The Women In My Life and How They Inspired Me - Empowering Women Challenge by @Beanz

I saw this contest being joined by the other members in my group. I was hesitant to join because I was unsure of what to write and I have been busy and still is because I am trying to get all my requirements ready for my renewal of passport. But while I was lying down trying to sleep, I was thinking of the topics. One caught my interest"Women in my life and how they inspire me." @beanz said to pick a topic/title and make it you own! Wow a big challenge but I am going to give it a try!.

There are 3 women in my life, not actresses, celebrities or anyone famous. But to me they are the most famous and well loved women in my heart. I will tell about each of them. They are : my grandmother, my mother and my daughter.

This is my grandmother. Maria Mueda Tajanlangit. The last picture I took of her before I left for the US, she was I think 87yo here.
She was born June 10, 1893 so she experienced both World War 1 and 2. She married my grandfather at the age of 12 and he was 24. I guess that was normal during that time.
She is the grand matriarch of the Tajanlangit Clan. I can just imagine how hard it was for her to be a mother at a young age and to raise all her children during the 2 World Wars and especially the 2nd because I heard stories how the Japanese stayed in the ancestral home because my grandfather was the Mayor of our town then and a politician.
She had 11 children 2 died while they were young. I have observed my grand mother to be calm and charitable. Very religious. She had 2 sons (my uncles) who had to join the army then. They were also part of the Bataan Death March on April 9, 1942. They were still young and then. My mother said they all prayed every night for their safety. But my grandmother prayed all day. She goes to church every morning for the 5:30 am mass. My 2 uncle survived, thin, emancipated almost dying but I believe the prayers of their mother, God heard.
She was a strong woman raised her 9 children when our grandfather died in 1959. I never got to see him.

I found this old picture of her when she was 27 my other cousin edited it in color. You can see the beauty and strength in her face. She never faltered in her belief even if she lost 1 son later. Imagine a mother burying her oldest son. She died last Dec. 17, 1985 at the age of 92. I know she is still watching over all her family. Most of her children have gone to be with her, only 3 are left. She was the one holding the clan together, when she passed away, the clan slowly started to disperse, each having their own lives and being "too busy". But I think she will be happy to know all her children were successful. Her oldest son maybe will become a saint. There were lots of testimonies but as a member of the immediate family we leave it alone for the others to process. She would be proud to have grandchildren and great grandchildren who are doctors, nurses, military, lawyers, businessmen and famous great grandson Jed Madela. She left her legacy with us teaching us how to be strong, be calm and to be religious. Share with others and never put down another person for your own good. I miss my grandmother., She was know as Lola Maria or Lola Mayang (Lola is the Filipino term for grandmother) in our town and among the clan.

This is her family, again my cousin edited to make it look modern. This was taken 1976 when she was 84 yo. All her children were present and some with their partners (except my youngest aunt, her husband was in Manila taking care of the kids)

The next person or woman who inspired me is my Mother. As of this picture she is 92 already. She got her character and disposition from my grandmother. My mom is always calm. I have never seen her panic or hysterical. Even during the time my father died in an vehicular accident. They came from the province with my Dad to pick us up because we were going to summer classes. Just me and my older brother. My 2 younger brothers were still in elementary and already at home. My older brother had something to finish at school so it was only me and my helper who went home with my parents. My brother followed later riding the public jep and even saw the accident and followed tho the hospital. We had an owner type jeep and was loaded with groceries and had a big sack of ice at the back. We were going to celebrate my father's 50th birthday on the week-end. His birthday was April 28 and they picked us up April 29. We never knew the cause of the accident but I blame the passenger jeep who was speeding the other way but kind of zigzag because it was overloaded with passengers and big baskets of mango fruit. I think the big sack of ice prevented the jeep from exploding and also the other liquid groceries. They stopped but no one came down to help. My mom pushed me out of the burning jeep. I had to pull her out. My Dad was pinned down because the jeep fell to it's side, the driver's side. My mom was on the hot asphalted road barefooted trying to watch for other vehicles to stop, it was hot at 12 noon. Luckily some did. She was calm in telling them to bring me to the hospital because I was bleeding from an injury on my forehead, I still have the scar.. When they arrived at the hospital the nurses were trying to treat her feet which were blistered. When she heard my dad was dead, I did not hear her panic or cry but immediately she asked quietly for a priest to be called. She only cried after the burial and I saw her once with tears running down her face while looking at my dad in the coffin. No sound but I know how much it must have hurt. She was only 51 then. She never remarried even though I know some old flames tried to court her. She raise her 4 children properly. She raised a doctor, a nurse, 2 mechanical engineers, one in the US Army and one working for a computer company. She is fondly know an Nay Kida (Nay for Nanay or mother ) Kida short for Caridad.
She also has 4 grand children and 2 great grand children. I do not have my mother's calm attitude but I think I have her generous heart and high pain threshold. She is also a strong woman raising 4 kids from age 10-18 at that time. Now it is my turn to take care of her.

I hope she lives to be 100 or more. She is still active, ambulatory but only her memory is lost.

The 3rd woman is my daughter. Yes she may be my daughter and as a young woman she has shown me that you can survive all odds if you try hard and want to succeed. I have probably spoiled her when she was young. So when it was time for her to move on and start her own life I was apprehensive. I was hoping I taught her well enough and instilled in her all the good traits I got from my mother and grandmother. Her first years away was difficult for the both of us because we were used to be together for 28+ years. But she survived. She learned how to do things on her own, how to survive by herself. Now that she is married and her husband was able to follow soon I think she feels complete. But having a baby made her a more complete woman. I think every woman feels complete when they experience child birth. She proved to me that she listened to all my teachings, scoldings and warnings. I am now happy for her. She has influenced me to become a better person, mother and now a grandmother.

These are the three important women in my life.

PICTURES ARE MINE

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