A Mother Forever

She never really talked much to me, except when she was reprimanding me for being stubborn and bratty whenever I sarcastically talked back. She was more personal yet more indifferent than a nanny. By the time the clock struck 9am or 3pm, she would put me to bed and I end up whimpering for I didn't want to sleep. She was very hostile to cats except for her pet Mingkoy, whom she left in Digos. She must have been very lonely being only with me in our house. I have never heard her laugh or talk sweetly to me, like how a stereotypical loving grandparent would do. I never held grudge on her though, but there might have been times that I wished she weren't there to enumerate to my mother what I had done wrong every day.
             According to my mom, her dad died when she was still six years old; leaving my Lola with their eight children. With a house, a wide land area and a small stall in the market place, my Lola raised, fed, and sent her children to school on her own. She was very traditional, hardworking, strict, and heavy-handed when it comes to disciplining her children. When I knew this, I felt relieved for Lola had never ever punished me before. My mom was her favorite among her children because she was very obedient. I had the urge to please my grandma when I knew this, but I never had the chance again. My Lola left Gensan because of discomfort for our place was very hot, enough to make her think that the blowing wind in the city was boiling. Years after her stay with us, she died slowly and painfully because of an asthma attack that caught her when she was alone and she failed to reach far enough to get her inhaler. .
             "It's okay, she had her calling from God already and she had lived long enough," said to me by my uncle who reeked of alcohol. I stopped crying not because I felt better, but because I knew Lola would scold me for crying. I went outside and found my cousins who looked at me funny as I awkwardly joined them.