Time Flies Faster Than We think

August 25th marked a year since mom died. And yesterday marked the day we cremated her.
And what did we do? Celebrated like she would, eat and feast and remember. So on the day itself, I shopped for shrimps and blue crabs and had pancit as a side. She missed all the other sea food from home, but these we can get here, so that's what we did.

We had Sundays inviting friends over for a feast of hilabos na hipon, alimango and not the paltry blue crabs, inihaw na baboy and lost of side relishes like tomatoes with onions and red eggs. It was non stop lamon...hahaha. There would be Sundays too with all the breakfast foods, longganiza, tapa and tocino, with eggs anyway you want them.
And GYN set a pretty table, always with a theme, pinks, greens, blues, with flowers cut from our kalachuchi tree. Kamias in our Pinoy version of bruschetta/pico de gallo. Lots of dipping sauces: soy sauce with vinegar and siling labuyo, vinegar with garlic, mashed kamias with shallots, etc.. Those were the days my friends.....

One cannot regret her life, she rose from the mountains of Baguio, ran up the trees with the Igorots, had a very romantic life with Clinton H. Nichols, survived the bombings of Manila during Liberation, visited the US as a young widow, cam back home to a romance with the handsome rogue Ruben S. Menguito, allowed him his foibles as a second string QB, but led him to the path of fine dining with the HRAP and IFSEA.
Accolades, society weddings, her creativity knew no bounds. She knew the taste of what is should be, she set the prettiest tables, she was a fountain of knowledge, the best Ann Landers or Tia Dely when giving advice to the love lorn, the antsy brides and families of the weds to be, everyday conundrums.

She also opened my eyes to the other world, often leading to weird experiences that we embraced.....so my apo Daniel was singing about ghosts at last Sunday's mass, "ghosts are people too" he marveled. Pshew pshaw says the parents but the one single sentence that we challenge his folks to deny was when he said, "Ghosts have no feet". So mom taught us this not by what she would also say but with the books we read on the paranormal. So we have never been skeptics, and in fact enjoyed our joy rides with her following hearses, going to weird cemeteries, visiting old churches from around town to way up north, adventures.

This is remembering you mom, Gloria Y.Nichols, a giant who stood only 4 feet 10 inches or shorter, but with the name of a mega star in her hey days.