Lola Lucy Tells Her Story

IT WAS 11 P.M., AND EDWARD was at the computer shop. He was ignoring the text messages his grandmother sent him. He had been playing for hours and was absorbed in the noise of his teammates and their game. 

Then, from the darkness at the doorway, someone appeared: Lola Lucy. 

With a piercing gaze and a sharp curl of her index finger, she beckons Edward Jay Dapadap to come. Edward’s grandmother, Lola Lucy, or as Edward would call her, Mama, was fetching her grandson at the shop. 

Edward freezes, then sheepishly tells her “five more minutes!” Lola Lucy doesn’t budge. 

In that moment, Edward was part of a statistic of teenagers being fetched from computer shops by their mothers. Or in this case, grandmother. 

Lola Lucy laughed as she recounted this bit of anecdote. 

“Hindi ko talaga siya pinaaabot nang alas-dose ng hatinggabi sa computer shop!” Lola Lucy tells ALL-STAR. 

(“I never let him stay at the computer shop past midnight!”)

But despite the occasional stubbornness, she still calls Edward “a very good kid.”

In their small home in Bataan, Edward was never just a grandson. He was her shadow, her reason to wake, the boy whose life she watched like a daily sunrise. 

“Magmula noong ipinanganak siya hanggang sa magbinata, ako ang nag-alaga,” she says. “Magkatabi kami matulog,” said Lola Lucy. 

(“Ever since he was born until he became an adolescent, I took care of him. He slept beside me.”)

Up to now, Lola Lucy dreams of Edward graduating from college. She talked about how her husband, then 67, was an OFW who spent his senior years in Saudi and sent money home with a promise: he wouldn’t stop working until Edward finished school. 

Sadly, he passed away in Saudi Arabia during the pandemic, just before Edward won the M3 World Championship and instructed his grandpa to come home for good. 

“Mama, pauwiin na natin si Tatay for good, tutal makakatulong naman na ako,” Edward told his Lola Lucy. 

(“Mama, let’s bring Tatay home for good. I can help out now anyway.”)

“December 2020, uuwi na dapat siya. Kaso, September pa lang, inatake na siya. Hindi naman siya makauwi dahil sa pandemic, nagpapaalam siya doon pero hindi naman siya pinayagan,” Lola Lucy recalled. 

(“He was supposed to come home in December 2020. But by September, he died of cardiac arrest. He couldn’t come home because of the pandemic, he kept asking for permission, but they wouldn’t let him.”)

She remembers that day in tears and in rhythm: How grief and pride lived in the same breath. The boy she raised had made it. The man she loved had left too soon to see it. 

When her husband died, the family was plunged into crisis, and out of desperation to make ends meet, Lola Lucy pawned all her jewelry. 

Imagine the pain of losing her husband all over again. Each piece she pawned carried her husband’s laughter, the shimmer of better days, the memories of being together. And losing them felt like losing fragments of her own life. But for Edward, she is prepared to give everything.

In all that mess, Edward stepped up by breaking his grandmother’s heart. 

When esports came knocking, it came in the form of Coach Bon Chan, the first man who saw talent in Edward. Bon Chan would invite Edward to play in pocket tournaments, and eventually in Blacklist International. 

The boy who once needed her to tie his shoes was now asking to leave home, to chase something invisible, a world inside a screen. 

“Ayaw ko talagang payagan,” Mama Lucy says.  (“I really disapproved of him going.”)

But Edward was defiant: “Mama, sa ayaw mo’t sa gusto mo, pupunta ako!” he told Lola Lucy in front of Bon Chan. (“Mama, I’m going whether you like it or not!”)

Somehow, this defiance was etched in Lola Lucy’s core memories. To her, it embodied her fear of being separated from her most beloved only grandson, and the fear of him not finishing his studies. 

“Ang lakas ng loob kahit walang alam noon sa Maynila!” Lola Lucy told ALL-STAR. 

“Minsan nagpunta siya sa Maynila, lowbat ang cellphone niya, hindi nagrereply. Nag-charge siya sa isang outlet, at nakontak ko siya, sabi ko ang lakas ng loob mo samantalang ako nanginginig ako sa takot!”

(“He was so brave even though he knew nothing about Manila! One time he went there, his phone ran out of battery and I couldn’t reach him. When he was able to charge his phone, I called him and said, ‘You are so reckless, while I’m here trembling in fear!’”)

Lola Lucy is Edward’s Accomplice

Despite her misgivings, Lola Lucy still supported Edward. They were thick as thieves. 

She may not have approved of Edward chasing esports, but because of her love for her grandson, she also became his accomplice.

Whenever Edward would compete in tournaments, it was Lola Lucy who would beg his school to allow him to play. 

“Ako ang lumalakad sa mga excuse niya, nagpapaalam sa eskwelahan. Ako ang nakikiusap. ‘Para niyo nang awa, intindihin niyo na lang ang sitwasyon ng apo ko. Kasi ho lumalaro siya, gusto lang niyang makatulong.’”

(““I was the one who handled his excuses and asked permission from the school. I was the one pleading, ‘Please, have a little compassion. Try to understand my grandson’s situation. He’s just playing because he wants to help.’”)

Edward’s first big windfall was when he won the Siklab Saya tournament and P500,000 in prizes, P80,000 of which went to him. He used his prize money to buy Lola Lucy’s jewelry back, piece by piece. It was 2019, the beginning of a small but meaningful redemption.

‘Mama, milyonaryo ka na!’ 

Lola Lucy decided to have their ceiling repaired. But Edward told her to stop. 

“Noong una nga pinagawa ko yung kisame, ang sabi sa akin ni Edward, ‘Mama, huwag mo na ipagawa iyan! Kapag nanalo ako, ako magpapagawa ng bahay!’”

(“At first, I had the ceiling fixed, but Edward told me, ‘Mama, don’t have it done! When I win, I’ll build a house!’”)

“Ang sagot ko sa kanya, ‘Naku, baka malabo pa!’” (“My reply to him was, ‘Oh dear, that might be unlikely!’”)

Faithless, hahaha. But Edward laughed and took it in stride. 

When Edward’s team, Blacklist International, won the M3 World Championship, Lola Lucy had no idea. She only found out about it after Edward’s mother came bursting into her room, shouting Edward was now a world champion. 

“Hindi ako nanonood noong world championship niya, ginising lang ako ng mama niya, sabi “Mama, panalo na si Edward!’”

A few minutes later, Edward was calling her on the phone. 

“Tumawag sa akin si Edward noon, ‘Mama milyonaryo ka na!’” Anong gusto mong gawin natin sa pera?’”

Lola Lucy couldn’t believe it. 

“Kako, ipagawa natin ang bahay natin dahil kapag bumabaha, pumapasok ang tubig.”

Like a good grandson, Edward fulfilled her wish. In 2022, at only 17 years old, Edward rebuilt the family home.

* * * 

Today, Mama Lucy wears new jewelry. 

“Bigay ni Edward,” she says, tracing the gold on her wrist. The ones he bought back are locked away—a reminder of how far they’ve come.

She still spoils him with his favorite foods whenever he comes home, the same way she did when he was a boy who played too long in the shop. She prays for his safety before every game, whispers to God when he loses. 

Their lives may have changed but some things remain the same: a grandmother who gave everything, a boy who dared everything, and a bond no championship, no distance, no world could break.

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