How many of you live with your grandparents? Or are they already in a nursing house? However, we all have our fair share of experiences with our grandparents. It is well-known that grandparents have a very special place in their hearts for their grandkids. They are the loveliest, aren’t they? But are you willing to sacrifice your teenage self just for them? And right there, we have a doubt. But this young man we are talking about had no doubt about it. He chose his “lola”, his grandma.
Christ Punsalan is a digital content creator who lives in the United States. He is a musician who creates beats. And he has been taking care of his grandma since 2016. He used social media as a source to publish his creations ever since. But in 2019, viewers got to see a glimpse of his life as a caregiver to his “lola” as he uploaded a video of him taking care of his grandmother. The video went viral and gained about 1 million views in just 24 hours. And now it has grown to 25 million as of March 2023. And then he continued to post those kinds of videos.
As for his grandmother, she was a public school teacher for 20 years before they migrated to the U.S.
It is not that they did not have a huge family. But on her 90th birthday, Punsalan insisted on taking care of his grandma himself. He considered it as a payback for everything the old lady did for him.
So he posted videos as “Days in the life of a caregiver.” And he got support from lots of people, and many of them were caregivers, just like Punsalan. People found the interactions between the two adorable. And that encouraged him to keep it up. It was a great way to spend time with his grandmother as well.
And soon, the videos began to show caregiving tips and exercise ideas for disabled people. And Punsalan was able to share his language with the world through these videos. Punsalan and grandmother talked in a famous dialect called Kapampangan which is spoken by at least 2.8 million mainly from the Central Luzon province of Pangama.
Punsalan said that his videos are a great learning source about their culture. He further added how his viewers might have lost their grandparents or have not seen them for a long time. So, he wanted his videos to become kind of a sensation among youngsters as well.
Meanwhile, Punsalan’s videos were criticized by some of the viewers. Good deeds always come hand in hand with criticism. He was asked why he was posting about his ‘Good deeds’ or why he was showing off. And him being confused and overwhelmed by the public would be understandable. He stated that in the interview he had with ABS-CBN. However, he confirmed that he was caring for his grandmother even before her condition got severe. So despite getting criticized, he never stopped posting his videos. That was because he still had many young kids and other supporters who sent him supportive and positive messages daily. And many youngsters were inspired by him.
Punsalan himself admitted that it could be very isolating and hard to take care of a family member in the first place. But he gradually overcame his isolation and began to love his grandmother more.
He stated how hard it was for him to watch his grandmother being dependent on someone as they were very much independent for a long time.
Punsalan put everything aside just for his grandmother, right? Not every person can make a dedication to a family member like this. So if you know someone who goes through a hard time just because they are a caregiver, show them this. Tell them about Punsalan’s story and cheer them on.
