Mama J: The Mother We Will Always Love

My mother, Mrs. Julita Campos-Benedicto, is now 93 years old. Born on June 16, 1917, she will be 94 years old this year.

How blessed can a daughter be whose mother is still around for this long. Not just an ordinary mother, but a kind, gentle and fulfilled woman of many achievements.

My mother, fondly called Julie, Inday Julie or Mama J, is now on a wheelchair after suffering a stroke last September 21, 2010. Again, she was blessed having survived the stroke at her age, still very lucid and amazingly doing physical therapy everyday at her request. Her will to walk again makes all the physical therapists marvel at her endurance, patience and determination to achieve her goal.

As her only child, I have always put my Mom on a pedestal. She doesn’t get mad and she forgives all those who fault her. She would even defend the ill motives of jealous and envious people around her. She doesn’t like to think that people can be so evil at times. Instead, she always looks at the good side of the person and makes an excuse for their bad deeds.

She only likes to sow love, friendship, kindness and understanding. Maybe that’s why God has given her a long and glorious life so she could teach others by her example.

For as long as I can remember, Mommy has been involved in social work, always looking for ways to raise funds to complete projects that can help others who have less in life.

Even as I was growing up, my orientation was to see life as real as it is. In spite of the status we enjoyed in society, Mom always instilled humility as an important element in life.

My father, the late Ambassador Roberto S. Benedicto, would always say to us, “Be nice to the people you meet when you go up because these will be the very same people you will meet when you go down.” Indeed, we all experienced the ups and downs in life, and this motto had always helped us through all the good and bad times in our lives.

Mom is, to this date, still active in the National Federation of Women’s Clubs Foundation, the Federation of Asian Women’s Association and  the Dr. Jose Rizal Memorial Foundation. She still presides in meetings, helps in the organization of projects and is still involved in her own little way, for other projects that would benefit the needy, especially disabled persons.

If I were to list down all her achievements, it would be a long, long list. But the latest fulfillment she just had was the publishing of a book about the history of the National Federations of Women’s Clubs – their role in the enactment of the Women Suffrage Bill entitled “A Legacy of Hope and Triumph”.

She had long dreamed of this project, and after 3 restless years of waiting for the draft to be completed, in three months the coffee table book was prepared, published and launched in September 2010, in time for the Anniversary of the National Federation of Women’s Clubs of the Philippines.
Just ask anyone who has come to know her. They too will tell you what a beautiful person she is, inside and outside.

She has no pretenses. She is a very simple and private person. She is definitely not a show-off, a lady in every sense of the word. A devoted Catholic, she prays the rosary many times daily. She has always been a model to follow: a loving wife, an understanding mother, a doting grandmother and a lovable great-grandmother.

To date, she has me, her only child, my husband Norberto Paulino, who adores her dearly, and her 4 grand children, Juliet Marie, Christine Ruby, Francesca Lucia and Francis Paulo, who are all so close to her and love to be around her.

She also enjoys her 11 great-grandchildren namely, Amanda Stephanie, Julius Martin, Andrew Gabriel, Stacy Nicole, Kaitlin Renee, Kyle Renzo, Jason Jeffrey, Jillian Martha, Kaiden Roan, Julia Frances and Kyanne Reese.

Sundays are always reserved for the family. Birthdays are always special to Mom, never forgetting to greet, send a gift or giving a blow out to the celebrant.

Mommy is our pillar of love and strength. When I get to her age in the future, if God permits, I would like to grow old, as graciously as she has done. She is never cranky, still soft spoken, so refined and has remained witty. In fact, she has become more witty!

Happy  Mother’s Day Mommy!

Thank you for all the good things that I have learned from you. Thank you for all the love and care, for the wisdom and the kindness you have taught me, for the patience and the courage to face all the trials that come my way.

And most of all, thank you Lord for making me a part of her life and please grant her many more happy and healthy years!

Your daughter,
Kitchie Benedicto-Paulino