70th BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY
On the big TV screen against the wall in the sala, the birthday girl, Lourdes my niece, was smiling. The greeting was written in red script saying, Happy 70th Birthday, Mom. I am four years older than her, but she does not look her age. It must have been her happy disposition that drove away the wrinkles and whatever that makes the hair gray.
Agapito "Peter" Yumul, her husband, was there, but he could no longer recognize me--three or four years ago we were speaking Spanish. He had suffered a stroke or two and his brains and cognitive function definitely were affected. He could not walk without being assisted.
Peter is a Kapampangan was a small businessman, as were all the others from Pampang who came to Laoag in the 50s. They were itinerant vendors, peddling mosquito nets, and other household items. I remember Peter selling "chicherias" in his own rented place at the old public market. How he met Lourdes who lived with her family on the street next to us is an interesting story. I will have to talk to Lourdes.
Earlier before lunch yesterday, Lourdes came to the house inviting us--my sisters Linda and Cencia and I for a dinner at their two-story house.
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