Between Mom and Dad, on the outset, you'd think my mom has the more colorful upbringing, what with her adventures in coming to the States, stories of her stopping school for years to support her family by selling bibingka and vegetables in the palengke. Mom's just more vocal in that respect. She'll tell her stories to anyone who listens, she'll even tell them twice, thrice, in fact. But tonite, I learned a lot about my Dad, just by asking him simple questions about his brothers over dinner tonite at the Hilltop Diner.
Dad's been through alot. I had no idea he didn't graduate from highschool 'til he has nearly 20 years old...
Dad was born in Romblon, a province in the Philippines. His mom, Bernardita was only 14 when she married his dad, Lolo Senando. My lolo died when my Dad was very young, maybe 1 or 2 years old. They moved to a small town San Luis in Batangas shortly after. Dad had 6 brothers and sisters: Anita (a step sister from his Dad's first marriage), Yolanda (who came to the States on a scholarship in 1955), Francisco (who's now somewhat of a shaman in Casiguran), Deogracias, Antonio, and Manuel. Lola Bernardita was so young didn't get to "celebrate" her youth until she had nearly all her kids. She was so young and quite beautiful that she was even part of the Santacruzans (religious processions held in the month of May that celebrated Queen Helen's (Reyna Elena) journey to find the Holy cross) while raising her six children!
Despite that, Dad couldn't understand why she would always pick on him for things. She would prevent him from joining school excursions, wouldn't let him go to school until he did all chores, things his own brothers didn't have to do. She would literally tell him that morning before school, that he needed to go to the river to wash the clothes, and he wouldn't be able to go to school until he did it. Sometimes he didn't have paper or a pencil to bring to school. This was part of why he dropped out for a couple of years after the second grade!! Dad told me that he used to fight with his brothers, typical competitve sibling rivalry. With his mom's actions toward him on top of that, he ran away when he was 8 and found a job cleaning public buses for a couple of years before his uncle found him and took him to live with his family in Lemery. During that time he was a runaway, his mom left her kids to runaway with a new found boyfriend to Mindoro. She came back a week later to get her youngest son, my Uncle Manny. The rest of the kids were left to fend for themselves.
Dad lived in San Luis for a few years and went back to school. After a while, he would see kids and their mothers walking along the streets, at the palengke, everywhere and he began to miss his mom. He would see mothers hugging their kids, holding their hands, and thought his mom would be like that too, especially if he returned home. So he left once again to Lemery to see his mom, anticipating a joyful reunion. He went to see her, expecting her to cry and hug him, but she didn't do a thing. She even asked him, "Why did you come back?" She was then remarried to a man who's last name was Lualhati (it means Glory) and had a daughter named Rosalinda.
He stayed eventually and by that time had finished elementary and went on to highschool. He experienced the same attitude from his mother. Didn't receive any allowance, and only had barely enough to buy school supplies because his stepfather would sneak him a few pesos every now and then. I can't understand why his mom would be against it. Dad had a really nice teacher in his 2nd year of highschool, and he would tell her about his problems at home. At the end of the school year, my Dad's teacher found out that she would be reassigned to Arellano highschool in Pasay, Manila for the next school year. She told my Dad, and offered to help him out if he was interested in moving. She got him a job working for her brother, dressing chickens and delivering them to various restaurants in the city. He got paid for that and got to live with the brother's family while he was in school.
When my Dad started college at Far Eastern University, he worked at a restaurant called Kismet. He worked during the day and took classes at night. It was there that he met an American banker by the name of Elliot who eventually hired him to be a messenger boy. He got paid 100 pesos a day, which was pretty good pay for that time. Mr. Elliot travelled throughout the country alot and took my Dad with him. From places as far north as Baguio and down south as Zamboanga, Dad got to tag along, as his personal assistant. Eventually, he got to accompany him and his family on a business trip to Hong Kong. Years went by and Mr. Elliot was transferred back to the States.
He wanted to bring my Dad, so he had Dad's sister, Auntie Yoly (who was married already and living in Seattle) petition him. It only took a year and Dad soon followed, living in Seattle for a few months with Auntie Yoly's family and then to New York, to continue working for Mr. Elliot.
That was a mouthful, no? Its so weird that I didn't know any of this, only bits and pieces. I wanted to make sure it got recorded somewhere. I hope it inspires you, even just a little bit, to find out more about your parents, if you can. You'd be surprised. You really don't have to go very far to find a good story.
