant in one of the leading malls in the country, my husband got me pregnant. It was unexpected since we weren’t married yet but it was also a great blessing for us. I was renting an apartment that time with my mother as companion because my husband was working overseas. From time to time my in laws specially my mother in law would always called me and constantly asking how was my day.

When my mother decided to went home in the province, husband and I come up with the mutual decision that I should resigned from my job, because nobody else can take care of our newborn baby. My mother in law that time was already diagnosed with chronic kidney failure, that was also the reason why she wouldn’t be able to take care of our baby. So yeah we moved all the way from Marikina to my husband’s residence in Quezon City. I didn’t actually had a hard time living with my in laws, while my husband gets back on his job overseas. They treated me very right from the start and consistently until the three years I have lived with them. Everything was great while I was living with them, along with my two kids. Though there were some minor problems eventually those were resolved before it turns out big.

Best mother in law

My mother in law whom we called “Mame” but my kids called her “nanay” was the best mother in law. She never runs out of stories to tell, about many things, experiences from the past, stories of people around us and anything that we can talked to under the sun. She always shared her experiences while taking care of her 5 boys. All the struggles and the hard challenges they met during all those past years. There was always one thing she told me that I would always remember, she says that there is no reason for her to treat her daughter in laws bad, because her mother in law didn’t treat her bad back in the days. And if time comes by that my sons decided to marry, I would also accept and love the girl they would marry. Just like what Mame did to me.

Moving to our new house

In April 2013, my husband and I finally decided to move in our new home, which is just a 10 to 15 minutes ride away from my in laws house. It was a brand new start for me, because I was the only one who would take care of my two boys, one was 3 years old and the other one is 1 year old at that time. I am glad the neighbourhood in our new place weren’t bad. Every week my in laws would always visit us, sometimes right after Mame’s dialysis. And then during Sundays they would fetch us and spend our days with them.

Gone too soon

Just few months after we moved out from my in laws family, Mame was rushed in the nearest hospital. The family decided to move her in a much larger hospital so that she would be monitored well. She stayed in the ICU for the next days and remained in a comatose state. In a couple of days battling for her life, Mame left us. It was the most heartbreaking and most painful tragedy in the family. The pain of losing someone you love is very overwhelming. The tears on our faces keep flowing as we were saying our final goodbye to Mame before the hospital staffs took her to the morgue.

Sunday is a date with Nanay

It was really hard to accept that Mame has finally joined our Creator. For my husband who loves her mother a lot often cries at night days after Mame was buried. Even after he goes back at work overseas, he did missed her a lot. So in order for us to not missed her, we visited her grave in the cemetery every Sunday. Just like we used to do when she was still alive. From the moment she left us, we always see to it that our Sunday afternoon should be with Mame. We are keeping it a routine for almost 8 years now. Usually we always brought something to eat and enjoy the peaceful afternoon inside the cemetery. And I know whenever we are enjoying the food, the peaceful afternoon and chit chats, Mame is happy watching us from up above.