My Dream

By Rosario Wilson

Born two months premature in Sual, Pangasinan, Rosario Wilson became the latest addition to a superstitious family. Smaller and more sickly than others her age, Rosario bravely embarked on a challenging life journey that would one day cause her to realize that no matter what the income or social background, every human being has the ability to dream. In her compelling memoir, Rosario reveals how she learned to have faith in herself in order to achieve her dreams.

Rosario begins with her childhood in the Philippines, providing a captivating glimpse into what life was like for a young girl whose mother worked several jobs in order to make ends meet. From working in rice fields to serving as a live-in maid, her mothers example soon taught Rosario how to surviveeven when life seemed unfair. As Rosario details her journey into young adulthood and how she grew to love a man who had much to learn, she reveals how patience and wisdom eventually led her to attain the life she had always imagined for herself.

This true story of one womans journey through life shares an inspiring message that the size of a person never need limit the size of a dream.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Apr 11, 2011
• ISBN: 9781426959035

Rosario Wilson

Rosario Wilson is blessed with an intuitive knowledge of human relations and interactions and has always nurtured a strong belief in the power of family. She currently lives in Tennessee. This is her first book.

Book preview

Contents

Chapter 1

The Beginning

Chapter 2

Moving

Chapter 3

The Job

Chapter 4

Running Away

Chapter 5

Cupid Intervention

Chapter 6

The Wedding

Chapter 7

Our First Born

Chapter 8

Planning Our Move to the USA

Chapter 9

Realizing a Dream

Chapter 1

The Beginning

I was born June 22, 1950 in Sual, Pangasinan, P.I., on a hot summer day. I was also born two months early; this started me on my journey earlier than normal. I was in my late teen before I gain my normal weight. I have two brothers and three sisters.

As far back as I can remember, I recall seeing a lot of our neighbors in and outside of our house watching a Witch Doctor perform some type of a ritual on my Mother by chant tang and beating her with the Tail of a Sting Ray Fish, to rid her of an evil spirit.

I was so frightened, I became horrified, so I ran and hid under our table; I could hear my mother speaking in another voice. The Witch Doctor said, an evil spirit had taken over her body and he had to beat my mother with the Sting Ray Tail until the evil spirit left her body and promised not to return. All of our neighbors started praying for my mother. The ritual continued for seem like forever; then finally it was over.

My mother had a complete recovery from the ordeal. My father usually spent most of his time away from us; my mother had to feed and clothes all of her kids. In order to do this she had to stay with a well to do family as a live in Maid. She left Barrio Alyaga and went to a neighboring Barrio to work. We were left in the care of my Grandmother and Aunt. I remember playing with my brother Etong and my sister Linda in an empty small room when my Grandmother started shouting at my Aunt, asking why she allowed us to play in that room as if she was mad at us kids; she said this room was occupied by Little Peoples, that was the reason it was not used for a Sari Sari Store. As you can imagine, my family was very superstitious; they believe there exist family of Little Peoples who possess power to inflict harm upon you in various ways if you pose a threat to them.

I was very young and didn’t understand what was going on, so I did what I was told and stayed clear of that room. My Grandmother was very religious, every night at around six

O’ clock we would pray and go to bed.

After a few weeks passed my sister Linda wanted to return to the little room where the Little Peoples stayed, so we went inside; we saw in the dirt floor mounds of dirt in different sizes. My sister Linda kicked several of the mounds and we ran out of the room.

That night my sister Linda had a high fever and blisters appeared all over her legs.

When my grandmother found out sister Linda was sick, she asked us where have we being playing that day; I told her we had being playing in that room. My Grandmother was very upset. I told her how sorry we were and we would not return to that room again.

The next day my Mother came home; my Grandmother explained to her what had happened to my sister. They begin to prepare different kinds of foods, coconut oil and water. Before dark my Mother and Grandmother took the food and put it inside of the little room, then they walked around the building several times praying and asking the Little Peoples to forgive my sister Linda and take away her sickness. After our six o, clock prayer, my Mother and Grandmother went back to the room and removed the food and coconut oil. They returned to the house and took the coconut oil and rub my sister Linda legs with it. The next day she was feeling good and the blisters had disappeared from her legs.

After seeing the miraculously disappearing of the blister from my sister legs, we were sure the Little People had forgiven her for trying to destroy their home.

My Grandmother gave us a small house that was located about one half mile from her house, so my Mother moved us into this house right away.

My oldest brother Celino was grown and living alone, my oldest sister Melda was married and living with her husband, next to her was my sister Rose and brother Etong, they both lived at home with me and my sister Linda, who was the youngest.

Finally, school started; my mother registered me and my sister Rose for school. Sister Linda was not old enough to go to school and my brother Etong could not talk, so he stayed at home. I could not understand why my brother Etong was not going to school because he was older than me; my Mother explained to me that the school did not teach sign language. She also told us brother Etong suffered a real high fever when he was a baby and the nearest doctor was about fifty miles away, so there wasn’t any Medical help for him other than what she could give him. Every day when we left for school, my Mother left for work; I did not know exactly where my Mother worked or what she did, but it was enough to put food on the table and clothes on our backs. Every time we asked our Mother the where about of ours Father, she would always reply…somewhere; she would never tell us where.

One day my Mother, my sisters and I were pounding the rice to remove the brown hush and my brother Etong was in the house boiling the pig food. All of a sudden we heard a loud scream from our house…it seem as though everyone in the neighborhood heard the scream and came running to our house. When we arrived at the house we saw that brother Etong had try to remove the container of hot food from the fire and spilled it on his right leg. Brother Etong has a real bad burn on his leg and there was not a Doctor close by and if, there were, my Mother could not afford to pay for services. So my Mother cleaned and dressed his wound herself. My brother suffered for two or three days with pain, because we didn’t have anything for pain. Mother stayed home from work for about three days to clean and dress his wound; finally he was feeling better, so my Mother went back to work.

Before we realized it, the school season was over; during school vacation, Mother stayed home and took us out into the rice fields to gather the rice left behind by the farmers, we went to the river to catch fish and snails. When we get lucky and catch a lot of snails, my Mother would sale them at the Market. We also, shared our catch with our Grandmother and other nearby relatives. We dried a portion of the fish and shrimp we caught, so we can have food during the rainy season, because when it start raining it’s almost impossible to go out and catch any type of fresh fish.

When Mother finished gathering the rice and drying the fish and shrimp for the rainy season, it was time for her to go back to her job as a live in Maid. So she would leave us again with my Grandmother; after a month or two she would return with rice, sugar, salt and all other food necessities we used daily.

One day our Grandmother called all of the kids inside her house; she said she had a big surprise for us. When I came inside I saw a man smiling at us. My Grandmother said, give your Father a hug. I thought to myself, so this is my Father; where have he been for all of these years? I was seven years old and seeing him for the first time.

Mother came home the next day. I guess someone told her my Father had returned home. Father and Mother got together and decided that he would stay, so my Mother and Father got a job working in the rice fields. The owner would pay them sacks of rice, chicken and vegetables; sometime they would give them a few pesos.

Once the owner of the rice field paid my parent with two sacks of rice in the husk; this rice had to be dried in the hot sun and pounded so it would come out of the husk. The next morning around eleven o, clock, my Father spread the rice out on mats to dry in the sun. Father told me to watch the rice and keep the birds and chicken away. Around noontime, I had to use the bathroom, so I went into the bushes nearby; all of a sudden, I heard my father yelling for me. When I came out of the bushes, I could see that the chicken had gotten into the rice. Father took off his belt and commenced beating me, he continued until he beat me to the grown. Mother and Grandmother were screaming for him to stop beating me. Afterward, My Father and Mother had a big argument, so he left home again the next day.

My Mother left us in my Grandmother care and went back to her old job as a live in Maid. Finally school was out again, my sister Rose was graduating from the six grades. The school had a play with her playing a mother with four kids. The play was very nice, but the old people who attended the play had superstition ideals that she was too young to be playing someone with four kids; they believe that it will cause her to have a lot of kids when she grows up. When my Mother is away at work, the kids are responsible for feeding the pigs and chicken, we would go into the rice field and pick the different plants that grow in the field. We would carry the plants home and cut them up and boil them in a big pot for the pigs. One day while I was chopping the plants for the pig food, I accidentally chopped my thumb; I was lucky I didn’t chop it off, my Grandmother washed and dressed my thumb and stopped the bleeding. During this ordeal I was in such pain; I almost passed out, then finally the pain subsided enough for me to relax somewhat.

After this ordeal, my Grandmother started to look in on us more often and had us to stay in her house at night. My Grandmother was also taking care of our Great Grandmother, who was 110 years old. One night all family members gathered at my Grandmother house to be with her in her last few hours on this earth. We were up all night. The next morning my Great Grandmother passed away. We decided to go home; everyone was there except my sister Linda, we all started looking for her, finally we thought maybe she had went home, so we left my Grandmother house and went home. When we arrived, I saw Sister Linda sitting on the grown crying. Everyone was wondering what had happened to her; she saw us and started to explain what had happened. She said she had came home and tried to get inside the house, but the steps; like always was removed as a security measure to keep other people out when everyone leave the house. She had tried to climb a wood pole to enter the house.

When she looks up, she saw our Great Grandmother reaching down to help her in the house. She was completely startled, because she knew our Great Grandmother was dying back at our Grandmother house, she lost her grip and slipped back down the pole and caught her leg on a rusty nail. Everyone was completely puzzled, because this had happened at approximately the same time our Great Grandmother had passed away.

That night sister Linda started to run a high fever. I didn’t know what to do or think… my Great Grandmother had died and my sister Linda now was running a high fever and no one were sure as to whether she would pull through or not. My Grandmother sent for my Mother. When she arrived she and my uncle took her to the town where my mother worked to see the doctor. The only transportation available was a horse drawn carriage, called a Calesa.

When they returned with my sister everyone was surprised and called it a miracle they made it to the doctor in time to save her life. After five days passed, we buried my Great Grandmother. My Mother decided to stay home with us. She decided to gather Fish, Shrimp and whatever she could get from the rice fields and sell it to the Market to make a living for us.

My Mother tried everything she could think of to make money; she even learned to make floor mats…the mats was used by almost everyone to sleep on in their houses.

Mother learned to make real nice design in the mats. The mats were made out of palm leaves; Mother would buy the young palm leaves and dry them in the hot sun. After they dried she would cut them into small strips about one fourth inch wide and use them to make the mats. My Mother would do the outside work during the day and weave the mats at night; sometime she stays up to midnight, weaving mats. I would stay up and help my Mother with her mat weaving…she taught me to make different design around the edge of the mats; I was only seven years and three months old.

My Mother provided for us just as well as we were when our Father was around. She made us happy and we really loved her for it. Alyaga, Pangasinan, P.I. were a very nice place to live and we were very happy living there.

Before school started my Father came back to live with us. He wanted to move to Canan, Pangasinan. My Father Aunt’s husband had died and she wanted him to come and bring his family to help her work the rice fields. My parent decided to sale our pigs and chicken to raise money for the trip.

When we arrived in Canan, I met a lot of my Father relatives that lived close by his Aunt place. We finally got settled in my Father’s Aunt’s house and everything seem to be going all right until the money ran out that my Mother got from selling our pigs and chicken.

My Mother asked my Father when we were going to start working the fields, he said he didn’t know, because his Aunt could not decide if she wanted to let someone work the land or sale it. Mother decided that she had to find her a job. She found a job as a live in Maid, so she had to leave us again, but this time we were left with our Father.

My Father was with us for a month after our Mother left for work. He decided to leave us kids in his Aunt care. A few weeks later my Father Aunt got sick, so my Mother had to leave her job and come home to take care of her and us kids. My Father left without telling us where he was going or when he would be back, so we didn’t ask anyone about him. My Father Aunt later died. After her death we stayed on in her house.

One day when I came home from school I had a very big surprise; my oldest sister Melda and her husband had come to stay with us a while, because she was pregnant. The earliest I remembered being with sister Melda were when I was three years old. She lived in Aguilar, Pangasinan. My Mother left sister Linda and me in the care of my sister, because the only job she could find was as a live in Maid and my Father only stayed long enough to get my Mother Pregnant. I was almost five years old when I realized my sister Melda was not my Mother. I remembered living with them in a small house by the river. I never will forget when I was living there; I was always feeling sick and my stomach was very big. Sister Melda took me to see a Doctor in Aguilar. The Doctor gave her medicine for me to take. Early the next morning before I ate breakfast; my Sister gave me the medicine to drink and told me not to eat any food. A few hours later my stomach started hurting, I knew I had to use the bathroom, so I told my sister Melda; she took me out back and dug a hole for me to go in. When I was finished she told me to look down into the hole; when I saw all the worms moving around in the hole, I was so scared, I started crying and screaming, because I thought the worms was snakes. My sister hugged me and said thank God the medicine had brought all the worms out. For the next week I ate slice pineapple and kept looking into my bowel movement for worms.

A few weeks later my sister Melda and her Husband took my sister Linda and me to live with my Great Grandmother in Alyaga, Pangasinan.

My sister and her husband settled in with the family. Then came rainy season, it seem as though it would rain every day and night. My sister Melda was working outside one day and she slipped down; she was hurt pretty bad. That night the baby came and died a few hours after birth. I thought this was the prettiest baby I have ever seen. My sister named the baby Erlinda. Every time I would think of the baby I would cry, because I felt that somehow this baby was cheated out of life. Sister Melda and her husband built them a small house near us in Canan and settled into the community. My Brother-in-law decided to visit his relatives in Aguilar for a while, so he left that day.

My Mother came back from her job to spend a few days with us. Right after she arrived home, she became very sick; she could not walk, so Sister Melda called a Doctor to our house. The Doctor arrived and begun examining my Mother. He decided to give her something for the pain until he could figure out what was wrong with her.

After a few minutes my Mother started foaming at the mouth. Everyone started screaming and shouting at the Doctor, because they thought my Mother was going to die. They lost confidence in the Doctor and decided to take my Mother to the Hospital. They went out and called a Jeepney to take her to the Hospital. Sister Melda later found out the Doctor had given my Mother the wrong medicine. When my Mother arrived at the Hospital and was examined; they found that she was suffering from appendicitis. The Hospital staff prepared her for surgery; as soon as the surgery started the power went out and there was no backup generator, so they had to use candles to complete the surgery.

Sister Melda came back home from the Hospital and told us what had happen to our Mother and the difficult surgery that was performed by candles. She also, told us that our Mother would be in the Hospital for a few days. Then she told us some more bad news; she was leaving for Aguilar, to see her husband. This meant that we small kids would be left alone for at least two days.

I had finally dozed off to sleep, when I heard someone knocking at the door. Sister Rose got up and opened the door. I also got up, but I went to the bathroom; I saw Pedro, one of the young men in our neighborhood, he wanted to talk to my sister Rose. When I came back from the bathroom I sat in the living room with my sister and Pedro. Pedro sensed that I wanted to stay with my sister, so he told me to go to bed, because I had to go to school the next day. I asked my sister if she would be o.k. She said yes, go to bed. I didn’t argue, because I was very sleepy…I went to bed.

The next morning when I woke up, I saw Sister Rose crying, I asked her why she was crying; she said Pedro had raped her. She told me she wanted me to stay home from school today and accompany her to the Mayor’s House. When we arrived at the Mayor’s House, my sister Rose explained what had happened; the Mayor asked me had I seen Pedro in our house. I said yes, I had seen Pedro and he told me to go to bed, but I didn’t know he was going to hurt my sister. The Mayor told us he would investigate the case.

About two days later, sister Melda and her husband returned home and went to the Hospital to bring my Mother home. My Brother-in-law owned land in Aguilar; he sold part of his land to pay my Mother Hospital bill. A few days after my Mother was discharged from the Hospital, my Father returned home again. When he found out what had happened to Sister Rose he got his sword and went to the house of Pedro. He said when he find Pedro he was going to kill him. Everybody in the neighborhood was scared because they knew my Father was very mad. The Parent of Pedro went to the Mayor and promised him Pedro would marry my sister.

Both families met at the Mayor’s House and the Mayor married my sister and Pedro. Now that my sister Rose will be staying with Pedro; I will miss doing the fun things we use to do together, but life must go on.

My Father is leaving again, but this time I know why he is leaving…my Father is in the Philippines Constabulary (PC), he is subject to be going all over the Philippines Island in the Defense of our country. I can understand him being away all the time, but I can’t understand why he does not send money to my Mother to help her feed and cloths us.

Turning eight years old was not much of a change in my life style. We did the same things…went to school every day and when school was out for the summer; we would go into the rice fields and pick rice left over by the big farmers. Sometime the owners of the rice farms would see us scrapping rice behind them…they would leave us several big bundles of rice, and we was very happy.

School had just started and I was in the second grade; when my Father’s Nephew told my Mother they were selling the house. Mother started looking for a house for us. My Father niece told my Mother we could move in a newly built Nipa hut; I call it the Little House on the Prairie, because it was so far from where everybody else lived. His Niece was pregnant and wanted to live close by her parent house.

We moved into the new house and to our surprise, we had twice the space to use for planting fruit, vegetables and a little rice if we want to. The only bad thing was the amount of miles we were from everybody else and the school. If I took a short cut through the fields and mountain path it about three and a half miles and if I took the road, it was about four miles. My Mother was very happy with our new place, because she could plant a big vegetables garden and sell the vegetables to the Market. Everyone pitched in helping to keep the plants watered and weeded. Once we planted our Garden it really started growing. Our neighbors came by and exchanged fruit and nuts for our vegetables. They would also, exchange baby chick, and whatever they had in abundance for our vegetables. This really helped us to get back on our feet again.

My Mother continued to design and make floor mats for sale to the market; she never stop, she is always doing something to make money for us, because she couldn’t count on my Father to help her take care of the kids. My Mother made most of our clothes…she did everything for us. On weekends and after school, my Mother would take us to the nearby mountains and gather wood. We would bring it home, cut it into pieces fourteen inches long, bundle it up and put it aside to be sold at the Market and Sari Sari Stores nearby.

We had plenty of food on the table, clothes on our back and a nice place to stay, we was a very, very happy family; until one day my Brother-in-Law came and told my Mother, sister Melda was planning on leaving him. I had a feeling about their marriage, because the last time they had a big fight, my Brother-in-Law left and went to Aguilar where his relatives live. He returned to Canan, because sister Melda came for him and told him my Mother was sick and needed help with the Hospital bill. They also, decided to stay in Canan close by us to try and save the marriage.

My Mother pleaded with sister Melda, telling her my Brother-in-Law was a good husband and provider and she should really think about her marriage before doing something she will regret. During the same time sister Rose and her Husband were having marriage problems. Pedro’s family didn’t completely accept Sister Rose into the family, because of the forced marriage. I promised myself I wouldn’t get married, when I grew up. A week later sister Melda and sister Rose disappeared. Sister Melda husband came to our house and asked, my Mother if she knew where sister Melda had gone. Mother told him she didn’t know sister Melda had left. My Brother-in-Law stayed around for a couple of day and finally he left going to Aguilar.

Sister Linda and I continued to wake up early in the morning and go to school; sometime we would help brother Etong water the vegetable garden before we left, but most of the time we would do it in the afternoon when we get home from school. Brother Etong usually does most of the work around the house, because he didn’t go to school.

When my Mother comes home for the weekend, she would take the wood we had bundle up and the Vegetable to the nearby Sari Sari Stores and the Market and sell it. When Mother is away at work, Sister Linda and I would do all of the washing, ironing and cleaning of the house; when we are not helping brother Etong water the plants, feeding the chicken and chopping wood. The only problem I had with the work around the house was putting hot charcoal in the iron to heat it for ironing clothes. I would call brother Etong to help me. My Mother taught us everything she could about how to survive when life don’t seem to be treating you fair. Sometime we laugh, sometime we cry and sometime we got angry at one another, but we always loved each other. I guess this is a part of life itself…there are good times and bad times.

Three months has passed and we haven’t heard any news about my two sisters; we can only pray that they are doing okay. My Father’s niece came to visit my Mother and brought some bad news, she wanted the house we were living in back. The next day my Mother started looking for a place for us to live. One of our neighbors close by told Mother she could build a small house on his land. Mother was real upset about having to move us around so much. She made a deal with our neighbor to buy the land. So we started building the house, everyone helped, even the property owner came by and helped. When the house was finished, we moved in our new home. The property was not as large as the place we had left, so we couldn’t plant a very big vegetable garden. My Mother accepted this and started working harder at whatever she could do.

One morning my Mother and brother Etong went to the other side of the mountain to gather some wood. At three o’ clock they had not returned, so we begin to worry about them. Finally around four o, clock my brother returned by himself, we asked him, where our Mother was…he could only reply by using sign language. He would put both hands together and point toward the mountain. We could not figure out what he was trying to say.

We decided to tell a grownup about this situation, because we didn’t know what to do. So we went to our Cousin and explained what had happened to him, he said we should wait a while longer before doing anything. Just before dark we saw my Mother coming home. We all ran out to meet her; she was carrying a lot of vegetables and rice. I asked her what had happened. She said they had been arrested for picking up wood on the other side of the mountain. The property owner has signs up prohibiting the gather of wood on his land. The Owner had tied her and brother Etong hands and took them to the Mayor’s office to be questioned as to why they didn’t see the signs on the trees prohibiting the gathering of wood. She explained to them, she couldn’t read and brother Etong could not talk and she was gathering wood to sell to the market so she could feed her children. She said the Mayor felt sorry for her and gave her the vegetables, rice and five pesos. They told her when she comes, to gather wood again, she should see the Owner so they can show her the area where gathering wood is not prohibited. She thanked the people that had tied her and brother Etong hands. Now we know what brother Etong was trying to say, when he would put both hands to gather and point toward the mountain.

The new place where we are allowed to gather wood, also, have palm and coconut trees, my Mother would gather some of the leaves to start making mats again for sale. About six month later sister Rose returned home and my Mother was really mad at her for not telling her she was leaving. She told my Mother, sister Melda had pawned her wedding ring and her dog Sampaguita to get enough money for the trip.

I remember playing with Sampaguita, when I lived with my Sister Melda and her husband in Aguilar. My Brother-in-Law would take Sampaguita out hunting and she would catch wild birds and ducks. Sampaguita was a beautiful dog; she had very pretty shiny white hair. I asked Sister Rose, who had Sampaguita, so I could go by and visit her. The next day I went to see Sampaguita. She still remembered me; she jumped around playing with me the same way we always play. When I had to go she started whining and I started crying… the new owner told me, I could come anytime to visit Sampaguita. When I got home I told my Mother about Sampaguita. She said if she can save enough money she would go get Sampaguita. One day My Mother decided to go get Sampaguita, when she arrive the owner told her Sampaguita had ran away and got run over by a bus.

Sister Rose and Pedro got back together. Before long she was pregnant, My Mother told Sister Linda and me to stay with her for a while and help around the house. Mother got her old job back as a live in Maid/Nanny, so my brother Etong was left at our house to take care of the goats and the house while we was away.

One night sister Linda and I were sleeping on our mat, suddenly I felt someone touching me, and I didn’t know what to do, so I pretended to be asleep. Sister Rose asked Pedro if I was asleep; he said he didn’t know and tried to remove my panties.

Then Sister Linda turned over in her sleep and he got up right away. He told Sister Rose he could not have sex with me while my other sister was lying beside me. Then I knew Sister Rose wanted her husband to have sex with me, because she was pregnant and didn’t want to have sex. I was so frightened I could not cry. The next day I told Sister Linda to always stay by my side when we are sleeping. Sister Rose finally had her baby and I couldn’t wait to go home and get away from her and Pedro. When she come and asks me to help with the baby, I would go and stay for an hour or two and made sure I was gone before Pedro came home from work. I never told anyone about this disgusting incident. Pedro worked in Malasique as a barber. Sometime people would come by his house and get a haircut. Pedro would cut brother Etong hair once in a while.

The weekend started off real nice, Mother came home to be with us, but things soon changed when sister Melda’s Husband came to our house to talk to my Mother. He told her, his marriage was over and started to rip up his wedding pictures. Mother explained to him how sorry she was that their marriage didn’t work. She also, explained how busy she was trying to raise the small kids and couldn’t keep up with what’s going on with the older married kids. My Brother-in-Law finally left brokenhearted and went home. He sold his house to a neighbor and left Canan; he said he was never coming back.

During the summer months it get real hot and fires seem to break out on their own, one day when sister Rose came with her baby to visit us. Everyone was sleep or half asleep on the floor mats. Sister Rose had put her baby in a make shift swing and he was asleep. All of a sudden we heard our neighbor yelling fire, fire, fire, get water and put out the fire. The bushes and grass was burning real close to our house, so everyone was getting water to wet down the house. Sister Rose ran out of our house clutching a pillow instead of her baby. She had left her baby in the house, in the swing. Mother saw what was happening and ask, sister Rose, where her baby was, she was so nervous and crying she still didn’t realize she was caring a pillow instead of her baby. Brother Etong ran into the house and got the baby. The neighbors managed to put the fire out and saved our house. We thanked the neighbors for their help and God that everyone was safe. Everyone thought it was really funny watching Sister Rose clutching a pillow and yelling my baby, my baby.

School had started, Sister Linda and I were coming home from school, when we heard the kids behind us shouting, the sack man is coming, the sack man is coming. So we took off our shoes and ran with the other kids. Our shoes were made of wood…we run faster with them off. We ran until we came in front of several Stores where older people were standing around talking about the sack man. They said, some rich people had built a smoke tower and the smoke tower would work better if they would put a small kid in side to be sacrificed. The man with the sack would grab a kid and put him or her in the sack.

The man would take the kid to the tower and the kid would never be seen again. We ran home and told our Mother, she had a week off work. She said she had heard about this sack man and she wanted us to walk in a group with the other kids when we come home in the afternoon. We had to start caring lunch, because we had always come home for lunch. Sister Linda, our Cousin and me would have a picnic every day. We exchange our food and laugh at what each other had for lunch. We had fried dried fish, boiled eggplant, chopped tomatoes, boiled eggs and the most important item, boiled rice. When we finish lunch we would play a game with uncooked cashew nuts. We would throw the cashew against the wall, if your cashew came within a hand length of another person cashew you would win the nut…I would always win a lunch pail full of cashew nuts. I would take them home and let brother Etong roast them in the fire. We would snack on the cashew and listen to the drama program on the radio. All the kids in the neighborhood were scared of being caught by the man with the sack, so they stayed close to their homes for a long time before they started venturing out again.

One day my father decided to pay the family a visit, but this time he brought my oldest brother Celino with him. We were very surprised, because we had not seen my brother for almost five years. Brother Celino stayed with us for about three months and left going somewhere again. A few months later the police came looking for my brother; claiming he had gotten a girl in our neighborhood pregnant. My father told the police if they are looking to arrest my brother; they should arrest him instead, because he introduced my brother to this girl. So they arrested my father and put him in jail to serve my brother sentence. My Mother was very mad at my father and my brother for what they had done. She didn’t worry about my father being in jail, because he didn’t help do anything around the house and he never gave her any money to help out. Sister Linda and I visited my father in jail one day. My father asked the Jailer to let Sister Linda and I spend the night with him in the Jail House; the Jailer agreed and said okay. We didn’t know what to do, because we were afraid of our father, so we just kept quiet and tried to relax as best as we could in Jail. The next day my Mother came for us and took us with her to her job. I met the family my Mother was working for; I found out that the lady my Mother worked for was the long lost sister she always talked about. She said when they were small; my Grandmother could not take care of all of her sisters and brothers, so she gave my Aunt to a rich couple, that couldn’t have kids.

My Mother and Aunt were very happy to be together again even though they were in an employer/employee status. I played hide and go seek with the little boy and girl, my newly found cousins. My Aunt gave my Mother the afternoon off. She gave Sister Linda and me some pretty dresses. I could tell by the way my Aunt treated my Mother and us, that she was a very nice lady.

Chapter 2

Moving

The whole day was like a dream; my Mother always talked about having two sisters and a brother. I have met my Aunt that lives near Canan; I have never met my Uncle, because he was killed when the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1942. I can’t really get over the feeling of happiness about today’s encounters.

My Father was finally released from jail; he came back home and pick up where he left off…doing nothing. After a few weeks he left again…destination unknown. Soon after my Father left, my Brother Celino came back; this time he brought a girl friend with him. My Mother was still mad at him for what he did the last time he came home, but she put the pass behind her and greeted him like a loving mother would greet a son.

My Aunt started letting my Mother come home every night from work, so this gave me the opportunity to go with her to work…I would help my Mother with her household duties and the work she had to do outside. My Aunt would always give me something to take home. I would hear people calling My Aunt, Doctor, so I asked my Mother why; she said your Aunt is a Doctor and that’s why she is rich. I also, played with Jo Jo, my Aunt little girl; she liked playing with me so much, she would come with me home and play. She really liked playing with our animals, because they couldn’t have animal in the city.

One Saturday Mother and I was going to the market; she decided to go by my Aunt house to see if more stones was needed to complete the stone walkway in my Aunt back yard. Just before we started to leave for the market; I saw a pretty woman at my Aunt front gate asking for my Mother. My Aunt told her she was in the back yard. I didn’t realize it was my sister Melda, because she looked like a movie star. Mother introduced sister Melda to my Aunt; they greeted each other and talked for a while…then we left. Mother canceled the trip to the market and we went home instead. When the word got around that sister Melda was back home; all our relatives in the neighborhood came to see her. Everyone was happy to see her; we stayed up all night talking. I finally got a chance to ask her if she was a movie star; she said no, but she live in Olongapo City where Americans live. The next day sister Melda asked to take Sister Linda and me back to Olongapo City with her. Mother agreed to let us go with her. A few days later we were off to Olongapo City. My sister Melda lived in an apartment building in town. We got settled in and Sister Melda started showing us around. We went to the market, the beach and the movies. I fell in love with the place right away because of all the people and Jeepneys moving around in the streets gave me a thrill to watch.

Sister Melda asked us if we would like to live here in the city close by the beaches; we both said yes, as we jump for joy. She said she would start right away looking for a place to rent near the school and beach area of the town.

Sister Melda decided to return to Canan, Pangasinan to try and convince our Mother to come to Olongapo, City, because of better job opportunity here in the city. She asked her neighbor to keep an eye on Sister Linda and me while she was away. A week later, sister Melda returned with Mother and brother Etong. Mother brought our school transfer papers, so we could be enrolled in school.

The next day we went to see a house on the beach my sister had described to us. The owner agreed to rent the house to my sister; I was so happy to know that we would be living next to a beach. Sister Melda rented a jeepney, which was the number one transportation vehicle in Olongapo City, and we moved our household belonging and clothes into our new house. The house had one bedroom, dining room, kitchen and a small veranda. My Mother loved the place; she said it reminded her of the place where I was born in Sual, Pangasinan. I also, remembered living in Sual, Pangasinan in a house close by the beach…I remembered the Nurse from the Barrio coming to give all the kids in the neighborhood vaccine for the polio and all the kids was running to hide. I remembered hiding behind a boat at the beach. I remembered my sister Melda swimming at the beach. Everyone says she swim like a Mermaid.

I asked Mother about our house we left in Canan; she said, all the goats, pigs and chicken had been sold to the market and she had turned our house and land back over to the previous owner to be sold. The owner had promised to send her the money as soon as the property was sold.

Sister Melda paid the rent on our new house while Mother looked for a job. She came by very often to visit us; we would also, visit her on weekends. Sister Linda and I would visit my sister on weekdays when there is no school and sometime we would spend the night. She would tell us if we come to visit her and she’s not home, we should find the box; where she kept a lot of American coins and get money to buy food and wait for her.

One day sister Linda and I went to visit sister Melda and she was not home; we decided to wait for her, so we started making ourselves comfortable…I sat in the window and I saw children buying ice cream cones, then I remembered what sister Melda had told us about the money box. I told Sister Linda to hurry and get some American coins from the box to exchange for pesos. I ran out to stop the ice cream man. We exchanged enough coins to get seven pesos…we bought ice cream. I had the man to put my ice cream in a glass it was very delicious; I couldn’t wait to have some more. Finally sister Melda came home, she told Sister Linda and me to get cleaned up, because she was taking us out to eat.

We changed clothing, comb our hair and put Johnson baby powder on our faces. I put my pretty wooden shoes on and tried to walk like a movie star. When we arrived at the restaurant, a black guy was waiting for us; sister Melda introduced him as her boy friend. I hid behind sister Melda because I was afraid of the black guy…sister Linda was even more afraid than I was, because this was the first time we had seen a black man in person; we had seen black people in a movie in Canan that eat white people, so we was afraid he would eat us. We went into the restaurant and was seated; He ordered a lot of different kind of food…we ate our fill. When we finished eating he accompanied us home and spent the night; Sister Linda and I was still afraid so we slept with our heads under the cover even though it was very hot.

The next day sister Melda took us back home in Matain and dropped us off and went back to her apartment. She came back the next day and took us to White Rock Beach, a beach resort that was across the street from where we live. She introduced Sister Linda and me to a lady she calls Mama Ligaya, who was the owner of the Swan Club and the White Rock Beach resort. Mama Ligaya was the lady sister Melda met when she ran away from her husband and came to Olongapo City. Sister Melda had started working the Counter at the small Bowling alley at White Rock Beach; later Mama Ligaya convinced sister Melda to take a job at the Swan Club serving drinks to American Sailors and Marines, because she could make more money. Mama Ligaya told sister Melda that sister Linda, brother Etong and me could work in the bowling alley setting up pins for tips. We did real well on weekends; sometime we made five or six American dollars in about four hours. The Americans was very generous tippers, but for some reason our Mother didn’t want us to work there, so we quit.

We had not heard from, or seen sister Melda for over a month, then out of the blue she walks in the door. She had wonderful news…she was getting married again and she wanted the family to meet her fiancé at her apartment. We were in for another surprise because she had changed apartments and her new apartment had all new furniture and appliances. After admiring her new apartment and furniture, we sat down and begin to question sister Melda about her fiancé. Then we heard a key turning in the door…all eyes was on the door, a light complexion black man step into the room and said hello and kissed sister Melda. She introduced him to us; he shook our hand and hugged each one of us. My Mother English was not very good, so she told sister Melda to tell him to promise not to hurt her daughter. Then she wanted to say something else, so she tried to say it in English and she said don’t be a foolish dog"; everyone started to laugh at what she said because it was so funny. But Mr. Smith, sister Melda fiancée told Mother not to worry; he would love and take good care of sister Melda. Sister Melda explained to Mother in Tagalog, what he had said. Mother said thank you and hugged him. The following week sister Melda got married by the Justice of the Peace in Olongapo City. Mama Ligaya told sister Melda to leave her apartment and move into one of her house close to the market. It was a nice house with two bedrooms. My Mother didn’t like the house, because the house was dark inside even during the day. Being married to an American, my sister could afford a Maid, so my Mother asked her not to get a Maid and let her be the one to take care of her house. So my Mother did the washing and ironing and Sister Linda and I did the cleaning.

Sister Melda and her husband bought land close to the White Rock Beach Resort and started building a big house on it. Before it was finished sister Melda and Mother went to Malasique to visit my Mother’s sister. Sister Linda and I stayed at sister Melda house while she was gone, so we could do the cleaning. They were to be in Malasique for three days. My Brother-in-Law took Sister Linda and me to the movies the night they were to return. We were very happy to get a chance to go to the movies. When we returned sister Melda were back and very mad at me. The next day sister Linda and I went home to Matain; brother Etong were happy to see us and he had run out of food for the pigs. My Mother left right away for the Market to buy rice and food for the pigs. I don’t know why sister Melda were mad at me; she was even mad at my Mother, because she stopped paying her for doing the washing and ironing. Sometime I think sister Melda was upset because her husband was paying attention to us. My Brother-in-Law, brother Smitty was a very nice person and it seem like whenever he would do something for the family she would get mad.

The work continued on sister Melda new house, but just before it was finished she told my Mother to leave the rental house and move into her unfinished house. Today, I still don’t understand why she wanted us to move in the house before it was finished. She was paying the rent on the rental house, so we had no other choice but to move into the house with three finished rooms.

My Father finally figured out where we were at, so he shows up with brother Celino and his wife. Brother Celino and his wife stayed for two weeks and left. Sister Melda would come and visit us occasionally and every so often she would spend the night.

One day Brother Smitty came to the house and surprised sister Linda and me with school bags, paper, pencil and everything we needed for school. We were very happy and couldn’t think him enough. Sister Melda found out about it and became very angry…she brought all of her dirty clothes and even some clean clothes and made Sister Linda and I wash them. When my Mother came home she saw what was going on and felt sorry for us and helped us finish washing. Sister Melda was mad with brother Smitty, but she didn’t tell him the reason why.

My Mother did not like living in this unfinished house, so she and my Father went looking for another place for us to stay. They met a landowner in Calapacuan, three miles away from where we live…that needed someone to stay on his land and watch his Mango trees. The owner promised to let us live there as long as we want to. My Father built a small Nipa Hut on the land.

My brother Celino and his wife came back, he said he wanted to try and find a job in Olongapo City, because he wanted to stay close by the family. My Father told him he could live in the Nipa Hut with us until he could build his own.

Sister Melda started being nice to us again; she went out and bought me a pig. I named the pig princess. Brother Etong helped me to feed and take care of princess. She got very big right away…she acted as if she was a family member; when we took a family picture outside, princess was there posing for the picture too. She was a very smart pig.

Brother Celino started gathering bamboo to build his house…he accidentally spring his leg, so him and his wife came to our house to get my Mother to try and fix it. Mother was our family Doctor, because she treated all of our ailments. It was approximately nine o, clock when my brother arrived. Mother got her coconut oil and massaged brother Celino leg and when she finished the massage she wrapped it in a white bandage. Just as Mother was finishing wrapping brother Celino leg; sister Melda and brother Smitty came through the door. Sister Melda started yelling at brother Celino, asking him why he was in our house; brother Celino got up and started limping toward the door with his wife…brother Smitty asked me what was going on because everyone was speaking Tagalog. I told him my brother Celino had hurt his leg and my Mother was trying to fix it and I didn’t know why sister Melda was mad at him. Brother Smitty followed sister Melda into the bedroom and tried to calm her down, but that seem to make things worse.

She came back out of the bedroom and started yelling, get out of my house, my Mother and Father was so upset; they told us to start packing our things, so we left at ten o, clock at night carrying all we could on our backs. We all went to Calapacuan to live in the Nipa Hut my Father had built. Brother Smitty wanted to do or say something to help us but I knew he did not know what to do, he was deeply in love with sister Melda and he would not do anything to upset her. The next day we came back to the house to get my books, the dog and my pig; sister Melda was not in the house. We had to walk about three miles back and lead the pig.

We live in a little house on the prairie again…our house was built at the base of a mountain by a rice field. This was a nice Nipa Hut, the floor and wall was made of bamboo. The natural cracks between the bamboo poles allowed fresh air to come into the house and keep it cooled down; everyone seem to like our new house even princess, the pig.

A month later as I was wading in the water along the beach and out of nowhere a dog came and bit me on the leg. I was scared and hurt, so I ran and told my Father about the dog. My Father went to the beach to look for the dog, but the dog was nowhere in sight. He came back to the house and took me to the Medical Clinic; they treated me and told my father to bring me back every day for twenty five days to get a rabies shot. The Clinic was pretty close to sister Melda house and I would always look for her or brother Smitty, but I never got a glimpse of either one.

One day I was going to the Clinic for my shot and decided to pass by my Sister Melda house, and to my surprise…the whole house had being removed from the lot it was built on. I rushed home and told my family; Mother went to see mama Ligaya, because sister Melda and she were very close. When she arrived she asked mama Ligaya if she knew what had happen to sister Melda house; mama Ligaya told her sister Melda had given it to her to be moved to the White Rock Beach Resort. She also, asked if she knew where sister Melda was. Mama Ligaya said, You don’t know that Melda went to the United States? My Mother didn’t say anything she just went outside and begin to cry, because it was very hard for her to believe that sister Melda had went to the United States without saying goodbye.

It’s two month before school out and I will finish Elementary school and start my first year of high school next year in the seven grades; this was a real big affair for me and my classmates, because the school conducted a Graduation exercise for the six graders. The girls in the graduating class usually wore white outfits. My Mother, God bless her soul; started saving a little money on the side when she was paid for washing and ironing other people clothes. My Mother would wash during the day and ironed at night so she could take her customers their clothes back the next day. My Father left again…where he went no one knew.

About two weeks from my graduation date; Mother took me to see a seamstress to be measured for my white dress. She bought me a pair of white shoes to match my white dress. I was very surprised when she told me she was having my hair done at the beauty shop. Mother has always told me how happy and proud she was of my work in school; now I can tell that she is proud of me, because she is doing everything in her power to make my graduation day a success.

I was the