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In Tagalog, Lolo means grandfather and Lola means grandmother.  Usually these titles are suffixed with their names (Tom and Josefina), but as I spent more time with my paternal grandparents growing up than my maternal ones, they are simply called “Lolo and Lola”.

I was very fortunate to grow up in the same city as most of my extended family, but even more fortunate that my grandparents made family the highest priority.  They are very generous and active in the community (they are members of several clubs and have received numerous, numerous awards for their contributions) but as a granddaughter I can just feel that if I was for want of anything in the world, they would try their hardest to give it to me.  Why else would they have stocked up on sugary cereals (even those fun little self-serve boxes) they wouldn’t eat themselves, but in anticipation for their grandchildren coming over.  Why else would they without fail always given me something to take home after a visit, whether it be a thoughtful gift acquired and saved until the next meeting, or my favorite food prepared lovingly in anticipation.  

As I write informally for this blog post, I have to stop myself because if I don’t think there is enough internets to capture all the wonderful things Lolo and Lola have done for me and what they mean to me. Let’s rein myself back into the present and in standard blog writing.

Today my husband went on an outdoor excursion with his father, so I made plans to visit my grandparents to collect the remainder of the crabapples on their tree and to visit.  It used to be that holidays and birthdays were the primary reasons for visiting, but I can always see how happy they are to see me and am making an effort to make my visits more regular.  Several things today made me smile, and here are the top five of them:

1. Lolo says the best things, and says them very matter-of-factly.  In fact one of the highlights of my last visit with my cousins was that one of us (Geoff) is now starting to make “Lolo jokes”.  Lola needed something to store the picked crabapples in, so emptied an occupied basket for our use.  It had a ribbon on it from its last use.  Upon seeing this, my Lolo remarked, “Well that’s really cute.  But it’s not going to hold anything.”
2. Matching clothes.  I always wondered why my two aunts dressed very similarly, almost to the point of looking like twins.  While I still don’t understand it, I have learned to accept that it is a “Lola thing” and has become very endearing.  (An example of matching:  a picture of my cousin and I wearing similar-to-the-point-of-matching dresses for my grandparents’ anniversary.)  While picking crabapples I was getting annoyed and uncomfortable with branches and twigs getting caught in my hair.  I asked Lola for a hat, and she returned with two matching ones, one for her, one for me.
3. Remembering birthdays.  I have a lot of cousins, and even though Lola is past her mid-seventies, she can remember the birthdays and even birthstones of each of my cousins.  She was showing me her jewellry (that she said she’d give to her grandchildren when she dies and made me sad) and showed me a family ring set with birthstones of her children and grandchildren’s gemstones.  I can barely remember birthdays and need to rely on Facebook for reminders, yet my grandmother shows that she cares by remembering the day each of her children and grandchildren were born.  
4. Food.  If anyone knows me, they know I am a sitophile almost to the point of obsession.  Food has been such an integral part of my upbringing, and Lolo and Lola’s house is so renowned for always having something cooking or cooked to offer anyone who enters.  Whenever you leave their home, your clothes smell like food.  I mentioned a while ago that sinigang was my favorite Filipino food, and now whenever I visit they make it for me.
5. Wisdom.  My grandparents have demonstrated through example what the importance of family means to them, as well as the importance of a good education and giving back to the community.  But during these visits I have also been hearing little gems of wisdom that I want to keep.  When asking Lolo about his preference between Obama and McCain, he mentioned that he admired McCain because of his military experience.  ”During my time in the Philippine Military Academy I learned about decision making.  When you make a decision, you follow through with it.  If you make a bad decision, you continue to move forward but remember to not make that decision again.  I have learned not to depend on others’ decision-making.”  Moving forward and growing despite mistakes is much better than being immobilized by indecision.
6. Yes, I said this would be a list of five, but do you really think I could stick to just five?  This is like a bonus item for all the extra things I want to share:
   • My grandfather eats Scotch Bonnet peppers.  He showed me a large bag of them he keeps in the freezer to add to his cooking.  He also puts chili peppers in his bottle of vinegar for extra heat.  No blended-grandpa food for mine.
   • My gradmother lost four pounds and has beautiful skin.
   • My grandfather participated in a poetry jam written in Tagalog.
   • My grandmother, despite her arthritis and knee surgery, performed an Indian traditional wedding dance.
   • My grandmother does custom beading for her party clothes.  
   • I’m pretty sure my grandparents go to parties more often than me.