PSHF

A road widening project was started in Barangay Galicia in March. The shops along the road, including Lucia’s coffee shop, were demolished. It was also around this time when Lucia fell while walking. She had a fracture and so wasn’t able to get up until she died. I happened to visit in the later part of March. She was in bed, a bit delirious, and was in great pain. Her only child, Twinkle’s father, could only do so much; he has a cataract and so cannot see very well.

Twinkle, by the way, left for the Middle East last year. She managed to buy a dozen wooden stools and cutlery for the coffee shop before her employment letter arrived. She was earning a pittance from her sewing jobs while the income from the coffee shop was just enough for food. With Star’s increasing needs and with her Lola becoming weaker and weaker, she needed a substantial income to support them both, thus she applied for a work abroad. She is a nanny there and is in a much better position than before.

I will have fond memories of Nanay Lucia. I’d known her since 2015, when Twinkle applied for a job with the PSHF, and received a loan assistance instead. She or Twinkle would serve me coffee each time I visited and I would also give her snacks. She would then recall her past, especially the glorious days of her coffee shop.

              Lucia with her Granddaughter Twinkle