An Infant Girl's Priceless Gift

Volume 4, Issue No. 18

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

 

 Our latest as of Wednesday, October 12, 2022 

~ To a 90-day-old infant girl I owe this honor of a lifetime - the distinction of being called "great". The child's arrival was inevitable when two people fall for each other. Well, the first-born grandson in the family - the eldest of eleven grandchildren at age 26 - has taken a wife in New York City. Months later a niña bonita was born to everyone's delight. That circumstance catapulted me to a status high enough to be called great, i.e., great-grandfather.  

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THIS BEAUTIFUL BUNDLE OF JOY

It's Great To Be 'Great,' Thanks to Bella

An American of Filipino, Mexican, and Salvadoran Descent

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

1. “Young people need something stable to hang on to — a culture connection, a sense of their own past, a hope for their own future. Most of all, they need what grandparents can give them.” —Jay Kesler

TORONTO - The Queen passes and her son becomes King. A beautiful girl is born and her birth makes the top guy in the family totem pole "great". Running parallel lives, the royals and the common folks have no equivalent. Such is life's cycle and it goes on and on. 

I am forever grateful to this little bundle of joy named Bella (the derivative from Isabella) who did not know that her coming to this world is such a terrific milestone for many people, especially for me, now her bisabuelo or abuelo mayor. So, I transited from abuelo to bisabuelo; what a smooth transition! 

Her arrival three months ago in New York City basically confers on me the status of great, literally great, and I mean great-grandfather. No kidding. It's true.

Isn't it great? Great to be "great".

I now occupy a preeminent position in the family hierarchy, thanks to Bella, the daughter of my first grandson, Andrew, who at age 26, is the eldest of a brood of eleven grandchildren. He is my parents' first great-grandchild.

Andrew actually was seven years behind me when at 19 years old I settled into matrimony to the utter disappointment of my parents. His abuela, long departed, just turned eighteen then.

While I was fighting the crooks in California in 1996, Andrew elevated me to grandpa just by being born. Coming out of the womb, Bella, in turn, pushed me a notch higher in the rung to be a great-grandpa. Father and daughter certainly have a way of bestowing priceless honor on me.

Andrew crisscrossed San Diego, Chicago, Manila, London, and Toronto while growing up. He finally settled in New York City, found work there as a barista, and soon became a co-owner of a coffee shop in Manhattan which he now manages.

It was in New York where she met and fell in love with Jennifer, the pretty daughter of immigrants from Mexico and El Salvador. Bella is the offspring of that union. She carries the DNA of Filipino, Mexican, Salvadoran, Spanish, and American in her blood. And, of course, the Márquez surname. Talk of diversity and the infant girl has it.

Though the reason for writing this article is deeply personal, I thought Bella's advent is worth celebrating in words if not in deeds. 

Rare is the chance to see a fourth-generation child but here I am able to view her at least in pictures. Surely a visit to New York would be in order to get a feel of how it is to be a great-grandpa.

But then they might decide to come to Toronto in the summer when Bella would be a year old. That's something to look forward to.

In the Philippines, Bella would be called "apo sa tuhod" or "bisnieta" in Spanish, or great-grandchild. 

That makes the two of us "great". Isn't that wonderful? Worlds apart but "great" nonetheless. (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).