Just like a star

Tonight, I had one of the most refreshing and incredible conversations with my Auntie Lala for the first time in my life. Before I delve into the subject matter of our late night dialogue, let me give you a background of who this very woman is to me.

This is my Auntie Lala, or her real name Estrella—you know, like star in Spanish. She is the second child of 10 in our family (5 boys and girls) and my mother’s older sister. She’s a jack-of-all-trades working as an independent business owner from owning a landscaping business to being a consultant and seamstress. Sometimes I think she’s a nurse too, but without the actual credential since she is so medically knowledgeable and is always taking care of someone here. She’s a grandmother of 3 and will be celebrating her 61^st birthday this Tuesday. But in terms of who she is to me, well, she’s quite frankly one of the main reasons why our family lives in the U.S. and serves as an inspiration to my creativity and motivation to strive for my personal goals.

I sometimes forget that I used to live in the Philippines. Although I left at the young age of 2, this is still where I was born and as candidly patriotic as this statement will seem, I still am blessed to come from this culture. One of the most refreshing and humbling things I love doing is speaking with my elders (when I can communicate coherently to them and when a language barrier isn’t disabling) and learning about where I came from or more importantly, where they came from. They always are so enthusiastic to tell their life stories and the adversity they have overcome in order to get to where they are today.

Tonight, it was my auntie’s turn. Though throughout our conversation the subject matter was seemingly light and didactic, explaining to her why I decided to travel and the adventure I’ve been on, we came into discussion about our family history and how she managed to get her siblings to immigrate to the US. This changed the tone and gave me passing tears from time to time alternating with placating laughter.

One of the things that she said that stuck with me while we were chatting was, “I had a bargain with the lord”. Said she wanted all her siblings to get to the US and willfully reside in the Philippines so long as her siblings are able to successfully live there with no imminent setbacks. Through fraudulence, bribery and conviction she was able to do just that. Her story telling about how unique each of her brothers situations exemplified how incredibly responsible she had to be in order to help them get through school, into their jobs and immigrate overseas. She told me a myriad of stories about her sisters and brothers, but more so about her brothers and their mishaps and individual characters. (Sorry this will be quite lengthy and staggered, the details will make this blog wayyyy too long!) My Uncle Boy, being a rebel on the ship worked on, siding with the lower level workers, picking fights with his fellow seafarers and consequentially getting “mailed” back to the Philippines; Uncle Dado, who often sought after trouble for no apparent reason with random people and especially getting into trouble with the law; Uncle Abe who successfully got a job as well on a ship as a radio operator and nearly had a panic attack because he was too frightened to perform his job as he was ad libed to fill in immediately after someone got fired; Uncle Bonie, during his second year of college was accused of committing a murder after being found with a concealed weapon, a.k.a. a small table knife then escalating to being sued by the Philippine government, I’m talking The people of the Philippines vs. Bonifacio Fortes, status (while drinking outside of his college and a murderer creating havoc on their campus by stabbing a college student, the police who found my uncle drunk outside with a knife and told the injured student to point out my cousin as the perpetrator even though he was innocent, per my auntie’s visitation to this injured student in the hospital); Uncle Junior who’s case was complicated because he was registered as married and with children in two provinces as immigration relentlessly allows marriages during the petition to go overseas. It was imperative that she play this role because at a very young age, she learned to become responsible and independent due to the death of my grandfather at age 41, who suffered from leukemia. I really had to stop and imagine how life would be like had none of these things happened to our family.

It really empowers me to know that my aunt sacrificed so much for her siblings... and I really thank her for it. I love hearing stories from her, the animation just gives these stories so much life. I feel like I could listen to her stories all day and I can't be any more excited to be spending time with her during these next few days.

I've missed you, Auntie!

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Edit: Additional post from my Auntie's birthday!

We spent today visiting Tagaytay for lunch. My aunt wanted to take me to one of her favorite restaurants out here that boasts a breath-taking view of an inactive volcano, Taal.

Tricycle!

Later that night, we went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant with our family. Oh and if you're wondering... yes, I got a perm -___-. It is curlier than I anticipated, but oh well... this is what happens when you want to experiment with your hair again.

Happy Birthday. This woman is 61 and still looks amazing!