My family has always been my wall to lean on and although my mom is not with us anymore, I have people whom I can call family.
We are living in a simple home in the rural area of Tarlac. My grandma, grandpa, my 2 uncles and their family, ang my aunt who takes care of me and my younger sister. It's pretty an extended family but it's just the norm here and I'm good with our setup.
My grandfather, or lolo as we call him, is a farmer even at his old age. He goes to the farm almost everyday to tend to our rice and vegetable crops.
My grandmother, or lola, is a pastry and vegetable vendor. She rides her tri-bike to sell goods around our barangay.
My aunt, we call her mommy, used to work but is now caring for my grandparents and tending housechores in our house.
My two uncles have their own families and they are living within the same compound as ours.
We are a family who gets most of our income from rice farms and life has not always been good esp. with money. When I was younger and only a few people have television sets, my mom, aunt, and grandma would watch from our neighbors window. Sadly, our neighbors would close their windows on then so that they couldn't watch. Years later, we bought our own and haven't experienced that same treatment.
My lola would sell vegetables from lolo's crops and pastries from my uncle's bakery. Even at a tender age of 80, she manages to pedal her tri-bike to sell all of it for additional family income. My lolo didn't even stop farming even with back pains and other health issues due to oldage.
That's why now, my sister and I are striving hard to work so that we can repay their sacrifices for us. We work hard so we can provide medicines for them or additional income to buy things they want.
Our next goal is to buy a sofa set. We wish them to sit comfortably for the coming days. We'd do anything for family.
A picture of my other aunts during my college graduation celebration