Pages: My Mother Allen

I am inspired by the sharing of two of my favorite columnists.

Publio “Pubs” Briones wrote about his transition to the golden age of 50 in his “On The Go” column last Saturday. He discussed vision and hairline issues in a humorous article titled “What It’s Like to Be 50.”

The next day, Melanie Lim, in her award-winning column “Wide Awake” and in a piece titled “Proof of Age,” spoke of a recent experience at a pharmacy where the gatekeeper wouldn’t believe she was a senior. (Confession: Melanie was my marketing professor at UP Cebu College, alongside my wife Jasmin…and she’s the best. Another confession: I agree with the gatekeeper! I saw Melanie at the Press Freedom Week columnists’ night last week and she looks younger than me and Pubs.)

Pubs and Melanie, besides being SunStar editors, share another passion. Both are runners. Pubs runs Monday through Friday on the CCSC oval, while Melanie has run half marathons and will run the 25K in the 2025 Cebu Marathon.

So if Pubs is 50 and Melanie is 60, I would be inspired to write about someone very, very close to me who is over a decade older.

This is my mother, Maria Elena “Allen” Castelo Zaldarriaga… who will be 75 years old next May.

How old is she? Two days ago, in Iloilo, she sent me a message with a picture of herself all smiles and sweaty finishing a 7km run with the caption: “Sunny 7km day!”

Yes, at almost three-quarters of a century, my mother still has enough energy to run and work faster than many thirty-somethings.

She founded our school, Bright Academy/Play House Children’s Center, in 1992. And although 32 years have passed, her love for her students is just as strong as it was when our family first converted a small garage into a classroom in Paradise Village.

My mother is often at the Bright Academy campus in Banilad as early as 7:15 am and works tirelessly throughout the day. And what gives her extra energy is her almost daily exercise routine.

Walking and running are her favorite activities. On Sunday mornings (at 5:30 am), she would go to Cebu Business Park to walk the winding roads for two hours. We would then text each other and I am often surprised that she would overtake me for a greater distance.

Recently she sent me this Viber message: “10 with 4… can you guess?”

I knew what it was: 10 kilometers including four bridges.

One of her goals is to build bridges around the world. That’s why in every city she visits, my mother climbs the bridge. The Golden Gate, Sydney Harbour, Brooklyn, London Bridge.

Did I tell you she’s turning 75 soon?

I think we can all learn a few lessons from my mother.

First of all, love what you do. I don’t know anyone who is more passionate about children than my mother Allen.

Second, “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you should live.” That’s the mantra my mother lives by. And it shows in her physique; still very slim and fit at her age. (Another confession: My only complaint about my mother, because of her healthy eating habits, is that she didn’t look like her mother, our Lola Ita. Our Lola loved Coca-Cola and passed that “Coke addiction” on to all of her apos. My mother is the exception. She never drinks Coke.)

“We don’t stop running because we get old; we get old because we stop running.”

To my racing idol, I love you, Mom!