Dear Manang,
I can’t stand the lies and pretense anymore. My face contorts each time I hear a fact being twisted. This is especially painful because it is my sister. Recently, her children panicked when they couldn’t call her. I had time and again reminded her to load her phone but she always scoffed and said I know better than her. I asked her if she registered her SIM card and she said yes, only for her children to beg me to help her register her number. Is it pride and the refusal to accept mistakes or what? It’s tiring.
Etta of Lucnab, Baguio City
Dear Etta,
It’s pride in capital letters. She doesn’t want help but needs it and can’t admit that there are things that she can’t comprehend. There are many who are in the same struggle and all you can do is understand it because there is nothing more that you can do. Don’t ask what they need because all the more will you get frustrated. You have to wait to be asked or do it secretly. Don’t be angry because it’s not you but their misfortune when lies catch up with them.
Be good,
Manang
Dear Manang,
I have been frustrated with the refusal of my son’s father and his family to provide financial support to him. In the early years, they sent the father abroad on the pretext of work which never yielded anything until he returned. When my child went to school, they were able to elude giving an allowance because they wanted him enrolled in St. Louis University while I sent him to Small World. All is well without them and I have almost forgotten the connection. I have given the best to my son and now that he is an awesome young man, the other side wants to be relatives. Am I supposed to be greedy and deny them any rights?
Queenie of Malvar Street, Baguio City
Dear Queenie,
You are not the first, neither will you be the last to be subjected to such treatment. I’m so proud of you for bringing up your son the best way you see fit. Some people just want to feel powerful by dictating what they want just to make you smaller and obedient. Awesome mothers have awesome children, so you should be nothing less than that. You don’t need to keep your child away from them because he knows better now and I am sure he won’t miss a thing by staying away. Be magnanimous by keeping them at a distance because they might think that you need them more than ever.
Remain true to yourself,
Manang
