Family Ties: Rosalina Francisco Mordeno - The Feisty and Kikay Lola

She is the Lola known for her "kikay" ways. Everyone in the family associates the colors red and green with her. And every granddaughter inherited the same penchant for the color red. We all have this thing with the red bag, the red shoes, the red dress, the red top, the red pants, the red everything! Red is part of every Saling descendant's wardrobe. We call it the "Saling factor" in us. Lola Saling loved dressing up and wearing make up. She always had lipstick on and was always presentable. She loved looking pretty all the time. And she also enjoyed seeing us in beautiful gowns and outfits. She was proud to see her granddaughters as queen or princess of any fundraising/mayflower/fiesta event.

Known to be always out and about she never stays in one place for a long time. She could never stay put in the house. She used to say that during her heydays, "wayay maskin isa ka dangaw na waya ka tamaki!" One day, she'll go to Surigao City, then to Auntie Ramie's in Samar, then to Lola Lucy's in Paranaque and jump from one daughter's place to another son's place in Manila. She'll be restless if she is not able to go somewhere else. Sounds familiar? Yes. . . almost all of us, the Gats, are quite the "lakwatseras and lakwatseros."

Lola Saling was not your typical grandmother. She was never the "lovey dovey" lola to her grandchildren. She was very strict, stern, and different. I could not remember a time at all when there was any cuddling between her and the grandkids. It was weird because my memories of her do not include a doting lola. It seemed like she always saw us, as pesky kids who needed to be controlled and disciplined. For her, we were lucky, spoiled kids whose presence spelled trouble in her household. . . And we were out to prove her right too! We would play with her shoes, bags, her treasured gowns or clothes. We would rip off her books and magazines. We would steal her chocolates, cookies, peanuts and malt drink. We would climb her lanzones, mandarin, guava and balimbing trees and eat all the fruits she forbade us to pick. It was sort of an adventure for us to do all those things to her. It was like our way to connect with her. . . We get her attention by doing the things she hated! Then, she'd get mad and we all hide and stay away from her house for awhile. We had a pretty dysfunctional relationship with her I guess. It was kinda, like a love-hate relationship.

Lola Saling, may not be the sweetest lola there was, but she was somebody we all respected. She is truly one feisty lady who would never back down from any fight. She was always there for her siblings and helped them stand on their own. She raised her kids and sent them all to college on her own. She survived the loss of her husband and moved on as a single parent pretty fast. She was a strong determined woman who did everything she could to provide for her children and siblings. She was a woman full of pride and confidence. She was a woman made of the hard stuff, both inside and outside. And, she was pretty successful with her siblings and her children. They all turned out well.

When Lola Saling passed away, the "oldies"(her children and siblings) cried a river, knowing that she has done so much for them. . . We the grandchildren, were sad, but did not really shed much tears . . . However, we all have fond memories of our Lola. We all agreed that she was a hilarious character who made our growing up days fun and very interesting. Despite her seemingly anti mushy personality, we know that she loved us and that she would do everything that she could to fight for us. . . and we feel the same towards her.

In my family, everyone has a Saling in her/his personality. I am proud to be called, one of the Salings. . . feisty, determined, and kikay. And, YES, my favorite color is also RED.

Rosalina Francisco Mordeno