One of the hardest realities in life that we have to deal with is when someone we love leaves us. There are different reasons why people leave. Some are brought about by uncontrollable situations such as terminal illness or a sudden accident. Others are due to their circumstances in life — the case for most of our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). There are also people who simply step out of your life without explaining their reasons.
No one likes to be rejected or abandoned. We hear stories of people abandoning their pets, but there’s nothing more heartbreaking than to hear parents abandoning their children. We often wonder and ask, “how can a parent have the heart to leave their child behind?” Yet, there are those who still do. For most of us, the question will remain unanswered. While some are fortunate enough to finally meet their parents and ask them all about it.
Just like Dainty Peñas who recently shared on Twitter how her estranged mother, showed up on her graduation day.
https://twitter.com/daintyfayenoami/status/977169269967413248
Peñas briefly shared on her thread how she is a product of an early pregnancy. And for reasons unknown to her, her mom left her to the care of her father’s family. Her grandfather and three aunts took care of her.
https://twitter.com/daintyfayenoami/status/977170547262943233
But if you do the math, the years she mentioned doesn’t seem to add up. Peña just graduated from Velez College in Cebu with a degree in Physical Therapy. She’s already 22. She told InqPOP! that what she meant by “ghosting me for 11 years” was that even after giving her away to her father’s family, her mom constantly communicated and visited her until she was 11. But after that, her mom cut all communications and didn’t see her again.
Peña admitted how she would often wish that she got a different set of parents. And because of what her parents did to her, people would often warn her in Cebuano: “Basin ma parehas kas imong mama’g papa ha.”(Baka magaya ka sa mama at papa mo ha.) But even at an early age, Peñas knew that she doesn’t want to end up like her parents. Or even let her future children experience the same thing she did. She’s thankful for the family who took care of her even though her parents weren’t around to see her grow.
https://twitter.com/daintyfayenoami/status/977171314510249984
https://twitter.com/daintyfayenoami/status/977171801506631680
https://twitter.com/daintyfayenoami/status/977172511489015809
There is always that lingering question that her aunt would often ask her: “What if mo kalit lang pakita imong mama nimo?”(What if bigla na lang magpakita ang mama mo?) She knew what to tell her. But when she finally showed up after eleven years during her graduation, she realized that all the things she imagined herself saying to her and doing to her, didn’t happen. Rather, all she said was: “Ni kaon naka? Pagpa kita nila (my father’s family), ganahan sad to sila makakita nimo.”(Kumain ka na ba? Magpakita ka sa pamilya ni papa, gusto ka rin nila makita ka.)
https://twitter.com/daintyfayenoami/status/977173344893124608
https://twitter.com/daintyfayenoami/status/977173637617745920
https://twitter.com/daintyfayenoami/status/977174867979026432
She explains that she was surprised at her own reaction but felt like a thorn was lifted from her chest. And that she’s willing to listen to her mom explain to her why she left her.
https://twitter.com/daintyfayenoami/status/977175811059929088
https://twitter.com/daintyfayenoami/status/977176440172003328
https://twitter.com/daintyfayenoami/status/977177523569045506
https://twitter.com/daintyfayenoami/status/977178240010788864
She ended her thread with a photo of her family — her mom’s family meeting her and her father’s family for the first time.
https://twitter.com/daintyfayenoami/status/977179330647277571
Unfortunately though, her father’s not in the picture. It seems that her issue with her father is another story to tell.
https://twitter.com/daintyfayenoami/status/977182406196191232
To some, you may think that they “all lived happily ever after.” But Peñas said that though she was happy that her mom showed up on her graduation day, met her relatives, and experience “…a sense of familiarity that [she] cannot deny, they will never be home.”
The whole thread simply sums up her realization on the way she handled the situation, and importantly, there’s no use in holding grudges against anyone no matter what they did to you.
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