Annotation 2: Angeles’s “Mga Tala ukol sa Sakit ni Mama ayon sa Kanyang mga Sintomas”

Jestine is the eldest of three, taking up college while her sisters are in high school. In the span of a year, she deals with learning that her father—an OFW in New Zealand—has abandoned them for another family and that her mother has begun exhibiting symptoms of dementia. These growing absences force her to take greater responsibility of the household, lose touch with her friends, take leave from school, and pay closer attention to the needs of her sisters.

This 27-page story is divided cleanly into eight blog posts [1]. The first post orients the reader regarding Jestine's situation:

Hindi madali ang magkaroon ng magulang na may sakit. Hindi madaling magkaroon ng magulang na parehong malayo. Hindi madaling umasa lang sa mga kamag-anak. Pero ang lahat ng ito ay pinagdadaanan namin ngayon. 

Posts #2 to #7 issues an introductory narrative and/or reflection before jumping back to a given day of 2011. At this point, Jestine narrates the speech and actions of her mother, a slice of her life that yields insight on the progress of the disease, the regress of her mother, and the state of household. Below is an outline of the posts (note that the introductory narrative in #7 shifts away from the general reader of the previous posts in order to directly address the father in an open letter):

1) Ang Karamdaman: Frontotemporal Dementia (Pick's Disease)Posted Oct. 14, 2011 | 12:38AM
Includes cuts from a website featuring Frontotempral Dementia

2) Unang Sintomas: ApathyPosted Oct. 15, 2011 | 12:10AM
Recollection of Jan. 2011

3) Ika-2 Sintomas: Loss of empathy and other interpersonal skillsPosted Oct. 16, 2011 | 1:28AM
Recollection of April 2011
Includes a link to the trailer of the movie I am Sam

4) Ika-3 Sintomas: Lack of judgment and inhibitionPosted Oct. 16, 2011 | 2:18PM
Recollection of July 11, 2011

5) Ika-4 Sintomas: Repetitive compulsive behaviorPosted Oct. 17, 2011 | 12:52AM
Recollection of Aug. 7, 2011

6) Ika-5 Sintomas: Speech and Language ProblemsPosted Oct. 18, 2011 | 11:28PM
Recollection of Sep. 19, 2011
Includes a picture of the sisters

7) The Turning Point :((((Posted Oct. 24, 2011 | 02:13AM
Recollection of Sep. 27, 2011
Begins with an open letter to the Jestine's father

8) Diagnosis, Implications, at Pagbabalik ni MamaPosted Oct. 26, 2011 | 01:49AM

The last post functions as the narrative's resolution. As with all the endings of the previous posts, this last also features a reflection about the mother's pet. Tomorrow's annotation will develop this outline by overlaying parallel developments regarding Jestine and the domestic situation, news of her father, the mother's dementia, and the spider [2].

       ______________________________
[1] Angeles, Kathleen Siena A. “Mga Tala ukol sa Sakit ni Mama ayon sa Kanyang mga Sintomas.” In Eskapasismo. Unpublished thesis. March 2012: 59-87.
[2] Thanks to the author for answering key questions regarding the chronology.
[3] Annotation 1.