It's my Grandma's birthday this Friday. If she was still alive, she would be 91. Ninety-One years old. I've been thinking about her a lot since David passed away. I wonder if they have met, if she likes him, if she had approved. Things that will remain beyond the scope of imagination and left to curiosity. It has been more than six years since she passed away, I try to keep one memory-a-day alive in my memory. When I was little, she would tell me to let her know that I was going to bed so I wouldn't go to sleep alone. How she got mad whenever I walked home alone from school. How at 5pm it was time for Filipino News on the International Channel or The Filipino Channel and at 6pm it was Golden Girls. For two hours a day, forget about the television. It was her time. Usually she was up by 6am preparing breakfast for everybody and by 10am she was already preparing lunch. Whenever Michelle, Scott, and I came home around 2:30-3pm she would simply point to our prepared food and she would have a well deserved nap while we ate. Simple things. She will always be a big part of my life. I'm actually considering getting my Lola's (Grandma in Filipino) name tattooed on my arm.

Six years is definitely is a substantial amount of time. Things have definitely changed around here and we've all grown up. It's these changes that Michelle, Scott, and I have gone through that I wonder my Lola would think about. Michelle has already graduated from college, she introduced her first boyfriend, David to our parents. Scott and the fact that he goes out to drink and myself, graduating this year from college. Heck, my parents always tell me that she cried when I was promoted from Kindergarten. I've developed into a woman (although I feel the contrary) and I wonder what she could say to me. Another thing I wonder about is how my Lola and Abbey would interact. Michelle assumes that Lola will be afraid of Abbey when she has her tantrums, but I also think that my Lola would have accustomed herself to putting her feet up on the table and let Abbey roam beneath them as she pleased.

I hope she's proud of our achievements and that she's looking down on me with not much stress but with smiles.

Elisa Estrella Bauzon, my angel.
September 9, 1920 - March 5, 2005