A Filipino-American musician draws the attention of social media as he shares his heartwarming experience in taking care of his aging grandmother. ABS-CBN North America Bureau Chief TJ Manotoc with the story. #TFCNews Like and follow TFC News Facebook: https://facebook.com/TFCNewsNow Twitter: https://twitter.com/TFCNewsNow Website: https://mytfc.com/news News website: https://news.abs-cbn.com/tfcnews Subscribe to the ABS-CBN News channel! - http://bit.ly/TheABSCBNNews Watch full episodes on iWantTFC for FREE here: http://iwanttfc.com Visit our website at http://news.abs-cbn.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abscbnNEWS Twitter: https://twitter.com/abscbnnews Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abscbnnews #TFC #TheFilipinoChannel #TFCNewsCalifornia #ABSCBNNews #TVPatrol

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Yo, everybody! My name is Chris Punsalan. Welcome to another video.

Today, we're gonna be making a beat with Eldre Drum Kit Vol. 3.

We're also gonna be using...

Like many Gen Zers and millennials of his generation,

fill-in musician Chris Punsalan has always dreamt of becoming a YouTuber.

But little did this 29-year-old from Henderson, Nevada know

that the kind of content that he would need to create to become viral

was one that hits closest to home.

In 2015, Chris and his family, who hails from Pampanga,

were faced with the decision of whether to send their grandmother

to a senior care home or hire a full-time caregiver.

She took care of me and I would hate to see her go to home care,

which is where I feel most grandparents go in America.

They go to home care because nobody's able to take care of them.

So, I just stepped up and took on the responsibility

and became her full-time caregiver.

Chris, being the digital creator that he was,

decided to document his journey as his lawless caregiver

and slowly built his audience,

and eventually became a viral hit with this video in 2019,

recapping a day in the life with his grandma.

Many people saw it.

All these news outlets started reaching out.

I gained a lot of notoriety from that and I was shocked.

But at the same time, it's kind of like you kind of know

that if you're posting these videos online,

you know that there's a chance of them being seen by a lot of people.

So, yeah, I just continued to do that.

Being a caregiver for the elderly can be physically and emotionally challenging.

But in his TikTok videos,

Chris shows the most efficient ways to do it,

and he does so with pride and joy.

What's hard for Chris is seeing his grandma's health decline.

There's a lot of ups and downs.

More recently, the thing that has been difficult to see

is grandma forgetting where she is and who she's with.

What?

No.

Even me, to be the only grandson that she remembers 100% of the time,

to see her forget who I am sometimes,

and for me to have to remind her,

that's probably one of the more difficult things

because it's a constant reminder

that life is very fragile and it's very short.

Despite the challenges,

Chris focuses on the rewarding aspects of caregiving,

saying the price is family bonding moments make it all worth it.

This is your mom.

Yes.

You're so good, my love.

It's such a blessing to be able to take care of a loved one.

It's brought me and my grandmother closer than I could have ever imagined.

Obviously, I was always close to my grandma growing up,

and she took care of me.

Being her caregiver now, her full-time caregiver,

it has brought me closer to her,

and I feel like I understand her better than I ever have before,

and I'm able to hear stories that I never heard before.

It's also really pushed me to speak Kapampangan with her.

I grew up speaking Kapampangan with my parents and family members,

but not to the level that I do now.

Not every family member that's faced with the choice

of sending a loved one to senior care could do what Chris has done.

But more than that personal sacrifice and commitment to give care,

Chris shares one of the biggest lessons he has learned.

Cherish your grandparents, and to cherish your loved ones in general,

because life is so fragile.

And I know that it's such a cliche to tell your loved ones you love them

because you don't know the next time that you're going to get to see them

or get to spend time with them.

As Chris continues to document his precious moments

with his grandma on social media,

he hopes that the millions of hits and views

not only translate to followers and likes,

but to actually inspire others to truly love and care for their loved ones

while they still can.

Make your words true

when you say

I love you.

TJ Manotok, ABS-CBN News.