{"id":3889,"date":"2020-09-18T21:20:33","date_gmt":"2020-09-19T07:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=3889"},"modified":"2020-09-18T23:43:51","modified_gmt":"2020-09-19T09:43:51","slug":"living-the-long-and-loving-life-with-95-year-old-lola-filipina-caliboso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2020\/09\/18\/living-the-long-and-loving-life-with-95-year-old-lola-filipina-caliboso\/","title":{"rendered":"Living the long and loving life with 95-year-old Lola Filipina Caliboso"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Lola Filipina with her 71-year-old daughter Pat Mencias.<\/sub><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

By Jim Bea Sampaga\u00a0

<\/strong>At 95 years old, Lola Filipina Caliboso has been living her life filled with love and care. She\u2019s funny, friendly, kind and helpful. She\u2019s selfless despite what she had to go through during her childhood.\u00a0

Born on Jan. 2, 1925, Lola Filipina grew up in Rosales, Pangasinan with her older sister, Pacita. Their lives changed when their mother Irenea passed away when they were still young. Lola Filipina still remembers the moment their grandmother took her and left her at her Aunt\u2019s place to live.\u00a0

Growing Up in Pangasinan
<\/strong>\u201cI sat on the stairs [of my Aunt\u2019s house] waiting for my grandmother, but she never returned. I was told later that this was my mother\u2019s wish, for me to live with my aunt and her family. It was hard and tough living with my mother\u2019s sister,\u201d Lola Filipina recalled.

Lola Filipina\u2019s Aunt and Uncle didn\u2019t support her education. She worked around the house and earned her own money just so she could attend elementary school.\u00a0\u201c[They] didn\u2019t support me even just for one centavo to buy for my school supplies. I had to earn it myself,\u201d she said. \u201cNot just my Aunt but her husband is also abusive.\u201d\u00a0

In her childhood, Lola Filipina suffered bruises and wounds from enduring the physical abuse from her Aunt and Uncle. Her elementary best friend would cry and pity her every time she would see her bruises.\u00a0

Passion for Education
<\/strong>Despite having no support for her education, Lola Filipina was an active elementary student and leader at Villasis Central School. She loved going to school and interacting with her classmates and teachers. Instead of playing around, she spent time with her teachers and helping them keep things in order around the classroom. She enjoyed learning about catechism and prioritized finishing her homework early.\u00a0

Lola Filipina\u2019s love, dedication and passion for education didn\u2019t stop after she attended school. She made sure to pass the same values and passion to her children and grandchildren. She believes that having a good education will give them better opportunities in life.

When her children were young, she always made sure that they focused in school to achieve a good education. With her grandchildren, she built a relationship with them with her outgoing and funny attitude. She used to play with them, acting as if she was their age.

As a hands-on grandmother to her grandchildren, she taught them the basics such as the alphabet and counting numbers before they even started going to kindergarten. One of her grandchildren would even tell her kindergarten teacher that her real teacher was her Lola Filipina.

Raising her two children in Ifugao
<\/strong>Lola Filipina married a soldier at age 21 and had two children, daughter Pat Mencias and son Romeo Caliboso. She became a widow at age 28 and had to raise her two children on her own.\u00a0

The thought of remarrying never crossed her mind. Lola Filipina didn\u2019t want her children to suffer and be treated differently as stepchildren, similar to what she had gone through in her childhood.

\u201cShe didn\u2019t need a man in her life. She has us and we were a blessing to her. She worked hard and made a lot of sacrifices raising us,\u201d said her daughter Pat, who is now 71 years old.

Lola Filipina and her children moved to Lamut, Ifugao after her older sister Pacita\u2019s persistence and constant nudging. In Lamut, she had a small\u00a0sari-sari\u00a0<\/em>store (convenient store) and a buy and sell rice and corn business which helped her raise and support her two children\u2019s education until they graduated from college.\u00a0

She also owned a coffee shop in Lamut. People used to call her \u201ccoffee lady\u201d for being the first one to introduce that type of business in the area.

Lola Filipina was also an active member of the Catholic Women\u2019s League in the Philippines. According to Pat, Lola Filipina enjoys helping the community through activities such as visiting the sick, holding family prayers, fundraising and being active in church activities during the Holy Week.

\u201cThe traits that I look up to the most about my mother is her dignity and being helpful to others,\u201d Pat said. \u201cShe\u2019s very religious, hard-working and kind.\u201d

Moving to Hawaii
<\/strong>In 1981, Lola Filipina immigrated to Hawaii when her daughter Pat petitioned her to help with babysitting. Eventually, she was able to petition her son Romeo who now lives in Seattle. She has seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren with one on the way in October.

Currently, she lives with Pat and her husband in Waipahu. Lita Segui, the daughter of Lola Filipina\u2019s older sister Pacita, has also been living with them for the past four years.

Pat petitioned her mother so she can experience and enjoy life in the US after working hard in the Philippines. \u201cShe worked hard raising me and my brother, assuming both roles of father and mother. It\u2019s time for her to enjoy life here in the US,\u201d Pat shared.

\u201cI love Hawaii and still like living here. I also traveled to Seattle, Washington to visit relatives. I\u2019ve also been to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and visited my sister Pacita Cawagdan, nieces and nephews and their families,\u201d Lola Filipina shared.

Lola Filipina held different jobs across Oahu. She worked at the Tuna Canning Factory in Waikiki in 1983 and at a burger stand along Ala Moana Beach Park. She was a housekeeper for a while for a family in Hawaii Kai. She was a dishwasher at the Cocina Kitchen in Dillingham Boulevard. She also started cooking and selling Filipino desserts such as\u00a0puto\u00a0<\/em>(Filipino steamed cake) that people often ordered for parties. Known as the \u201cputo lady,\u201d she stopped cooking Filipino desserts for orders in 2017.\u00a0

Living a long and healthy life
<\/strong>According to the World Health Organization, the average life expectancy of Filipinos are 66 years old for men and 73 years old for women. Lola Filipina is turning 96 years old on Jan. 2.\u00a0

\u201cI am truly grateful to God for giving me good health and strength every day,\u201d she said. \u201cI am most thankful to God for giving me my life. I was able to raise my kids on my own without anyone\u2019s help. I was able to help other people whenever I can without expecting anything in return.\u201d

To keep up with her active lifestyle during her adulthood, Lola Filipina makes sure that she\u2019s active and healthy at home, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Pat, she has a set routine like sweeping around the house and doing the laundry either by hand or using the washing machine.

\u201cUpon waking up in the morning, I drink my coffee, eat my breakfast, and then clean up after breakfast, mop floor if needed, and then go outside. Sweep outside the yard and water my plants. I usually go back inside the house when I\u2019m done,\u201d Lola Filipina explained. \u201cI wash up and then sit down to either watch TV or call friends to catch up on the phone. I make sure to take my medicine after lunch.\u201d

Aside from doing various chores around the house, Lola Filipina\u2019s energetic sense of humor keeps her moving. The house is always filled with laughter and entertainment every time she starts swaying her hips and showing her graceful movements in dancing.

When asked about her secret for living a long and healthy life, she shared that she eats her meals regularly. Since she was young, her diet consists of vegetables, fish and a little bit of lean meat.

\u201cI usually eat Cheerios or bread with eggs for breakfast along with my coffee. My diet usually consists mostly of vegetables and fish. I seldom eat meat,\u201d Lola Filipina shared. \u201cEat more vegetables, less or no meat at all. Eat less rice.\u201d\u00a0

Caring for the Elderly<\/strong>
Pat and Lita emphasized the importance of patience when caring for the elderly. \u201cAlways be patient with the elderly when taking care of them. Listen to their life stories even if they repeatedly tell you about it,\u201d said Lita, Lola Filipina\u2019s niece.\u00a0

For Pat, patience and respect goes hand in hand. \u201cHear and listen to them. Say less and don\u2019t argue with them. They have a set mind,\u201d she said.

They also make sure to care for Lola Filipina, especially now that we\u2019re experiencing a pandemic. \u201cI do the shopping for her according to her likes or taste: more vegetables, fish and soup. I make sure she has her bananas and not run out of her Ensure,\u201d Pat said.

\u201cI make sure that she\u2019s eating well. I cook for her and keep her company,\u201d Lita added.

For her 96th<\/sup> Birthday
<\/strong>As Lola Filipina looks forward to her 96th birthday in January, Pat shares a message she would like to say to her mother.\u00a0

\u201cThank you for everything you did for me and my brother, raising me for what I am today,\u201d Pat said. \u201cYou are a hard-working loving mother. You always think of our welfare as well as Manang Lita, her sibling and children and other people.\u201d\u00a0

Pat extends her thanks to her Aunt Pacita, Lola Filipina\u2019s sister. Aunt Pacita\u2019s persistence of having them move to Lamut, Ifugao from Pangasinan greatly helped their family.

\u201cWe were raised in a nurturing environment with so much love and support. Aunt Pacita\u2019s love for each other as sisters was inculcated in my heart\u2013loving, kind and always looking out for each other\u2019s welfare,\u201d Pat shared.\u00a0

Pacita\u2019s daughter, Lita, thanks Lola Filipina for treating her like a daughter. \u201cShe\u2019s kind to us and helpful to others as well. I learned so much from her. She provides good advice to anyone who seeks for help morally, spiritually, mentally and financially,\u201d Lita said.

When asked about her message for Hawaii Filipino Chronicle readers about living one\u2019s life and staying healthy and active on their senior years, Lola Filipina said, \u201cPray and be thankful each day. Eat healthily. Smile and always have a happy face, have a sense of humor in life. God is Love. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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