The joy of life

Today is the first birthday of Martin Jose Henson Ngkaion. Since his birth, my wife Menchu and I have been over the moon. Joselito is our first grandchild and a wonderful blessing to our family.

Our daughter Cristina and her husband Mark waited seven years for the arrival of their first child. When Joselito was born at 6:41 a.m., weighing 8.03 pounds and measuring 19.21 inches, in St. Luke’s Global Center, Taguig, on Jan. 11, 2017, Menchu and I were overjoyed as were Mark and Cristina and Mark’s parents Ted and Verna. Every day since his birth has brought a glowing ray of sunlight in our life together. 

Joselito is growing up a happy, handsome baby, surrounded by unconditional love. Cristina is an exceptional mother and Mark a doting father. Joselito sleeps on their bed every night. They don’t mind waking up at odd hours whenever Joselito opens his eyes. It’s like each waking moment with Joselito is a dream come true.

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As first-time grandparents, Menchu and I never knew it would be like this. Every morning, Joselito is brought to our bedroom where we’ve transformed a nice space into a mini playground. We take turns carrying him, talking to him, playing with him. It’s convenient that Mark, Cristina and Joselito live next door. Joselito hardly cries, seldom frowns and his smile melts our heart away. He’s alert, quick to react to prompters. He points to his head when asked where it is and raises one finger when asked how old he is. We’re talking to him in English, Pilipino and Spanish and he’s responding to every word. He says “Mama” to Cristina, “Papa” to Mark and “Tata” to Menchu. I’m still waiting to hear him say “Toto” to me but it’ll come soon.

Mark used to be a San Beda juniors basketball player and loves the game like I do. Will Joselito become a basketball player? He was introduced to playing with a ball only a few months old. He says “ba” when pointing to a ball, whether it’s a basketball or a Christmas ball ornament on a tree. Cristina has brought Joselito to watch La Salle basketball games, wearing a green shirt with the word “Mayhem” emblazoned in front. She’s starting him young. Whatever Joselito wants to be, we’ll be behind him all the way. 

Joselito is extra special to us because Menchu and I never experienced the birth of our child. Cristina is our adopted daughter, something she’s proud of because she came into our life as a special gift from heaven. Cristina is now 34 and a budding entrepreneur. She’s given inspirational talks to adoptive parents and there’s never a dry eye in the room whenever she relates how much love we’ve shared since her birth. When she was a teenager, Cristina used to spend weekends with streetkids in a home supervised by an Irish nun Sister Teresa McEntee who was her mentor and our dear friend. Cristina has a big heart, very caring, extremely loving. The love we poured to Cristina is the love she now pours to Joselito.

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We’re just as proud of our son-in-law Mark. He’s a hard-working professional, looking after his family, spending quality time with Cristina and Joselito. His love for Joselito is overflowing, too.

For some reason, Menchu and I don’t feel “old” as grandparents. It’s like we’re experiencing a rebirth with Joselito entering our life. Besides, the World Health Organization recently declared that 65 is still considered young. It used to be that old was defined by the age of 50, according to the Friendly Societies Act (1875) of the UK. According to an internet advice, the UN has not adopted a standard criterion but 60 was often referred to as the border age to old. The internet source said WHO has done a new research and defined a new classification of age according to average health quality and life expectancy. The findings show that underage is from 0 to 17, youth or young from 18 to 65, middle-aged from 66 to 79, elderly or senior from 80 to 99 and long-lived elderly for 100 and beyond. My mother Marina, who’s 102, falls in the long-lived elderly category but you wouldn’t think it’s her age from the way she moves around, going to office nearly every day to assure her non-life insurance clients of personalized service.

I realize today’s column isn’t about sports and I beg your indulgence for this exception. It’s about the joy of life and I just thought it would be relevant as we set the tone for the new year. Our family is celebrating Joselito’s first birthday today with all the trimmings. My two sisters Vicki and Irene flew in from the US, where they live, to join us in the festivities. We wish Joselito the best of life, happiness, love, success, compassion, humility and God’s guidance.