A Postcard From The Heart: A Message For A Mother

Whenever I travel, I make sure I send a postcard home. I don't say much on the card, much like "Hello, I got here safely and getting you some pasalubong!" message only. Just like you, I wouldn't want to write a lot of personal things on the postcard, lest we want the local postman to gossip about it. In the 20th century, sending a postcard was the tradition, especially if you want to tell your family back home where you were. But in my recent travels, I still sent home some postcards to my mom, not to really say 'hi', but to have the card postmarked and keep it later in my album as a souvenir. 

I stumbled today upon this old postcard, postmarked 1958, sent and written by Tita Lud (Salud) to her mother, Doña Dorothea Magalona-Montinola, during her and her sisters' travels to Japan.

Upon reading, I found her message most touching, elevating her simple black-and-white-postcard into a loving letter of a daughter to a mother.

The postcard was written in Spanish, and Tita Lud opened it with 'Dearest Nanay', or 'Querida Nanay' in the original Spanish text. 

And even if you don't read Spanish, you'd be able to feel Tita Lud's words for her mother, telling her, among other things, that God willing, she, along with her sisters, would return home safely.

She also wrote, "Recuerdos á todos, y á tu, besos y abrazos de tus hijas, Tinay, Salud, Luz y Inday." 

"Regards to everyone, and to you, kisses and embraces from your daughters, Tinay, Salud, Luz and Inday."

Although Tita Lud, as a daughter, just probably wanted her mother not to worry, telling her they were all safely traveling, it's the thought that, even though they were apart by distance and time, her daughters wanted her to know that they always thought of her. And that they would be coming home soon and be together again.

Yes, that's what we all yearn. Even how far we are from family, we all want to return home - into the embracing arms of our mother.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers!

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PS. I was especially touched by how Lola Theang's daughters called her 'Nanay', a Hiligaynon and Filipino word for 'mother'. Even with their wealth, Lola Theang taught her children to be humble and not to be pretentious. You probably know some people who want to be called 'daddy' or 'mommy' even though, well, you finish the sentence. Ha-ha-ha!  😀

Back in the early 20th century, people in the Philippines still spoke and write Spanish at home in addition to the dialect or language spoken in their province.

The postcard simply indicated Lola Theang's name "Sra. Dorotea M. de Montinola", the town "Victorias", and the country "Phil Islands.". No ZIP code, no street. Of course, she was well known and her house was literally just across the post office.😀