“One elderly has a word of counsel: ‘Save for your retirement age and avoid asking support from your children’”
Three elderly, all retired and enjoying their retirement years—one a magazine editor for 27 years and two off their elementary classrooms already—are one in saying they are proud of reaching their age.
One of them, 67-year-old Dr. Zita Fagaragan from the coastal town of Calape, Bohol, feels splendid having reached her age, adding “whether we like it or not, we all grow old, and all of us will grow old, that’s where we are going.”
That pride is shared by fellow retired master teacher 2 Eden Cachola, 76, from Narvacan, Ilocos Sur, who said “getting old is natural…I am proud to say my true age, because I always feel young,” the mother of three and grandmother of two says.
Retired magazine editor Dionisio Bulong, a 1968 journalism graduate from Lyceum of the Philippines and editor in chief of the Ilokano language weekly Bannawag (now fortnightly) for 27 years himself has no qualms about his age.
“So proud to tell I have reached the age of 83. Never ashamed of telling my true age,” the prize-winning novelist adds.
Bulong, who had spinal column surgery in recent years, admits there have been changes in his lifestyle as a retiree, given that he is now free to go anywhere, take care of his gamecock red-plumed Texas, and just take a lounge anytime.
There has been no change in his diet, although he takes eight tablets and capsules per day as maintenance for high blood as well as vitamins, and gobbles up between two and three liters of water daily.
When he has the opportunity, after intermittent meditation, he continues writing novels in Ilokano, short stories and features for possible eventual publication.
Bulong started feeling weaker when he turned 80 in the Gregorian calendar, not helped any by the coronavirus health emergency which swept across the country in mid March of 2022.
Walking every now and then, daily, is part of his retirement years regimen.
Fagaragan herself wakes up at 4:00 a.m.— does exercise for 30 minutes, her skin touched by the beams of sunrise at the rooftop of her three-story residence in the toxic and fumes-filled metropolis—has slowed down in her daily activity.
“I was active in the classroom,” the doctor of education degree holder tells us, after retiring as master teacher 2. Today her concern is on her family, her siblings and third civil degree relations, including her plants.
She admits while she had her diet in abandon before reaching 60, doctor’s advice had made her go on a falloff: no maintenance medicines, only vitamins essential for nerve health which can help with the healing of nerve damage and relieve nerve damage symptoms like numbness and tingling—they are called ‘neurotropic’ vitamins.
Fagaragan is active in the Legion of Mary, apart from teaching children in Bible studies and a daily rosary brigade, among others she has found herself in within their parish.
She consumes eight glasses of water daily and admits she no longer has the physical strength of years back, although she rationalizes she does not feel old.
Stress is something she admits cannot be avoided, particularly when anyone in her family gets sick – but admits to just laugh off stress, adding she is careful now a out her diet – not much rice, meat, just fish, vegetables and fruits and no sodas as well as cold water.
If she has any fear at all, it is getting too old, admitting “the one who may be taking charge of me may just lose patience.”
In Cachola’s case, since 1977, she admits to having blocked arteries and has since been taking a lot of maintenance medicines after she refused to undergo bypass heart surgery.
“I refused to undergo bypass heart surgery and chose to take a more expensive maintenance medicines instead, that almost my monthly pension is for medicines and laboratories,” Cachola says
She adds “I have been taking a lot of maintenance medicines; thank God I am still alive.”
Since slamming shut the classroom door behind her for good, what has been her daily regimen?
Cachola admits, “reading the Ilokano magazine Bannawag or any book, collecting writeups with her husband for possible publication, chatting with neighbors, writing, gardening, cooking, housekeeping, FB chatting/texting and sewing, if not in the real estate business, and walking to and from the market, helped by up to eight glasses of water, and enough of soup, dinengdeng/inabraw, kaldo (broth) and sinigang (stewed dish)
Dinengdeng is classified as a fish anchovy soup-based dish. Unlike pinakbet, dinengdeng contains fewer vegetables and contains squash and more anchovy the Ilokanos call boggoong soup base.
Pinakbet is made from mixed vegetables sautéed in fish or shrimp sauce.
Cachola acknowledges that at 76 she is weaker than when she was six years ago, aggravated by the sweeping COVID-19 emergency.
Being the oldest among her siblings, she declares growing up in a less privileged environment, but finds space to thank the Lord: “Gracefully aging, filled with satisfaction in life and thanking the Lord that our prayers were heard.”
Like Fagaragan, Cachola says “getting old is natural. Just feel and do what you want as long as you have strength.”
Cachola is like Bulong who likes eating vegetables, fish and fruits and just a piece of meat, coffee with milk.
Bulong himself misses the times he says he was quick at thinking and now has slowed down to to a cruising flow of journalistic writing.
He has a word of counsel: “Save for your retirement age and avoid asking support from your children.”