On wheels

Mama and I at the Mall of Asia

EVERYBODY THOUGHT I would grow up to be a doctor.  Or a nurse.  As a kid, it came naturally to me to look after the sick in the family.  And I would make my “patients” soup, as I started to cook full meals at the age of 10.

Quite obviously, I took a different path.  Along the way, my propensity to care for others may have diminished.  But I know I still have it in me.  I guess that was why when one family member was required by the doctors to stand by in the operating room as they performed hip replacement surgery on my then 87-year-old (now 89) grandmother, I was the first to raise my hand.  To this day, that remains to be my most worthwhile birthday – I celebrated it with my grandma on one of the most critical moments of her life.

October 24 last year, my mother had a bad fall at the Mall of Asia.  She sustained a “cerebral concussion secondary to fall due to tripping on a loose floor tile.”  I couldn’t remember exactly how everything happened.  I know everything was the same, just how we’d do our malling – we’d walk together at her pace (she has had reduced sensation in her lower extremities), she clutching my arm.  All I could hear now are the screams and cries of all the people around us.  Her grip on my left arm loosened unexpectedly when her sandals got caught in the tile – that’s the best I could make of it.

From that point on, we have agreed that she would get on a wheelchair everytime we will go malling.  She was quite hesitant at first but I did my best to convince her that it doesn’t mean she’s any less capable.  Honestly, I just want to make sure she will still get to enjoy our time shopping – or window shopping – just like the way we have always had.

And I love navigating through stores.  We spent quite some time the last time we were at Kamiseta.  She would tell me which pieces to get from the wall for her to closely inspect.  It’s all good.

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