47 Million Minutes

My paternal Second Aunt died last week at the age of 95. This aunt–pardon my basking in reflected glory–was the grandmother of renowned playwright David Henry Huang, whose works include M Butterfly and the "revisical" of Flower Drum Song which starred Lea Salonga and had a very successful extended run in Los Angeles last year. She was also the subject of his play Golden Child, based loosely on her childhood in our ancestral home in Gulangyu island in Fujian province. Up until a few months ago she had been quite well, considering her age, living at home without needing full-time nursing care.

I got this bit of news from my other Second Aunt, who is 94, still a champion bridge player, a fantastic cook and who, despite protestations that I am ruining her reputation by saying so, has a social calendar far busier than mine. She is most up-to-date about goings-on in our big, convoluted family, as well as among her vast circle of friends. I call her up or drop in on her (just last year she moved into a very hip condo unit at Fort Bonifacio) every so often, not just to see how she is, but to catch up on chismis. Although she has been feeling poorly this past week, that didn’t keep her from her usual Monday mahjong session or from having a house guest (my Sixth Aunt).

I bring this up because of a special article we’re running this week, on folks who’ve lived over nine decades–lived all those years meaningfully and well, and are still living them well. That’s over 800,000 hours, over 47 million minutes! Turn to page four to meet these remarkable people.

The article is written by an equally remarkable person: Virginia Licuanan is not yet 90, but she’s got a lot more than years tipping the scale in her favor. She is an accomplished writer and historian with an impressive list of published works, and she casts a keen and incisive eye on life, style and lifestyle.

For me, Tita Ginny’s e-mails are as interesting as the articles she submits–sometimes even more so, especially the ones not meant for publication! Her asides, observations and comments are real gems–often naughty, always delightful. We’ve made a date for me to visit her and check out her meditation garden and the two waterfalls she has put in; maybe I can finally convince her to write that article on sex and the Filipino that I’ve been trying to get her to write.