How Many Lolas Do You Have?

To celebrate The International Day of Older Persons on October 1, I wiped the dust off an old column I wrote for The Freeman newspaper (Cebu). Here’s an excerpt of that article:    

“In my book talks, I ask ‘How many Lolas do you have?' before I read my book on role reversal: All Aboard with Five Lolas (illustrated by Beth Parrocha-Doctolero and published by Hiyas of OMF Literature).

“It’s about Teo, the eight-year-old hero in the Oh, Mateo! series of 16 books, who was treated to a cruise by his five lolas. Why five and not two?

“In truth, a person only has two lolas—one is the mother of his/her mother, and two, the mother of his/her father. But in the Philippines, most children call all the sisters of their lolas and all the wives of their lolos—on both sides—lola.

My mother had four sisters with whom she was very close. They were pals, and I called all of them auntie. But when they became grandmothers, I referred to them as the five lolas, the way our children did, especially when they got together and chatted till the wee hours of the morning.

“This book was written in their honor.   

“In one event, I asked my young audience, ‘How many of you have two lolas?’

“All of them naturally raised their hands. Then my publisher offered to give away free books to the kid or kids who had the most number of lolas. About a dozen kids came forward.

"’I have five!’ ‘I have six!’ ‘I have seven!’ ‘I have eight!’

“Then one of them cried at the top of his voice, ‘I have 38!’

“‘Huh?’ Everyone in the audience shrieked in unison, ‘38?!’

“I asked the kid, Ziggy, who was about eight, ‘You really have 38 lolas?!’

"Opo," Ziggy replied, smiling widely.

“His mother explained Ziggy’s answer, ‘We have a huge clan that meets every year for a grand reunion. I have 37 aunties in that clan (including in-laws), plus my mother—a total of 38. He calls them all lola.’

"’Ahhh!’ the audience looked at each other and applauded. 

“Ziggy got free books as his prize for having so many lolas. 

“In the Philippines and other Asian countries, the family is very important. A family includes parents, their children and extended family members ranging from grandparents to uncles, aunts, and cousins—sometimes even relatives from other places who happen to have the same surname. In many cases, a family even includes godparents.

“So what happens in the cruise ship to Mateo and his five lolas? Plenty, and all them exciting.” 

Being a grandmother (a category to which I now belong) is grace so grand that  every time someone takes my hand for mano (all the kids in Sunday School!), I can’t even begin to count my blessings.