A woman who has nothing but had given everything to her Eight children. This story is not a typical love story but for me , it is one of the greatest.
I married at young age probably 16 years old or maybe lower than that.
I still remember when we first meet.
I was at my house when I first saw him.
My father has so many pig that time and he came to carry the pig. Unknowingly the elders including my father had already arranged my marriage to this man but since I did not know I never care seeing that mans face. I just saw his back with the pig on his shoulder going away.
I was struck when I saw lots of elders coming to our house to get my forced yes. They ask me if I would like to take care of the pig that was carried while ago since I never fanthom that saying yes on taking care of the pig means yes to a marriage. I nodded and so we got married I moved to thier place but we build our own house.
A year or more latter when the americans cornered the japanese and was force to our mountainous place. We started going up the mountains and look for the caves to hide from the spaniards.
Luckily we don't have yet a child, its not a good time. I saw how mothers cover the mouth of thier child when they cry just because we are afraid that we will be discovered by the japanese.
We eat just a cup of porridge whenever we can. We carry our provision to where ever we go and I as one who doesn't have a baby yet used to carry one of those. I am also one of the cook
in charge and whenever that happens.
I would get more porridge than what is intended of course thier will be a partners
in crime.
We walk and hide like that for a while it was not that long compared to what the low lands experienced.
We were able to escape from them using the mountains as our shield we created our way, walk day and night when the americans started the bombings we were able to get on the refugee sites.
The war was over and we started our life as everybody else though we are not much affected compared to other parts of the Philippines we did suffer. For when it comes to pain we don't calculate for every person has thier own tolerance.
Years went by and we had our first baby. My husband was very Industrious person so hes always far away from home. He was once a Tenyente today I think it was called barangay captain. He always travels from time to time and so I am always left with our children.
And oh I forget to tell you he has a green thumb!
I remember one day he came home he was carrying meats of pigs using mulberry tree like the way how mag tataho carried thiers.
He just left it stucked in the soil and we still have that two beautiful tree on our yard my grand son even harvest honey there once and my grand children used to climb it when they were young.
Before we have our 3rd child he started behaving strange!
He would put a knife under his pillow because he always felt that there's someone chasing him.
Days passed by until it become years and it's becoming more worst to the point that he wont sleep in our house even if he was near by so he sometimes sleep to his brothers house and show up early in the morning then go again after seeing me and our children.
He suffers anxiety and we did a lot of cañao just so he could be cured, he even went to the hospital once but to no avail he was not cured.
One day he said that we will do another cañao for his illness, then I don't know what had gotten into me I burst out saying " Don't you think its too much we have been doing can even the pigs and the dogs was butchered for you".
After that argument while I was pounding rice for the rice wine with my 8th child on my back who was just maybe a year old or more, when I finished I came up since our house has high post only to see my husband. . ... took his own life.
