All over the Christian world, today's standard greeting is Happy Mother's Day! What a nice way to remember mother dear. That is if she is still alive. What if she is gone forever. Many Mother's Day past, the intensity of loving her did not change a bit. Our own mother, the late Nanay Mening, was dead 27 years ago. But the same motherly love remains the same as if it gets stuck permanently in its own time zone. Why a mother's love knows no ending is beyond comprehension by this ordinary mortal. In our case, for as long as we are alive, mother dear is always in our heart and mind. Many times that mother comes to mind, that how we wish that she is around to experience life entirely different from what she enjoyed while she was alive. While it may be true that once upon a time mother did experience how it was to be rich according to her own standard. Although short lived, never did it occur in her wildest imagination that she would enjoy life totally opposite of what it used to be. Who was responsible for a change in her lifestyle?

It was this doting BGlante who provided the game changer in the life of a mother who was born poor. A lifetime obsession no less that mother deserved her due when we earned our first thousand, the manna from heaven came sometime in 1977 when we landed a sideline that nobody ever imagined that it would generate a cash bonanza of at least P1,000 a day. That's P30,000 a month and having that income in 1977 was already a fortune. Just what kind of fulfillment to a poor mother was a textbook story in itself. When this obedient son told his mother what awaited her as a result of the hefty sum every month, we can see the radiance in her eyes that how she can possibly say no to a divine blessing. With so much cash at our disposal, it's first thing first. High on top of our priorities was the total facelift of our rickety ancestral home. Makeshift by any gauge, the project called for a total overhaul of what appeared to be a poor man's house.

Imagine the reaction of a mother who was confronted with the reality of a house built of light materials and converted into a semi-bungalow dwelling. Indeed it was a transformation of sorts in a barrio where majority of the houses were made of native materials. Our idea then was to remodel the makeshift structure into a presentable one that eventually became a standout among rows of bahay kubos. By semi-bungalow, what it meant then was that the new house was at least semi-concrete. With the use of decorative tiles which was in vogue that time, the ancestral house did become a sight to behold in a poor neighborhood. With a new house now in place of the dilapidated one, mother was never been so happy and grateful at the same time. Grateful to a son who threw all cautions to the wind just to please a mother who grew up in a poor ambiance. Speaking of cautions, indeed they were set aside, considering that at that time this BGlante just got hitched in marriage. Behind the back of the wife, we prevailed upon her to prioritize the facelift project to please our dear mother.

Then came the compulsion what to fill the new house. For all intents and purposes, it has to become a household. What it meant then that it had to be filled up with appliances. First in the shopping list was a refrigerator. A fridge in 1977? It was indeed a strange phenomenon to buy a refrigerator in a neighborhood of poor inhabitants but for a son who wanted a mother to feel rich, there was no second thought to buy the appliance. Then the sala set. The trend then in furniture were those made of rattan. Shopping in a complete furniture store in downtown Tagbilaran, we found one set to our liking and had it delivered pronto! To complete mother's penchant for anything new, we completed all the kitchen ware inventory. We also bought curtains for the new windows made of glass jalousies.

After all was said and done, mother was never been so happy living in the new house. Who would not. After living in penury most of her adult life, the new environment brought a new dimension to her being though she remained true to form on the basis of her humble beginnings. Feeling rich? It was indeed a strange feeling for one who was not use to circumstances she was not used to. She was born poor and any change in her life along the way would surely place her in an awkward position. Yes, mother did feel rich in the sunset of her years. What a way to remember mother's day now that she is buried six feet below the ground. If only we could turn back the hands of time, we would be happy with mother at our side with all the comfort and luxury we have been enjoying all through the years on earth.