Lucky by Choice

CEBU, Philippines – Success is a very big word which most people do not understand. Success is what everybody in this world wants.  People have different views on what success is. Some see success as a fulfillment of a desire. Others see it as  financial stability. In the life of a very relentless couple, success is a choice. Anatolio "Talio" Bordario, from Talamban, Cebu City, stayed all day long in Carbon Market watching over their "pa-init" (hot snack) stall, where they sold coffee, bread, and such. Nearby, Mamerta "Maming" Abellaneda, from the far mountains of Carcar, was tending her small store selling rice grains.

They couldn't escape each other's glances; they were just there. And they often came to each other to have customers' bills converted to loose change. They became friends.

It was just plain friendship between them at the start. He had a girlfriend at the time, and she a boyfriend. But destiny soon began shaking things up, and they ended up being lovers.

They got married after a while, and their first few years together were really difficult. Their home was in one of those stilt shanties by the portside of Carbon. Their firstborn son was always sick, apparently due to the filth that accumulated in the area.

Then a huge fire hit Carbon, leaving them with nothing but the clothes they were wearing. They were forced to move to Talamban, Talio's home place, which was quite far from the city at that time considering the lack of available public transportation. They also lost all their business capital in the fire.

"Nahurot g'yud among puhunan. Mga 40 to ka sako nga bugas ang nasunog," Maming related how everything was eaten up by the fire, including around 40 sacks of rice, which was their biggest bulk of merchandise.

Having no other options, they persevered and tried their very best to get up on their feet again. They put up the store back in place. They also engaged in small businesses like backyard hog-raising and deploying a jeepney unit.  Talio also worked as an agent for an old milk company.

And they were able to recover. Soon enough, they were finally able to buy their own home. Three more children were added to the family. The couple's luck continued to improve and they became financially stable, even helped their nephews finish school.

Then the hard times hit again. They feared that their children would not be able to finish their studies. But the couple that had been toughened by trials did not cow out. "Kaluoy sa Ginoo, nakahuman ra man sad g'yud silang tanan," Maming said. The children had all finished school, "Tagduha pa gani ang kurso sa uban," the proud mother cites that some of the kids even finished two courses: an aeronautics graduate and three nurses.

The children's scholastic accomplishment is dramatic, considering the mother's own dislike for school. Maming stopped attending school just a few months shy from graduating high school. Husband Talio, for his part, was not able to finish his engineering course.

Now 54 years married, Talio and Maming credit most of their good luck to hard work. Way back in her youth, Maming recalls pushing their cart full of merchandise all the way from Carcar to Carbon Market, a foot trip that took at least two days. They would cook, eat and sleep on the road.

The couple's story is an inspiration to the younger generations in their clan, their friends, and everyone who knows what they had been through. I am personally proud to have come in the line of these winners. I am their grandchild.

I want to push forward my grandparents' incredible story. The quest will not end with them. We in my generation will continue the winning streak, never to be cowed by difficulty. We will try our very best to be - like Lolo Talio and Lola Maming - lucky by choice!