[This BLOG was supposed to have been published yesterday as it was Mommy Norma’s DEATH ANNIVERSARY. Not having a techie aid yesterday in my Law Office, as it was a Sunday (but a hectic day for us, as my daughters were scheduled to stage a dance concert at the IRWIN Theater at the ATENEO); I could not move Mommy Norma’s photo from VIBER to FB and into my photo gallery. Anyway, here is the FUN RHYME BLOG now. I decided to dwell on the FUNNY side of our Mommy NORMA in this FUN RHYME BLOG.]
It was in 2001 of October, particularly the FIFTEENTH,
When our Mommy NORMA reunited at HEAVEN’S SEVENTH1…
Those days of dolorous mourning was then CONTAGIOUS…
Indeed, not to be sad and sentimental then was so very TEDIOUS!
But having passed those years without our MAMA,
It is now opportune to think and speak of her joyful SAGA;
Mommy NORMA was a bit comical and would even laugh so HYSTERICAL2…
That’s whenever she hears a joke or a tale though ‘tis quite BANAL3!
I remember those days when we were YOUNG, us DE JONG4,
As Mommy NORMS5 taught my siblings those basics of MAHJONG5a;
Mommy NORMA would entice them to PLAY with HER…
And she would PLAYFULLY CHEAT them with me as COVER6!
And as Mommy NORMS wanted a daughter as her first BORN,
She would even dress me up like I’m a dainty BELAMOUR7;
Would pin even a RIBBON on my crown, my HIRSUTE8
HEAD,
Would also garnish my dress, so lovely TRIMMINGS with SHINY BEAD!
Mommy NORMA was indeed an EXEMPLAR MOTHER,
She also was truly SYMPATHETIC, a TRUE PARAGON sister;
She was a CONFIDANTE to her younger female siblings…
And Mommy NORMA would be so helpful in matters of the shillings9!
It would appear that among her siblings, Mommy NORMS was so INDUSTRIOUS—
She would go into any business opportunity that would be PROFITABLY GORGEOUS10;
When there came a shortage of KEROSENE in the early 70s,
Our home turned like a STORE with KEROSENE cans lined up in 20s11!
Days when I was a TODDLER, I would join Mommy NORMS in DIVI12,
And she would buy yarns of cloth to be sold to friends which she have, so MANY…
And those friends would finally reunite with her in HEAVEN,
Perhaps, they’d put up a business, but one that’s EVEN-STEVEN13!
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[Legend: 1 – HEAVEN’s SEVENTH or the SEVENTH HEAVEN is believed to be the HIGHEST LEVEL of HEAVEN. It is so named from the belief that there are seven levels of heaven, the seventh and most exalted being the abode of God and the angels.
2 – Mommy NORMA would at times laugh so intensely to the point of crying due to extreme joy.
3 – BANAL is used in this BLOG to mean hackneyed or trite. Mommy Norma would laugh even after hearing the same joke for countless times. I would also try to come up with a tale or a story for Mommy Norma, even though recycled but spiced up with some new inclusions; every time I would be so benighted and that I would expect her angrily investigating and inquiring as to why I got so benighted. Upon Mommy Norma’s opening the door (there was a period when Daddy Max was working out of the country particularly during his stint at the Vietnam War; and Mommy Norma was strictly imposing some sort of curfew among us then); I would start my story with the introductory: “Alam mo ba Mommy na si…). And Mommy Norma’s ANGER would sort of simmer down. But there were times too that Mommy Norma would cut me short, as she would lambast me with this line: “NAKWENTO MO NA SA AKIN YAN EH….” He,he,he… DI NAKALUSOT!
4 – I learned that our ancestry actually originated from the NETHERLANDS and that our great-grandfather migrated to the U.S.A. and his original surname was DE JONG (which actually means “OF THE YOUNG”). But the Americans were encountering difficulty in pronouncing the surname; thus, it was altered to DE YOUNG and eventually YOUNG. 5 – NORMS or sometimes NORMIE is another endearing name used by his kith and kin (especially Tio Castor Tobias, Mommy Norma’s eldest brother) when referring to Mommy NORMA. For the purpose of achieving rhyme, I thought of using DE JONG, to actually mean: “when we were youthful, we of the YOUNG clan”; just as not to come up with a line that would repeatedly say: “When we were YOUNG, we of the YOUNG clan…”.
5a – MAHJONG (/mɑːˈʒɒŋ/ mah-ZHONG, Mandarin pronunciation: [mä˧˥tɕjɑŋ˧˩]) is a tile-based game that originated in China during the Qing dynasty. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-player variations found in South Korea and Japan). The game and its regional variants are widely played throughout Eastern and South Eastern Asia especially in the Philippines and have a small following in Western countries. Similar to the Western card game: gin rummy, Mahjong is a game of skill, strategy, and calculation and involves a degree of chance.
6 – There was a time [perhaps to give her (i.e. Mommy Norma) available opportunity at home for a quick divertissement), when Mommy Norma started to teach my siblings (almost toddlers still then) on how to play MAHJONG. And she would give them seed money/capital (as low as Php 10.00 each, then I think) to use in the MAHJONG game. But eventually, as my siblings were still amateurish (and all of their eyes were always fixed and focused mainly on their MAHJONG tiles; not minding what Mommy NORMA was doing) in the game, they would eventually lose all of their seed money to Mommy NORMA. I would even see Mommy NORMA [as I usually would just act as KIBITZER (some sort of “MIRON”), as among all my siblings, I was the only one who did not want to learn the game because in my earlier toddler years I was castigated and whacked by Daddy Max after catching me playing CARA y CRUZ with my friends]; playfully cheating them (getting a MAHJONG tile not from the “KAMADA”) as she would announce that she won the game via a “BUNOT”. And I would confirm to all of them the tile was gotten from the “KAMADA”.
7 – BELAMOUR means a beloved person of the FEMALE species.
8 – HIRSUTE is an adjective which means HAIRY.
9 – The term “SHILLINGS” is used in the BLOG to mean MONEY or OF MONEY MATTERS.
10 – GORGEOUS PROFITABILITY would mean IMPRESSIVE PROFITABILITY.
11 – When the shortage of KEROSENE happened, Mommy NORMA was able to scout for a source where to buy in BULK cans of KEROSENE (which was then the primarily used as FUEL for the gas stove which was popularly then). And deliveries to our house would bring multitude of KEROSENE cans lined up in rows within our residential lot then in Murphy, Cubao. Mommy NORMA was indeed always full of ideas on what business or livelihood opportunity ought to be done when an opportunity comes. I remember that when Lola Genia from Cebu would send us sack of corn; Mommy Norma will tell us to sell “BINATOG” in the streets of Murphy. When the ARANETA COLISEUM started construction in the early 60s, we all put up a vending stall selling “DINUGUAN” and “PANCIT” along the barbed-wire lined perimeter of the ARANETA COLISEUM’s construction premises. Indeed, Mommy NORMA was a very good COOK too; and that’s from whom WILMA inherited her COOKING prowess/expertise.
12 – DIVI is abbreviation of the word DIVISORIA, a shopper’s paradise located in the vicinity of Binondo, Manila where items, objects, commodities and things are sold at so very low/bargain prices.
13 – EVEN-STEVEN means to be fair and equitable. The term was used just to create a rhyme and to highlight the fact that while it is usual that business sometimes involved bringing prices of the merchandize sky high to maximize on profit; I would believe that Mommy NORMA who is so truly business-minded would perhaps be lured to put up a business in HEAVEN but not too profit-oriented; instead SERVICE-ORIENTED to make the angels happy and contented.]
