~~
A new day, a new story. The Marcoses are already back at their house. Yara had the thought of spending time with her Mama Meldy in San Juan to hang out and catch up with her because she misses her grandma. Luckily, her parents are also busy with work as they are going to attend a corporate event, so Yara has the entire day to enjoy with her grandmother.
Greggy and Irene first took Yara to Mama Meldy's house before they went on their meeting today and told their daughter to be cautious and to call if she needed anything, or she could directly ask her companion or bodyguard who was accompanying her. While going down the car
Greggy: Bye for now my koala bear, you take care!
Irene: [embraced Yara] Call us if you need anything or just ask directly Yaya or your guards, we love you, little girl.
Greggy: We will see you later, enjoy the day with your Lola, Daddy loves you!
Irene: Kiss Mommy for me, my love. I love you [air kiss]
Yara: Will do mom and dad! You guys take care too, I love you both [kiss her parents]
Greggy and Irene didn't enter the house of Mama Meldy since all they intended to do was make sure Yara got to their mother's house securely. As Yara arrived at her grandmother's house, her grandma's helpers, drivers, nurses, caretakers, and security personnel warmly welcomed her one after the other. She went straight to her grandma's room, where she found her reading a book.
Yara: [knocking] Hi Lola!
Mama Meldy: Yara apo! [kiss, hugged Yara]
Yara: [curios] What is that book you're reading, Lola?
Mama Meldy: This is a philosophical book, a book that I have been a little presumptuous to write...
Yara: [interested] Oh really Lola? May I?
Mama Meldy: Sure Yara apo, the book is called "The Circles of Life"
Yara: [reading] "All the things that you see around you, they become the elements of your infrastructure...."
Mama Meldy: "But they can only be good as they are beautiful and beauty is in the landscape of your heart. Do not leave it there, paint it, shape it, build it, let it flow from within you, in everything you do or touch it is easy to be beautiful because it is natural."
Yara: [enthusiastic] That's a brilliant book Lola, can I borrow it from you? I wanna read everything.
Mama Meldy: You can have it apo.
Yara: [surprised] Lola, are you serious? Thank you very much! I'll keep this well.
Mama Meldy: You're welcome, sweetheart. I've got a lot of stuff to show you.
While Imelda and Yara were having a discussion, her granddaughter remembered reading in their old books at home about her grandmother's attempted murder while she was giving a speech in front of a large group in 1972, if she is not mistaken.
Yara: [intrigued] Lola, I read a book about you back in 1972, if I'm not mistaken, and someone attempted to kill you.
Mama Meldy: [nodded] Yes right, I can vividly recall that day, it was the 7th of December 1972.
Yara: [flabbergasted] So it's true, Lola? Oh my gosh!
Mama Meldy: Yes apo, it is true. We were giving awards and suddenly there was a man with a dark suit and had a bolo right inside his sleeve...
Yara: [engrossed] You knew that he was going to attack you?
Mama Meldy: No, in fact when this man was hitting me with this bolo, I looked around and said I wonder who he's about to kill, little did I know that he was going to me.
Yara: [bone-chilling] That's scary!
Mama Meldy: He came in closer and closer to me and ah it's me.
Yara: Did you suffer any wounds or cuts? [worried]
Mama Meldy: Yes apo, I did not feel any pain yet and I had all these 11 cuts eventually this one, here, and all of this was cut off, dangling.
Yara: [terrified] That's a lot of cuts and you had 75 stitches! How about the scars of it?
Mama Meldy: I was going to have plastic surgery so that the scars would not show and your Lolo Macoy said don't touch it, don't have this plastic surgery because it is your body of courage he said.
Yara: [stunned] Really? So what happened next Lola?
Mama Meldy: There was no absolute reason why I could have escaped that assassin and I said to myself the Lord saved my life because I was pretty generous in giving and serving and caring for my fellowmen and so from then on I said to myself since the Lord had given me a second chance. I'm not only going to be excessively giving and serving and caring and extravagantly doing things for others but am going to be selfless, I'll give it all, and from then on it was my most productive years.
Yara: You are super brave Lola, and I thank the Lord for saving you from that incident.
Yara's POV
Lola Meldy is well-known for her luxury, beauty, elegant shoes, and once possessed power. When Imeldefic is searched in the dictionary, it means "ostentatiously extravagant or excessively extravagant." and it was said that this word is derived from the world's most famous first lady, my Lola Imelda Romualdez Marcos.
Mama Meldy: You know apo, I was once compared to Jacqueline Kennedy
Yara: [astounded] The first lady of America in 1961?
Mama Meldy: Yes, it's her.
Yara: Even at your age today Lola, you still retain your beauty.
Mama Meldy: Thank you Yara apo and you got that beautiful face too.
Yara: Got the best of the best genes, Lola. [giggling]
While they were talking and laughing over their merienda, Imelda opted to take her granddaughter to a room that was not accessible to everyone and could only be entered by their family. When they entered, Yara saw hundreds of documents proving that their family was not guilty of all the accusations leveled against them for a long period about their highly questionable wealth.
Mama Meldy: Apo, you're entering the document of the trial of the century.
Yara: [exclaimed] Ohhhhh
Mama Meldy: Here take a look at 170 banks that your Lolo deposited money on. Just to show you, how much is that apo?
Yara: [taken aback] Two hundred and Forty dollars? Oh my gosh, Lola! Is it a million or a billion?
Mama Meldy: Billion, that's for only one.
Yara: [speechless] Wait, wait, what!?
Mama Meldy: And there are plenty of those.
Yara: Oh my gosh, if we go all of these, you are rich beyond compare, Lola.
Mama Meldy: No, these will save the world. These are the reason I want to survive and it's not for me anymore. I will be fighting for my people, this is the beauty that I have for the Filipino people, this is not for me. Ano at ilan nalang ba ang buhay ko? Para ito sa sambayanang Pilipino.
Yara: [hugged Imelda] Don't say that Lola, you will still live for us, for me for a long period pa, we still have so many kwentos you have to share with me but yeah actually, you're right, this will help and benefit a lot of people, talaga Lola.
Mama Meldy: Yes apo, not only in the Philippines but to the world.
Yara: [bobbing] I agree with that Lola Meldy.
Mama Meldy: [certain, optimistic] I believe in transparency and we got nothing to hide.
Yara: "The Good, the True, and the Beautiful" is one of your many mottos that struck me the most Lola.
Imelda promised her granddaughter Yara that the next time she visits her again she will tell more stories to her granddaughter. They were very happy today with what they talked about and Yara's parents arrived just in time for them to pick up their daughter and they gave bouquets and food to their Mama Meldy before leaving.
Yara, on the other hand, undeniably expresses her great joy at being able to spend time with her grandmother today as she rides home with her mom and dad. She told her parents more about stories her grandmother told her and the ones she discovered, and she learned about the olden history and the era of a first lady who was actually her Lola Meldy.
~~
PS: Thank you so much for your overwhelming support, which you have expressed by reading my work it is truly heartwarming. Should I bid adieu and see you next week, or should I release more chapters this week!? Well, let's see! Bye for now readers. 🦋