My grandmother's (on my mother's side) 75th birthday was one of the celebrations I vividly recall and cherish. I remembered that birthday party like it was yesterday, not only because of the size of the event, but also because a large number of guests, including relatives we hadn't seen in a long time, came to congratulate my grandmother on her 75th birthday. However, although the two aforementioned reasons are good enough, they’re not the most crucial one.
Our "Mamang," as we affectionately referred to her, was a woman who had been through a great deal in her long life. She was a woman of values and character. And, despite her strictness, she was my favorite grandmother (another reason I remembered her 75th birthday celebration vividly). Unfortunately, she became paralyzed at the age of 70 after slipping and falling off the stairs.
Regardless of what happened to her, Mamang refused to blame God or anybody else and sought to live her life to the best of her ability. However, one cannot battle old age, and she became considerably weaker over time. This concerned us considerably, but Mamang remained as cheerful as usual.
"Everything is God's will," Mamang would often quote.
Every time I hear her say that quote, I felt sad because I knew that Mamang already accepted that she might not live for many more years. However, since I don't want her to leave us so soon, I will always reply:"Mamang will live to a hundred, I'm sure of it," as if hoping that my words would come true.
Mamang would only smile whenever she hear me reply to her like that. I was the usual barter between me and her.
When Mamang’s 75th birthday drew closer, all of her children came together to plan a huge celebration for her but when Mamang heard of their plan, she told them that a simple celebration would be enough. However, everyone in the family did not agree with her. After all, a person can only have a 75th birthday once – a milestone in all account.
However, it’s not just us that wanted to celebrate Mamang’s 75th birthday grandly; a lot of people from our community as well as some of our closest relatives, offered their help – making the preparations a lot easier for us. Of course, since a lot of people from our community got involved, the celebration became “community-wide.”
Oh, but don't get me wrong: our community wasn't that big, and the majority of its members were our family (both close and distant), albeit that still amounted to several dozen people. Because Mamang's house was too small to accommodate everyone, we decided to host the celebration on the grounds of the local chapel. Another reason the local chapel was picked was because it was typical for our family to attend mass on our birthdays. As a result, conducting the celebration on the chapel grounds was more convenient for everyone. To be sure, celebrating one's birthday on church grounds was unusual, but since others had done it before, it was also not that unusual.
Soon after, the much-anticipated day arrived. Before the sun had even risen, a large crowd had gathered at Mamang's house to assist with the cooking and other preparations. As for Mamang, being the birthday celebrant entitles her to special treatment, and she was pampered like a queen. Mamang was escorted to the chapel on her wheelchair once everything was ready. During the mass, the priest congratulates Mamang on reaching the age of 75. He also wished her good health and a long life. Following the mass, the day-long revelry begins.
As previously stated, a large number of people came to congratulate Mamang, including those from out of town, many of whom we hadn't seen in a long time. The celebration was a lot of fun, and there were programs planned ahead of time to spice it up even more. However, because Mamang was not in good health, she had to return to her house to recuperate, but the celebration went on without her. We drove Mamang back to the chapel in the afternoon so she could meet another group of relatives who had arrived late that day.
Looking at Mamang, I can see she was very moved by the affection that her family, relatives, and friends had shown her. Although she stated that she would have liked a quieter party, we can tell she appreciated the effort.
Mamang's birthday celebration was the most elaborate that our family had ever held for someone, and it required a lot of planning. However, seeing Mamang so pleased made us believe that all of the money and struggle we had gone through had been worthwhile.
Unfortunately, that would be our last celebration with Mamang, since she died few months later, a week after the COVID pandemic lockdown. And, no, we don't think COVID has anything to do with it because her health had been declining even before that, so we assume the timing was just a coincidence.
Mamang's death, months after her 75th birthday party, was the main reason I remembered that occasion so vividly; the size of the celebration was secondary. Many of us believe that Mamang waited until her 75th birthday to celebrate because she knew we were planning a big party for her and didn't want to let us down. I know it sounded ridiculous, but given Mamang's nature, we felt that it was the case.