The short story Sinigang is written in 2001 by Marie Aubrey Villaceran narrates how Liza, the main character, deals with the issue of her father who had an extramarital affair with Sylvia, and consequently had a son, Lem. The story takes place in Liza’s home whereshe, together with her Tita Loleng, prepares Sinigang for the family dinner, as it is her father’s favorite dish. During the course preparing and cooking, Tita Loleng ask Liza about her encounter with Sylvia in the wake of Lem who died because of cancer. It is through Tita Lolengs’s question with the procedures of preparing Sinigang that sparked flashbacks in the story revealing not only vivid memories of how Liza was made known about her father’s other family, how uneasy she felt when she finally met Sylvia, how rancorous and pretentiously impassive she is towards her father, but also, these flashbacks disclose how unconditional the love of Liza’s mother is, and no matter no Liza denies, her love for her father, in spite of all his flaws, is never really lost.

Forgive and forget
Each one of us commits mistakes that can hurt anyone. Sometimes, it is so hard to forgive especially when he/she commits mistakes that affect your entire life. But, the only thing that will make your life peaceful is that we need to learn how to forgive. We need to forget who hurt us but never forget what lesson they left to us. We must remember that when we forgive, we recover and grow as a person.

Be Faithful

In the story, we saw the negative effects of having extramarital affair with someone. The one who suffers the most is not the 1st party but their child. It can hurt them emotionally and physically.

As a 21st Century Learner, the short story Sinigang left a huge impact on me. Life is not full of happy endings. But, it is our choice on how we will face the obstacles of life. Keep in mind the quote of Professor Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series. “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

This short story ‘Sinigang’ illustrates what much of the Filipino household is going through. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who can relate to this story, broken family because of an affair and stuff. And as this is expressed in real life, moral lessons in this piece are also lessons that are genuinely needed and necessary in our lives.

I learned that we can’t forgive all the time, even if it’s a sin every minute, as long as you know how to forgive and humble yourself, nothing bad will happen and remember that your humility is also your family or friend.