Sunday, February 3, 2008

Memories of My Grandpa

At times like this where winter is upon us and there is not much outdoors activities that we can do (well, at least for me), I love to reminisce.

A lot of you probably agree that grandparents are a blessings. I grew up on a farm with my grandparents and, with that said, I have a lot of interesting and fascinating memories of them. One of my favorites is my Lolo (grandfather) telling us kids, his grandchildren, stories about the Japanese war. I am sure that there were a lot of exaggerations in his stories, but, at that time, we couldn't care less ... in fact we even asked him to tell us the same stories over and over because he delivered them with such suspense and excitement! He was a great story teller! Imagine, if you will, this scenario...

After dinner, he usually sat in his favorite rocking chair with his tobacco and try to take a nap (not a good combo) :) But, as a habit, I immediately climbed onto his lap and asked, "Grandpa, tell me a story please." I was probably 5-6 years old at that time.
"Hmmm ... let me see", he would say, as he scratched his head.
"How about the Japanese war you fought in!" I said, all excited.
"Japanese war? ... well, that was a long time ago ... I'm not sure I remember any of them", he teased.
"Oh yes, you do! ... please grandpa?" and I remember giving him that pleading look?
He laughed but at the same time he tried to get comfortable and I knew it then that I was in for a treat!

"One day, our troop was resting along a river", he began. "The Japs were camped across us behind tall trees. Then, suddenly we heard a rustling sound, we scrambled and started to reach for our weapons and positioned ourselves behind the trees. But then, we noticed something, the Japs were waving a white flag!" "Now, why do you supposed they've done that?" he asked.
"To trick you?" I proudly answered. Grandpa laughed!

He continued ...
"Hey, you want to barter?", called one of them.
"Sure come on over", we called back. There were five of them, and they quickly crossed the shallow river and we noticed that one of them was holding a sack.
"Can you guess what was in that sack?" grandpa asked me again.
"ahmmmm ... money?", I replied. Grandpa winked and smiled.
"Cigarettes and candy bars!" he chuckled.
"Now what do you supposed they wanted from us in return?"
This time I was so sure I was right so, exuding enthusiasm, I said, "Money!" again.
Grandpa laughed hard! "No, although that would have been nice, but what they've wanted from us was to give them a haircut!" "Haircut?" says me.
"That's correct, their hair was so long, so they badly needed a haircut."
While giving them a haircut we exchanged family stories. They missed their families in Japan. They don't want to fight in war but they have to do their duties for their country. After a little while, they slipped back across the river in a very good mood.

The next day, we were told that we were going into battle. Now that did not sit well with us. It didn't seem right fighting with the same Japs we'd given the haircuts to.
"So, what do you suppose we should do?", he quizzed.
In deep thought, I said, "Hide?" Grandpa burst into laughter! "Unfortunately, that was not an option" he said, "so we agreed to shoot over their heads!"

Nice guys, huh? :)

18 comments:

Nini said...

LOl, they spared the nice haircuts! Your lolo reminded me of mine. He was a great story teller too, but mostly about the duwendes.

nini

Mari said...

I thought I wrote a comment on this one already. It must've gone on the planet Uranus. LOL

You are lucky to have had a grandfather who was there to tell you stories. I met only one grandparent, my mom's stepmom - cranky one. LOL

Thanks for sharing this wonderful, funny story.

dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...

That's a funny story but can also be true. You're lucky to have meet your grandparents. Ako, when I was growing older, I only meet my maternal grandma who is fortunately still alive and kicking at the age of 80+. But we haven't meet for almost 15 years na since I left the province...

Vk-mahalkaayo said...

tawa ako sa story mo....serious pa ako, kasi ang daming akong narinig about japanese story b4.....lol

hehehehe....tawa ako, sorry po....

ay oo nga, Nance, bisaya ka ba?....
"para mag-laway na lang kami!"...laway diba bisaya ito....

sigi, silip lang ako dito, nagloto pa, 6pm ang dinner daw, halika invited ka, really....

imagine, ayaw ko sana magloto ng meat, kasi Ash Weds. ngayon....

hay..........

thanks daw, sabi ni bernie....and regards din daw.

bye

Nance said...

nini,
yeah, bagong gupit nga naman! :)
my lolo told stories about duwendes too, and he made it sounds like they really existed... or did they?

mari,
yes, i was lucky that both were still alive when i was growing up and my siblings said i was their favorite! lol ... i was not spoiled though! :)

Nance said...

dodong,
i think some of it were true ... my father told us (kids) the same thing about being friends with some of the Japanese and was giving them a haircut.

80+? ... your grandma is amazing! talking from experience, you should take time to go visit her though, you'll be glad you did.

Nance said...

vk,
glad to hear it made you laughed!

ilocana po ako but most of my friends here are bisaya so i can understand a little.

naku salamat sa invite, sige sa panaginip na lang! he he he

Norm said...

I love reading about your lolo's story nance! you're so lucky to have a very sweet grandpa. Wow! galing naman ng lolo mo mahilig pala siyang mag kwento, siguro very happy kayo palagi that time that's why you're so proud to have a lolo na super galing sa kwento. Thanks for the visit nance and happy weekend ..take care

Vk-mahalkaayo said...

hi nance,

musta na, ay sorry wlang sobra sa pagkain, punta ka na lang sa blog ko, tingnan mo "basin maglaway ka sa akong gipakita"...lol

abi naku bisaya ka, you are like Nita, the owner of the store i worked, she is taga Manila, but can understand bisaya too, kay bisaya man iya tindira-si ako....lol

sigi, bye n regards dyan....

dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...

Nance, that could be true. In fact, my father (who is already 20+ of age during WWII) told of us of Filipino who sold their loyalty to invading Japanese. But that's another story, anyway...

Nance said...

ghee,
lol, yeah, i heard that japanese people are very neat and clean!

my grandparents were one of the happy memories of my childhood ... i miss them still. sigh!

norm,
mabait ang lolo at lola ko, spec. my grandma. i've never seen her got angry at me ... even when i did something wrong... mas mahal yata ang mga apo! :)

Nance said...

vk,
i visited your blog. hmmm ... you made me hungry with your suman ba 'yon? maybe i'll try to make some. i bought a few before at an Asian food store, and my kids like it!

dodong,
i bet you're right! on the contrary, my lolo once told us that he was a spy for the pinoys, he befriended the japanese and gave info to guerillas.
isn't this interesting? we are reminiscing! :)

Vk-mahalkaayo said...

hello Nance,

yon suman, akala ko nga suman kagaya sa atin recipe, ay sorry to say, itinapon ko yon dalawa,
walang kumain kasi, sayang lang,
Vietnamese siguro ang nagloto yon, kasi veitnamese ang may ari sa Asia Store na binilihan ko,

gutom kasi ako pagpunta ko doon sa store na yon, tapos init pa yon,...nag-aso-aso pa (hindi dog ha?...naintindihan mo siguro ito...nag-aso-aso pa...hindi ko alam sa tagalog-ilocano or inglish, sorry.----basta mainit pa.

kaya sa kagutom ko, bumili ako, ay sayang talaga....
sorry to say, hindi ko taste.....

kumusta na.....

Nance said...

vk,
nakabili na din ako ng ganyan sa chinese store,kala ko suman pero iba ang lasa, may star anise yata 'yon, di ko din nagustuhan.

nag aso aso, ibig sabihin, nag-steam pa, dahil mainit :) tanong ko 'to sa kaibigan kong bisaya.

Shemah said...

Aww.. that's so touching. Makes me miss my grandpa. Never met him though. He died before all of us were born. But my mom and all other relatives all say they miss him most because he's a great storyteller. They would come over to the house and gather around him just to hear what stories he had to tell.

Apparently, he was a famed bird caller back in the day, here in Borneo. And most of his stories were from the experiences he had jungle trekking for days, sometimes weeks.

But just reading your lolo's stories was really soothing. Like something out of Chicken Soup for the Soul. :D

Great post. :)

Regards,
Shemah

Nance said...

your grandpa surrounded by relatives while telling stories must have been a sight, shemah!

your mom is lucky to have those memories that she can pass on to her kids. you get to know your grandpa through her.

love your blog so i added you to my blog roll ...

thanks for your visit and please come again?

dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...

Hi, Nance!
This topic is getting more interesting... ;)

Vk-mahalkaayo said...

hi nance,

bumalik ako,kasi meron akong nakalimutan....

thanks, aso-aso...steam pa....
nakatutuwa nga tayong mga pinay-noy, hindi pa nagka-intindihan.

alam mo dito rin, kami mga pinay-noy, kasi iba-iba ang dialect natin sa pinas, meron naman iba hindi marunong ng english,...kagaya ko...lol
meron naman hindi marunong ng tagalog,bisaya at iba pa natin dialect,

para magka-intidihan kami, mag-speak kami ng german, naka tutuwa, kasi sa german langguage kami nagka-intindihan, kahit na
sak-sak sinagol....heheheh

tanong ka naman nitong words na ito..."sak-sak sinagol"...mixed siguro ito.....hhahaahha

sorry, nance, i am very thankful you have patience and you like me, the way i try to explain what i want to express......

sigi, bye, i have to go in bed early, my pasok ako bukas, para hindi inaantok sa tindahan, baka paalisin ako sa amo ko.....sayang.

regards