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Grandfather Told Me
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By Cresenciano Sastre
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Grandfather Told Me
When I was still a small boy, I was raised by my grandparents until my adolescent years. I did not live with my parents because my grandparents wanted to nurture me personally because they like me as a grandchild aside from being the firstborn.
My grandparents live a simple life. My grandma was selling first-class bibingka in the neighborhood. I accompanied my grandma whenever she went in her small business. While my grandpa was a farmer and a fisherman, but we were happy together even if the condition of our life is a very ordinary one.
When I started my elementary grade, my grandpa was always taking me with him when he went to his farm located in another barrio. To go there we have to use a banca, a small one, paddling upstream until we reached to the other side of the river. It took us about 35 minutes to do the paddling. I was very closed to my grandpa.
When my grandpa wanted to go fishing, we started in early morning paddling to the center of the big river. The river was connected to the open sea. During spawning season, the fish called banak will go upstream. Using ready-made seine lines fabricated of thin nylon cord, we dropped it and let it flow downstream along with our banca. Using seine line is very effective. The scales and gills of the fish caught in line can never escape. In one dropping alone, it can caught 4 to 5 fish either small or medium in size. We fish not counting the hours depending on the heat of the sun.
When we went home, a good meal of fresh meat of fish was served. Some of it, was smoked in our grill stove and the odor was very appetizing.
My grandpa knew many things. He can make a fish cage for crabs, he can make a banca with her own design. He knows how to make mat made of buri palm, he can make nipa shingles for roofings, or use bahi wood as flooriing in our nipa house. He knows how to construct an ordinary house. All this special skills and other innovations to make a native products made of wood and bamboo amazed me.
He knew it by instinct or by observation from others or created as his own. He never felt tired of what he was doing. He was very energetic and strong maybe because of the nature of his work.
When I reached high school, he always told me many things in relation to being me; that I should have a good virtue and honest to myself. He wanted me to be helpful to others. He told me that I should be more resourceful and creative to do something of value, useful to myself and to others. He told to know everything about living my life in peril, and to ask direction from ABOVE for courage. He told me further that I should be contented of what I have living in a simple life enough to feel happy. He said if I decided to have my own family, I should be a good father to my kids and put the family first above all other things. Being a good father put the children their respect and love to their parents. If the children have a good direction, my responsibility being a father is complete. He said that better future of the children will depend how the parents raised them and molded them into a better person. He told me that I must give my wife with respect and love, joining together against all odds. I should make our relationship to be strong always because if a hardship fell in to our lap, me and my wife is ready to face it because we are the only one that can solve the problem.
He repeatedly told me again and again even if I was already in college, saying that all he wanted for me is to follow all his direction for me. His advices and guidance touched me. He told me that he don't want to a failure being a grandpa when the time come that I have to live of my own. I was raised by them, I was taught by them and I must follow them.
My grandpa died a year ago at the age of 87. It hurts me. Grandpa is like a close friend to me when I was still a kid being with him most of the time. Remembering him when I was alone, it pained me why life has its end. I missed him everyday remembering his good deed and how he loved and guide me. His good direction for me are always in my mind every little details of it. Then I started using them to my children until now.
My grandparents live a simple life. My grandma was selling first-class bibingka in the neighborhood. I accompanied my grandma whenever she went in her small business. While my grandpa was a farmer and a fisherman, but we were happy together even if the condition of our life is a very ordinary one.
When I started my elementary grade, my grandpa was always taking me with him when he went to his farm located in another barrio. To go there we have to use a banca, a small one, paddling upstream until we reached to the other side of the river. It took us about 35 minutes to do the paddling. I was very closed to my grandpa.
When my grandpa wanted to go fishing, we started in early morning paddling to the center of the big river. The river was connected to the open sea. During spawning season, the fish called banak will go upstream. Using ready-made seine lines fabricated of thin nylon cord, we dropped it and let it flow downstream along with our banca. Using seine line is very effective. The scales and gills of the fish caught in line can never escape. In one dropping alone, it can caught 4 to 5 fish either small or medium in size. We fish not counting the hours depending on the heat of the sun.
When we went home, a good meal of fresh meat of fish was served. Some of it, was smoked in our grill stove and the odor was very appetizing.
My grandpa knew many things. He can make a fish cage for crabs, he can make a banca with her own design. He knows how to make mat made of buri palm, he can make nipa shingles for roofings, or use bahi wood as flooriing in our nipa house. He knows how to construct an ordinary house. All this special skills and other innovations to make a native products made of wood and bamboo amazed me.
When I reached high school, he always told me many things in relation to being me; that I should have a good virtue and honest to myself. He wanted me to be helpful to others. He told me that I should be more resourceful and creative to do something of value, useful to myself and to others. He told to know everything about living my life in peril, and to ask direction from ABOVE for courage. He told me further that I should be contented of what I have living in a simple life enough to feel happy. He said if I decided to have my own family, I should be a good father to my kids and put the family first above all other things. Being a good father put the children their respect and love to their parents. If the children have a good direction, my responsibility being a father is complete. He said that better future of the children will depend how the parents raised them and molded them into a better person. He told me that I must give my wife with respect and love, joining together against all odds. I should make our relationship to be strong always because if a hardship fell in to our lap, me and my wife is ready to face it because we are the only one that can solve the problem.
He repeatedly told me again and again even if I was already in college, saying that all he wanted for me is to follow all his direction for me. His advices and guidance touched me. He told me that he don't want to a failure being a grandpa when the time come that I have to live of my own. I was raised by them, I was taught by them and I must follow them.
My grandpa died a year ago at the age of 87. It hurts me. Grandpa is like a close friend to me when I was still a kid being with him most of the time. Remembering him when I was alone, it pained me why life has its end. I missed him everyday remembering his good deed and how he loved and guide me. His good direction for me are always in my mind every little details of it. Then I started using them to my children until now.
Tags & Keywords : advice
