Meeting Marlene

After mass, an old lady picked up a mail that may have been blown off by the wind. We were standing across no. 45 and the mail was for no. 21. It's a bit off our way so she just placed the envelope in the mailbox right next to her. She sounds Filipina and when I asked, she is. Her name's Marlene, short for Maria Elena and she lives along Waitaki. We had a bit of a chat right there on the corner of James Laurie and View Road. It was getting cold just standing there so I decided to walk her to her street. She invited me in for tea as soon as we reached her house. So I thought, why not?

Her husband is Alan Evans and both are senior citizens. Alan's a Kiwi and is just about my father's age while Marlene just turned 60. She is from Iloilo. They have a 14 year old dog who kept barking since I stepped in. Their house, as she warned, smelled a bit like their dog. She has a wild garden, and she says that it's better to have flowers that tend to themselves. She's not getting any younger. She offered me coffee, while she and Alan had tea. It came with some homemade cookies.

We talked about everyday things, about how her brother has come down with a kidney disease, and how her sister turned out to be anemic. Her concerns were centered around health which she admits is something that you're likely to get used to as age starts to creep in. In between she'd ask how many teaspoons of coffee, or sugar, and if I'd like some milk with that. I shared a bit about myself too and on how I'm still new to the place. She talked about her neighbors like how that young family across the street often goes out every weekend. Maybe they have itchy feet she says. She told me about how they brought a friend who lives on the same road to the hospital since she has breast cancer. She's still very careful with her comments and I guess that's the best approach to be able to get along well with others. She'd often say that well, to each his own.

Marlene has silver hair. She told me that she's the only Pinay around here, or at least from those that she knows, who doesn't dye her hair. She has allergies and she'd rather not put herself at risk with hair dye. She also tells me how she's willing to pay a little extra for sugar-free and saltless dry goods. She came here to NZ when she was about to turn 37, back in 1989. Her political views are still left with the Aquino - Marcos era. She didn't tell people that she was pro-Aquino when she arrived here coz there might be Marcos loyalists who moved here too.

It's also quite rare for me to find people who's never used the computer before. They don't have a computer and they only use a mobile phone for emergency. They still are the type who would ring people at home. She had to convince her husband to get themselves a microwave. Her life nowadays seemed to be centered on their dog, the tooks (chicken) which still lays some eggs for them, the pigeons, and neighbor's cats which she feeds, and her garden. They ran a business for a while, plastering, and she used to work at Rustan's doing accounting work I think. I didn't ask for those info. She just shared things with me as I have with her. It's not the first time that I've had a casual conversation with an older folk. Yes they have their views but they too are very open to hear your side of things. It's different when I talk to people who are younger or is within my age group. They usually find it compelling to have an opinion or a say in the matter. I guess I'm like that myself sometimes and I just couldn't help it. So does age make you go step back a bit, and this time, keep quiet and just really listen? Or maybe I myself am getting older. We exchanged numbers and here's another person in my very short list that I look forward to visiting again with hubby and the kids.