Nanay Alud

By Al S. Mendoza

SALUD F. Juvida is also known as Soledad F. Juvida. She was Sally during her younger years. They call her Nanay Alud now.

Nanay Alud will turn 96 today, Dec. 2.  Happy birthday Nanay Alud!

She is lucid.  Except for an age-abetted hearing defect, and a minor weakness on the knee, Nanay Alud looks perfectly fine.

“Are you not Al?” she asked me last week when we came visiting.

“Yes, Nanay,” I said.

“You are now a senator, right?” she said.

Back   in 1992, Nanay Alud had approved of an idea for me to run for congressman in the Second District of Pangasinan.

Even buddies of mine had egged me to run.

“You could bring genuine reforms in our district,” said Pedro Pandukey, my classmate since Grade 1 whose talent was to build kites before he wound up erec-ting highway bridges after he became an engineer. 

“You could be the big difference in Pangasinan politics,” said Juan Antuman, my classmate from Tococ Barikir who held the school’s fastest time in the century dash before ending up as a gunrunner in Mindanao.

“You could make our people produce more bisukol,” said Tito Tukak, my high school classmate known for his prowess in catching frogs on a rainy night.  Years later, Tito would become our town’s jail warden.

Actually, everybody in the family had wanted me to run.

“We need a real politician big-time from our clan,” said an uncle.

But two of the most important persons in my life shunned politics for me: My mother (may her soul rest in peace) and my wife.

“How could Al mount a decent campaign if his own mother and wife are not on his side?” said my Laki Ninoy, a first cousin of my Mom.

With that, the plan was shot down.

Fifteen years later, Nanay Alud believed I had become a senator.

Her namesake, Soledad F. Juvida (Nanay Alud’s daughter, of course), smiled upon hearing Nanay Alud call me a senator. 

“There, she thinks you are now a senator, which means that in her reckoning, you also became a congressman in 1992,” said the younger Soledad F. Juvida, a.k.a. Sol F. Juvida of Philippine literature and journalism.  More importantly, Sol is the eternal sun of my life.

What might be an appropriate gift for Nanay Alud on her birthday today?

Three days before Dec. 2 (today), I still could not figure that out. 

A new duster for  Nanay Alud?  A pair of slippers?  A pearl brooch?  A gold bracelet?  A diamond ring?  A silver necklace, maybe?

At 96, would you still wish for a worldly possession?

As I write this, it’s three days before Nanay Alud’s birthday.  I have some milk money in my pocket for her.

Will she say, “Thank you, Senator,” after I hand it to her?

The suspense is killing me.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/general-admission/ Readers may reach columnist at also147@yahoo.com . For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

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