Nang Lina was one of my mom's best friends. Our house in Bukidnon was near hers and she'd frequently visit my mom for a chat over a cup of coffee after her teaching duties at a local public grade school. It was a scene straight out of the 90's movie, Steel Magnolias.
Nang Lina raised three children. Her husband works as a pineapple laborer for the same company my father works.
Nang Lina was very supportive of my father's civic responsibilities. Possessing a naturally good voice, she sang soprano at the church choir which my father trains and conducts. In more than one occassion, I accompanied the choir on the organ and the piano during High Masses and in out-of-town competitions especially around the Christmas season.
When I was about to enter college, Nang Lina did the unthinkable: she gave up her teaching duties, swallowed her pride and became a domestic helper in the US. She figured there was no way she could send her children through college even with the couple's combined salaries.
She was gone for a couple of years and regularly sent money home. I knew all of these because she regularly sent my mom pictures and postcards.
Until one day, she made a decision that caused her entire family great distress: she fell in love with another man and left her family for good. Maybe the relationship was her ticket to become a US citizen. Maybe she really fell in love with another man. I don't know. I will not judge her.
When she came over for a brief visit, only the younger girls agreed to meet her. Her eldest, Junjun, who is my school mate, got devastated and turned to alcohol. I don't even know if he managed to finish school.
Bitter and mad, he vehemently refused to meet her at all, blaming her all this time for the family's breakup. She went back to the US, heartbroken.
Nang Lina was a good neighbor. Her voice would fill the house with laughter, you can hear it upon approaching the valley from where our house stood. I thought hers was an ideal family.
Sometimes, things just won't turn out the way we expect it to be.
It's even more depressing to witness a family fall apart.
I do not know what has happenned to them since then. We're all searching for a happy ending. I hope Nang Lina finds her happy ending.
Nang Lina raised three children. Her husband works as a pineapple laborer for the same company my father works.
Nang Lina was very supportive of my father's civic responsibilities. Possessing a naturally good voice, she sang soprano at the church choir which my father trains and conducts. In more than one occassion, I accompanied the choir on the organ and the piano during High Masses and in out-of-town competitions especially around the Christmas season.
When I was about to enter college, Nang Lina did the unthinkable: she gave up her teaching duties, swallowed her pride and became a domestic helper in the US. She figured there was no way she could send her children through college even with the couple's combined salaries.
She was gone for a couple of years and regularly sent money home. I knew all of these because she regularly sent my mom pictures and postcards.
Until one day, she made a decision that caused her entire family great distress: she fell in love with another man and left her family for good. Maybe the relationship was her ticket to become a US citizen. Maybe she really fell in love with another man. I don't know. I will not judge her.
When she came over for a brief visit, only the younger girls agreed to meet her. Her eldest, Junjun, who is my school mate, got devastated and turned to alcohol. I don't even know if he managed to finish school.
Bitter and mad, he vehemently refused to meet her at all, blaming her all this time for the family's breakup. She went back to the US, heartbroken.
Nang Lina was a good neighbor. Her voice would fill the house with laughter, you can hear it upon approaching the valley from where our house stood. I thought hers was an ideal family.
Sometimes, things just won't turn out the way we expect it to be.
It's even more depressing to witness a family fall apart.
I do not know what has happenned to them since then. We're all searching for a happy ending. I hope Nang Lina finds her happy ending.
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