I thought of all De Liddle Persons in my life: the grandchild topping the list, of course, the willowy preschool teacher seated beside me who I once carried as babe and toddler and now is my most astute critic, and a boy I look forward to meeting next week, a piano prodigy from Dipolog City in Zamboanga. Mishael Romano will show how great things come from Mindanao, not just a scrawny boxer from GenSan who became big time.
At the lobby of the Premiere theater of Shangri-La Plaza Mall two days ago, while waiting to be called in by the ushers before the movie "Ka Oryang" started, there was an impromptu gathering of mothers like me. Now most of us are grandmothers or grandaunts. We once had a first-hand view of, if not an involvement in, the struggle for justice depicted by the fictitious Oryang and her comrades onscreen.
The question inevitably raised in an unplanned reunion such as this is:"Ano na ang pinagkakaabalahan mo?" Does that precisely translate to "How do you spend your time?" One of the women had a quick answer with no prefatory apologia: "I now concern myself with transcendent things like enjoying my grandchild and going to concerts whenever I can."
I had to turn my head to see who said that, also to make sure that the statement didn't really come from me, but it could have. I could've butted in: "I like looking for laughing breaks whenever, wherever possible."
I suppose I have been growing into a liddle person in midlife in the way I find solace these days.
