34 years and 3 days ago (ahem) I was born to a "starter" couple. Just newly wed, with my father finishing up his MBA and new in the job market and my business-minded but junior employee mother. They had tried to time my birth with payday since they didn't have that much cash to spare but seems like I didn't cooperate and came a week early.
During the caesarian delivery, the story of which I've heard a million times (Mom rolled into the operating room still reading a "How to Give Birth" book), there's a story I only heard last year when my Mom visited KL. My maternal grandmother (I called her "Nanay") had apparently disappeared during the proceedings, which was quite unusual.
She eventually showed up a few days (or a day, or a week) later. Where had she gone? To pawn or sell her parcel of land in Laguna for measly price of P4,000 or US$80. Or some ridiculous amount like that. It was to help pay for me to get brought into this world.
I lost Nanay 2 years while I was living in Kuala Lumpur. I did get to see her before she passed, while she was in the hospital succumbing to pneumonia. I still miss her every day.
I don't mean to be sentimental, but I do realize I never got around to writing about Nanay and everything she did for me. Its actually a good story because I'm so lucky to have had a grandparent who was like this, and more.
