My Nanay Book A-M

Page 72

Milagros “Mila” Guerrerro Barretto’s Moms - Adela Fuentecilla Guerrero and Brigida “Iday” Barbaran Guerrero 
 
 A
 lover
 of
 the
 arts,
 she
 enrolled
 Agadel
 in
 piano
 lessons
 which
 culminated
 in
 a
 recital
 complete
 with
 published
photos
in
the
newspaper.

Up
to
this
day,
Agadel
plays
the
piano
well.

Mama
Adela
taught
me
 to
 dance
 simple
 ballet
 steps
 with
 “The
 Swan”
 playing
 in
 the
 background.
 
 She
 would
 show
 us
 off
 to
 visitors
 –
 Agadel
 playing
 “The
 Swan”
 and
 I
 pirouetting
 awkwardly
 but
 with
 the
 confidence
 that
 Mama
 Adela
instilled
in
me.
 
 Her
genes
live
on
in
me
–
my
love
for
reading
and
writing
come
from
her
line
of
journalists
and
lawyers.

 And
above
all,
I
have
inherited
her
devotion
to
husband
and
offspring.
 
 Papa
remarried
in
1960.

My
stepmom,
Brigida
“Iday”
Babaran
Guerrero,
was
a
27‐year
old
elementary
 schoolteacher
who
happened
to
be
staying
in
the
same
boarding
house
as
my
dad
in
the
hinterlands
of
 Cagayan
province.

Papa,
a
civil
engineer,
was
working
on
a
road
construction
project
and
got
intrigued
 by
the
lady
boarder
who
never
left
her
room
except
to
go
to
school.

Again,
as
in
the
case
of
my
Mama
 Adela,
Papa
won
Mama
Iday’s
heart
despite
the
howl
raised
by
her
family.

What,
a
widower
with
five
 young
children,
a
stranger
in
town,
will
carry
off
the
sheltered
“bunso”!

Rumor
has
it
that
the
reason
 why
we
the
children
were
not
asked
to
attend
the
wedding
is
that
one
of
our
stepaunts
may
object
to
 the
marriage
in
church
during
the
ceremonies.
 
 Mama
Iday
proved
to
be
the
most
atypical
“madrasta”
that
she
was
always
mistaken
to
be
our
biological
 mother.

She
treated
us
in
the
same
manner
as
she
did
her
only
child
with
Papa.

And
to
this
day,
we
her
 stepchildren
remember
her
unconditional
love
and
care
for
us.

Barely
a
year
after
her
marriage,
Papa
 left
for
Singapore
to
manage
a
port
construction
project.

For
a
dozen
years
after,
he
left
us
mostly
to
 the
 care
 of
 Mama
 Iday
 as
 he
 moved
 from
 one
 country
 to
 another
 overseeing
 dredging
 and
 other
 infrastructure
projects
for
multinationals.


 
 And
so
it
came
to
pass
that
all
throughout
my
elementary
and
high
school
years,
only
Mama
Iday
was
 around
to
pin
my
medals
at
the
end
of
the
schoolyear.

Thankfully,
Papa
proudly
witnessed
my
college
 graduation
as
he
had
put
up
his
own
construction
business
in
Manila
by
then.

She
made
wise
decisions
 on
the
purchase
of
our
own
house
and
on
investing
the
funds
remitted
by
my
dad.

When
Papa
passed
 on
in
1979
after
a
lingering
illness
at
age
57,
she
continued
to
be
the
rock
that
held
our
family
together
 through
good
times
and
bad.


 
 I
will
always
be
grateful
to
the
Lord
for
bringing
her
to
my
life
–
she
who
gave
me
away
at
my
wedding,
 who
 helped
 look
 after
 me
 during
 my
 difficult
 pregnancy,
 who
 doted
 on
 our
 only
 child
 Yasha
 and
 who
 entrusted
me
with
the
administration
of
Papa’s
estate
and
her
retirement
fund.

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