My Mommy....the Beauty Queen...almost!

Like my father, my mother was born and grew up in Pilar, Bataan. But unlike him, who spent his childhood and early teen-age life in the town proper, she spent hers in a quiet, sleepy, fishing village about 2 km from the town proper. Like Daddy too, Mommy or 'Me for short, as we call her also grew up and kept on celebrating the wrong birth date of June 7, 1931... only to find out later that her real birth date is July 7, 1931. This happened when she obtained her birth certificate from the town registrar for her passport application in preparation for her trip to the US in 1986... coincidence? ....i think not!

As i mentioned earlier, 'Me is the youngest of the six children born alive to my maternal grandfather with my grandmother, his first wife. She finished her elementary education at the town's elementary school and her high school studies at the province's capital. During the war, Mommy's family (minus the eldest son who was a Lieutenant with the resistance forces fighting against the Japanese troops) evacuated to a nearby province by boat to sit out the war.

In 1945, when Mommy was 14 years old, my grandmother passed away. Shortly thereafter, 'Me joined her elder sister at their Caloocan City house while she attends college at the Centro Escolar University in Manila towards a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy. Meanwhile, during her free time, she went out with her cousins and their friends to enjoy the city life. In one instance, she was spotted by a photographer and was convinced to join the Bb. Bulaklak (Miss Floral) Beauty Pageant. For this, she was given a free photo shoot by Tropicana Studio, the foremost photo studio of the day.

Unfortunately, she wasn't able to continue competing in the contest in spite of her strong standing nor was she able to finish her university studies because a certain "Pabling" swept her off her feet!

When the children started coming, Mommy joined the government service to help augment the family income. She worked at the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) as research assistant. As the boys became teen-agers, she retired from government service to more closely take care and monitor her growing brood. She was then the Chief Librarian of PAEC at the time of her retirement. As a stay-home mom, 'Me continued to help augment the family income by going into backyard chicken and pig raising and buy-and-sell ventures operating from our present home in Quezon City. I remember her going to the US bases at Sangley Point or Olongapo with her cousin to buy PX (post-exchange) goods which she sold to her friends; and going to Pateros to buy fresh fertilized duck eggs which she boils to make balut that we, the three boys, sell at night around our neighborhood while shouting "baluuuuuuuuut!!!".

As I entered high school, Mommy joined the Pacific Memorial Plan to sell pre-need memorial plans to company employees. Here, she was extremely successful and through hard work and perseverance, she reached the level of a Unit Manager with numerous sales agents under her. For several consecutive years, she was one of the top Unit Managers of the company and received financial rewards, as well as appliances for our home and even country-wide travel opportunities to attend company annual conferences.

In 1986, Mommy was invited by her cousin, who was then involved in exporting rattan furnitures at that time, to man their commercial booth as they join furniture fairs across the USA. In July of that year, Mommy left for the US bringing along my kid sister, Mabelle, with her. Mommy and Mabelle was joined by Daddy in 1991 after his retirement. In 1998, 'Me and 'De came home and are now back at our Quezon City home.