"Luzviminda The Brave"

"Luzviminda The Brave"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

It was another hot summer like this one when I once witnessed my mom do something very brave. I woke up late and heard the noises on the street. There was a taong grasa who was naked and sat on one of the lamp posts near our street. Now this was the time before cellphones had cameras  , otherwise this whole thing would have been all over the internet. On this day people still looked on the mentally unstable woman as a sort of entertainment. A spectacle because not everyone sees a naked person all the time , much less on the streets. Children were flocking and adults too because they wanted to see who would make the first move in helping. There were a few hecklers and children seemed to tease the woman. She tried to run after one of the kids which made some of the adults angry. There were things that were thrown at her that made the woman even angrier and confused. 

My mom who went out of our house to see what was happening grabbed a blanket without thinking about it and ran( yes during that time she could still run) and covered the woman. She asked the adults to stay back and the kids to disperse and in typical pinoy fashion the adults backed off while the kids stayed and oggled. My mom talked to the woman and I was amazed at how calmly the woman responded to her. She does have a way with words and anybody who knows her that she has a calming effect on people. It was no different with this mentally unstable person. She instructed one of our helpers to give the poor woman one of the bestidas/Mumus that she just bought to the woman and some clean underear too. The woman responded by asking my mom to help her dress up which my mom did. With the woman now fully clothed the children went away one by one and so did the adults. 

It is funny how people just stood around while she rushed in to that situation. My mom could have gotten hurt but she was in the thick of things. Generous to a fault. A helping hand first before any other considerations. She was like that and now even on these hot summer days I still remember that day. I am proud to be your son. Luzvi the Kind.Luzvi the Brave. 

Happy Mothers Day Ma!