My mother never ceases to amaze and humble me. She is just so good. Good as in noble, kind, forgiving good. She’s so very simple in her ways that it’s somewhat easy to underestimate her, but come crunch time you can count on her to have just the right amount of strength and compassion to help make things alright again.

I’m not saying she’s a saint, okay? But she’s just so reasonably nice. Just last night my uncle called from out of the blue. When we lived back at my dad’s family’s compound near the parish church, this particular uncle was a huge pain in the ass, especially during the time when dad was away. His agenda was to get us to leave the house my grandmother – his and my dad’s mother – gave my dad for us – dad, mom and me – to live in. We did, coz of many rather painful reasons, and it really is for the better that we moved. So since then, and because of another reason I’d rather not tell here but I know some of you know coz I told you guys about my cousin – that jerk – we haven’t had any contact with my dad’s family unless it was a visit from one of another uncle’s sons asking to borrow money they never really return.

So you can just imagine my surprise when uncle (the first one I mentioned) called. He, like us when we were still living at the compound (at what used to be our home) – and his wife were having trouble with my aunt, his elder sister. Kasi dun rin nakatira sa compound aunt ko, and she also used to be a big pain in the ass to us about our living there, and now apparently she transferred all that enmity to her younger brother. Dear uncle called to ask my mom’s help to intercede.

Hello? Like anyone from that family will listen to her!

But mom surprised me when she said she’ll help. Not to intercede, but she did promise to tell dad so HE can try to help out. Then she promised uncle that if anything happens, they could always come to her for help.

Here I was, gleefully chanting “karma, karma, karma” in my brain, and thinking that my uncle’s getting his just desserts; and hearing my mom say that on the phone just made me feel really guilty that I was thinking that way. Here I have those people’s blood running through my veins coz of my dad, ako yung talagang kamag-anak nila and mom’s just connected to them by her marriage to my dad, pero siya yung mas accepting, forgiving and caring.

I told her later that I really didn’t feel too sympathetic about my uncle’s plight, and pinagsabihan pa niya ko, telling me not to tell my dad that coz he’ll just get hurt coz those people are his family after all...

Kitams? I keep disassociating myself from them. That’s coz I don’t like them, plainly and simply. That’s my reason. I don't like them. As far as I'm concerned they're strangers. I don't want to know them.

They never did mom and me any good, pabigat lang sila at problema at sakit ng ulo. Pero mom treats them as family, at least those who come and ask for her help. She knows not to butt in unless they ask. Di niya tinapon sa pagmumukha nila what they did to us when we were still living at the compound. For her, the past is in the past and better forgotten. Wish I could do the same.