HIGINIO GRAGEDA...my grandfather,my papa

papa

me

                                                                       

            Tell me stories again papa....lovingly he would put me on his lap and told me stories I thought then were all tales.Little did I know that those were real!His life story told,over and over when I was a little girl.
            Higinio Grageda,my grandfather whom I affectionately called papa,was the sole heir to Don Lupo Grageda I,a rich haciendero and a gentleman.He died in Manila while studying Law.Papa then was only an infant,so he was left in his mother's care in their huge house in Camalig,Albay.
             "You know nini...his pet name for me,my house was so big,if you make coffee in the kitchen,it'll be cold by the time you reach the sala."Was your house that big papa?"Yes my dear!One day I went with your lola  to our store house full of fruits and vegetables,she locked the door behind,she didn't know I was with her so I was left inside all day."How did you eat papa?I'm sure you got hungry!"No my love!There were food everywhere!"Were you that rich papa?I asked wide eyed with pure astonishment of a child."Yes my pet!We were the first to own a car here in our town"Tell me papa!how rich were you?"Nini...we never went to the stores to do our shopping,the store owners came to us!They brought  their merchandise to us and let us choose the bests!So you had lots of money then?!"That's true!But we did not keep our money in the bank,we kept the coins in wooden boxes,the bills we filed neatly in the books on top of the piano de cola."What kind of piano was that papa?"It's the grandest piano my dear."Oh!That's why you play the piano wonderfully!Tell me more papa,please?!!How about the Japanese time?
               "The Japanese military made my home their fortress,so we had to go to my land in the mountains and seek shelter.Your mom,uncle Lupo,and your mama Minda then were children like you.But we found joy in the mountains nini.We had chickens,vegetable garden and we played and sang under the moonlit nights.Flowers were everywhere,you know your mama loved flowers don't you?"Yes papa!Mama loves flowers even now!Please continue papa!I urged excitedly!"We had all we needed then nini,but I had to go to town every Sunday to attend mass and get salt in my house."Papa!How about the Japanese soldiers?Were you not afraid of them?"No my love,but one time,I met them on the railroad,they stopped me and asked where I went.I told them I went to church but they didn't believe me.So they pushed and aimed to hit me with their bayonets,my medallion swayed out of my camisa chino!Astounded they asked,What's that?This is Jesus Christ my God!So they let me go my way..
              "Oh papa,God saved you!I said amazingly!Papa,what happened to your house?Why don't we live there?"My dear,when the Americans came to liberate us,they bombed down our house because the Japanese soldiers made it as their fortress remember?"Oh papa!that's sad...I said tearfully."You know nini,when I saw the black smoke from the mountain...I fell to the ground face down and cried and cried."Oh my papa!How cruel can they get?I thought Americans were on our side?"My love...they had to do it,all is fair in love and in war."
               So as I was growing up,those stories became my papa's lullaby,I couldn't sleep if he won't tell me those stories.Every morning he would put me on his right shoulder and off we went to church.He would sit me on top of the church piano,he was the pianist and the soloist of the church choir.I can almost hear his angelic voice now,he used to sing "Pretty Gypsy Dreamrose"for me.The name he and mama gave me,it was their theme song.
                After the mass,he would take me around town and nearby barrios showing me our supposed properties.He had so much land until now we never had the opportunity to enjoy.I wonder why he never missed his wealth...but now,as a grown up,I'm trying to understand him,maybe he wanted to live his life simply,void of complications brought sometimes by wealth.
             As for me,I don't care about our wealth I only heard from people who knew my grandfather.The loving,smiling papa I had..was all I needed to be the nini he cared so much.I became a lover of life because of him.Full of joy and serenity in simple things.That's my papa,my grandfather Higinio Grageda.