Thanksgiving and the Filipino culture

David and Malou Lowery with their boys

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina--A week ago we celebrated Thanksgiving here in the US. Thanksgiving is a harvest festival and an important public holiday that is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.

I likened Thanksgiving to the fiestas in the Philippines which revolve around the patron saint of a city or a barangay (village) where there is a lot of merriment. 

On Thanksgiving schools are closed for about three or four days. It is that time of the year where a lot of food are cooked and prepared, when turkeys have no place to hide since all American homes will serve turkey as part of the celebration.

The event calls on everyone celebrating the occasion to gather round the table and partake of the food and blessings received for the year. 

Family togetherness is deemed absent in most US households because of work demands. But those who still uphold the celebration will ensure that there is enough bonding time with family members and friends.

This year my husband Ronnie and I were invited to the home of Ranulfa Deloso and her husband Tony Cammarano. Ranulfa or Ranni is from barangay Macabalan,Cagayan de Oro City while Tony is of Italian heritage.
Ronnie and I were invited because Ranni’s sister Malou and her family were in town visiting having just come from California.

Malou is married to David Lowry, who’s originally from North Dakota and they brought their two boys with them for the occasion. 

Malou is a graduate of Capitol University in Cagayan de Oro who chatted with David  in school as part of their subject in college.

David told us that he continued conversing with Malou even after school because he was so smitten with her and their conversation went to religion and family.

He caught my attention and in fact David was not eating as he continued talking about what he learned about Malou’s family and how Malou told him about her 11 siblings.

Touched by stories that it was Ranni who worked in Singapore to send Malou and her siblings to college, David showed to me that he knows the history and the people of the Philippines.  

I understood that David came from a small size family and that he was orphaned at an early age. Ranni and Malou’s story reinforces the reality of how Filipinos value their clan. 

There is no doubt that Filipinos are family-oriented. As in the case of Ranni, Malou and her siblings, Filipinos are willing to make sacrifices and work abroad so their loved ones back home can have a taste of the good life.

Parents who became overseas workers so their children can study in better schools have become the norm and they have helped prop the Philippine economy amid the highs and lows of the global economic situation.

It is their willingness to sacrifice and give to their loved ones that have touched Americans like David Lowrey, who wants his own children to imbibe those same Filipino values.

The Thanksgiving night was long and I did not mind staying late to listen to David who is so enamored with the ways of the descendants of Dagohoy.

Again, happy Thanksgiving to all and for all your comments/emails, send them to my email address at susanap.dennis@yahoo.com. Also see my other online accounts below.

My husband with his back to the camera and me waving as we join the Lowerys for a Thanksgiving meal 

(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines  is now employed  teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.
Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.
You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063)

My memories of Paris

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

Like those from across the world, I was glued to the TV watching updates on the tragedy that is the Paris attacks over the weekend.

Unimaginable really; so much destruction to humanity and to the lovely city of mind. My thoughts immediately went into autopilot as I recalled my trip to the City of Lights and passed by the places where the attacks occurred.

Looking at the map I sure did pass by the Bataclan music hall en route to Eiffel Tower by tourist bus.  I was close to this area and I recalled that time as I watched the images of death that were broadcast on TV. 

The sight of cops patrolling the city seems to border on sacrilege to me as I remembered the beauty of the place. I wanted to preserve those memories in my mind for as long as I can.

I loved Paris for it is the city that exceeded my expectations when I first visited it. It transforms and inspires me as I move through the rivers and the streets. It is magical. Paris is truly for travelers and tourists.

As a young girl who loves to read books, I was enamored with the beauty of Paris. I nurtured that love of the city where we can find the Eiffel Tower and landmarks that can only be found in books and magazines.

It took me a lifetime to fulfill my dreams to see Paris and its glory. On that trip I spent the time studying the interior and exterior of buildings. I marveled at the beauty that the architecture of years past had created for past generations and generations to come.

I always looked around absorbing its beauty that often times my travel companion was already vary far from me. Karen and I took time wandering the palace of Versailles formerly inhabited by the kings of France. 

The grandeur is beyond imagination. The cobblestones underneath our feet made foot travel pleasant and I saw the Seine River twice, one on foot and the other on a river cruise.

I passed through the Louvre to see the artifacts of the world and imagining it to be part of the Da Vinci Code. 

I prayed at the Notre Dame cathedral along with other believers. Even the church was a place of old relics that dates back to ancient times that it enriches one's faith.

As we passed by the Arc de Triomphe I remembered Napoleon Bonaparte in my history classes and how he commissioned the building of the arc in 1800. Along with its loveliness and rich history, the Parisians also make every visit enriching.

My friend here in Charlotte, NC Carllyn Francisco Ave described the Parisians as warm. “They’re very easy to talk with,” she said. Another friend Erna Gamones Maagad said the Parisians are warm and friendly.

I didn’t see the warmth that they talked about though store and restaurant attendants were friendly and attentive. I saw that they were busy people that were always in a hurry. 

Carilyn Francisco Ave with her kid

I could not tell though if they’re locals or people like me. Could this be the reason why Paris is an easy target to terrorists? That the Parisians were so occupied and they didn't know that there were people out there planning to kill them?

But that's a long discussion. What I did notice however is that the women in Paris are quite beautiful and glamorous. Ave, who traveled to Paris with her husband JP and two children said they had a great time in Paris.

“I love the vibrancy of the city. It is amazing,” she said. Erna also recalled passing by the places where the attacks occurred and she said it was condemnable what happened.

The place, the food, the people, the culture and history of Paris makes it easily among the most memorable cities on earth. I have no doubt that it will rise from the tragedy and my memories of Paris only serve to strengthen my faith in them regardless of the violence spawned by those who wish to see it destroyed.

Erna Gamones Maagad posing in one of the stores in Paris

(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines  is now employed  teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.
Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.
You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063)

Remembering the dead on All Souls Day

My prayer list 

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

I HAVE a list of the dead so to speak. More specifically, I have the list of young and old people who are relatives, friends and acquaintances who went ahead to the Great Beyond.

I keep them in my prayers for the souls. I do this every day in keeping with my Catholic beliefs.  As we celebrate the All Saint’s Day and All Souls Day next week I have something to share to the believers. 

Are souls of the faithful departed manifest themselves to the living so they can be remembered? Maybe, maybe not. My list of the dead is getting longer that the original ¼ paper where the names are written is running out of space.

Whenever there is an addition it is either written atop, below or at the sides. Often without the use of my eyeglasses I could not read what name I wrote. 

I bring out the list as I pray daily either after the rosary or before I end the day.  The list is in my hand writing though and I could have printed it or have it reproduced by the printer. 

The list started with the name of my mother Lily Ejem Espellarga Naelga, brother Ramon Monching  and the father of my children Nestor; followed by grandparents on both sides, the uncles and aunts cousins.  

The advent of Facebook changed everything. When the obituary is now on Facebook I am not surprised to see read comments that would indicate that a friend’s journey to this life has ended.

I noticed also that day by day a name is added as I grow older too. Of course realized that friends,classmates and acquitances are added. That’s when I started praying for them in accordance with the tenets of my Catholic faith. 

That praying for them is helping their spirits enter the kingdom of the Lord the soonest. 
There are times that I don’t pray kneeling because I am either walking or jogging when I do that. As I pray the rosary, I also pray for the dead at the same time. 

Since the list is not with me I have to recall names. It is during this process that I already say the Our Father and as I was about to end a face of a friend that could have been not mentioned would appear in my mind. 

Then I would go back again at the beginning but another picture or image of a dead would pop up, then I would start again. The list isn’t complete that when I read the others are not there. Just out of the corners of my eyes are images of for instance of Imee Austria, a friend of mine.

But the problem is that when I am already at the middle of a solemn prayer images of the face of another friend Diana Javellana or the late Vice Mayor Vince Dagus Sanchez would pop up.

Then I would start again with the prayer and the same process would happen. I told my friend Beth Perez Kremer of this experience and though she is younger than me, she had this idea that the face of the dead you saw wants to be included in the prayer.

I think Beth is right about it. But still I ask do these images in my mind serve as a reminder that the dead want to be remembered?   

Fr.Joe Scott ,CSP, a campus minister and a Paulist priest wrote that the earliest Scriptural reference to prayers for the dead comes in the second book of Maccabees. 

He said the books of Maccabees were among the latest written books found in the Old Testament. It recounted the struggle of the Jewish people for freedom against the Seleucid Empire about 100-200 years before the birth of Christ. 

Fr. Scott said the second book of Maccabees tells how Judas Maccabee, the Jewish leader, led his troops into battle in 163 B.C. When the battle ended he directed that the bodies of those Jews who had died be buried. 

As the soldiers prepared their slain comrades for burial, they discovered that each wore an amulet taken as booty from a pagan Temple. 

This violated the law of Deuteronomy and so Judas and his soldiers prayed that God would forgive the sin these men had committed (II Maccabees 12:39-45).

I have to clean the list and write again the complete list of the dead for me to pray especially on All Souls Day. I think they the souls talk to us in whatever means of communication.

(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines  is now employed  teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.

Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.
You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063)

My life stories: The stores of my youth

My life stories: The stores of my youth: by Susan Palmes-Dennis IN the early 60s, commerce and trade in Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental in northern Mindanao, Philippines centered ...

The stores of my youth

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

IN the early 60s, commerce and trade in Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental in northern Mindanao, Philippines centered on three stores that I remember well.

This was before going to Cagayan de Oro, the capital city of Misamis Oriental, became easier with the frequent jeepney trips. Back then, the city was left to the imagination of those who can't afford to go make those trips.

Only those who had business going to Cagayan de Oro can make the trips which is why every provision is provided for by the sari-sari stores.

Sari-sari (variety) stores is part of Philippine culture and a vital venue for commerce in dusty small towns like Tagoloan. Now it had become more than a mom-and-pop store, selling goods that can also be found in department stores.

From rice to corn, beauty products and medicines to liquor like rhum and the local liquor favorite called the tuba, one can find it in the sari-sari store. One such store is the Pacheco store which serves neighboring towns like Villanueva and even Malitbog town in Bukidnon province.

Dispensary
Brig. Gen. Gerry Paduganan, a Tagoloanon like me, said the Pacheco store owned by Iya (Auntie) Puring Nabong-Pacheco and Iyo (Uncle) David Pacheco was a constant  fixture of our neighborhood in General Wood/Evangelista street.

Aside from selling goods, the Pacheco store is a landmark for being a postal stop, a radio station of sorts and a dispensary of public services.

Iya Puring  was my Grade 1 teacher. A little side story here; I am her favorite second to Gracia Nabong Salac and Jerrylyn Nabong Gervacio who are both her nieces.

We were neighbors and I run errands for her. I learned from her the value of studying and raising my hands to ask questions or answer them. I could have been the favorite also because I hang out with Toto Cherie, their youngest daughter. 

Iya Puring and Iyo David have two daughters Madoline' Gangga" Lepon and Cherie “Toto Cherie” Nairn. Both of them are four years and two years older than me respectively.  

Hangout
Anyway the store was an extension of their big house. It sells medicines for diarrhea, fever and even lice as well as common medical items like cotton, alcohol and band aid. 

Beauty products used long ago like brialliantine to make the hair soft and smell good, borax for whitening the face. Sardines of all kinds,squid, black beans, eggs, milk in cans or in the box, rice, corn, dried fish of all kinds, even the ginamos (fermented fish) sold by the cup. 

It also sells school supplies from the smallest pencil to the biggest Mongol brand. Pencils then are quite durable, you can use it for a year or several months. 

The Pacheco store is a favorite hangout of street kids and adults, who get the latest gossip from the patrons. Like who was drunk or who had a fight the night before. 

The benches provided in front of the store are usually full of men and women and kids. Some of the drunks would receive a tongue-lashing from Iya Puring the morning after Iyo Andres Sanchez, a neighbor, would laugh if he read this in heaven.

Credit
Some men will spend time drinking while the women talk about the latest girlie news. Youths also hang out there while children will buy marbles and elastic bands called “lastiko” and play there. 

I remembered before that radios weren't readily available then and so we hang out at the Pacheco store where we would listen to the radio dramas like Diego Salvador, Melodina and the Anay Nga Nagbakya. 

Since she was a teacher, Iya Puring would tell the children sometimes to take a bath. The Pacheco store sells all kinds of bread, including my favorite binangkal, a slightly hard, chewy and nutty bread filled with sesame seeds.

If there's no cash, the store accepts credit. When one worked at the Philippine Packing Corp. (now Del Monte) he or she can purchase goods on credit with the requirement that said goods are paid on the 6th and 21st since payday is on the 5th and 20th. 

Or else Iya Puring would be knocking on the door on the 23rd if the buyers don't show themselves at the store. The Pacheco store is patronized by those living as far as Iyo Teting Lao's home.

Loans
The Lao family also has a store serving the houses at the back of the church. Iyo Teting Lao is the paternal grandfather of City Councilor Teodulfo Bong Lao of Cagayan de Oro City. 

Their merchandise there specially the snacks or chicheria are too good to be forgotten. 

So I have to go the Pacheco store to buy soap on credit, then entertain Iya Puring with stories of the neighborhood before asking her if I could trade the soap with bread.

At first she would give in but later she understood already what I am up to and my mother would ask why we had too much credit for soap every 15th of the month. 

Later when I started working at the Tagoloan-Villanueva municipal court I had an open credit at the Pacheco store. The store expanded into selling clothes and providing short term loans.

This time I was already doing business inside their house. It was also at this time that masiao, a local betting game proliferated around the municipality. According to Cherie Nairn who's now based in California the store started with "tira-tira."

Merchandise
Another store that gained popularity in Tagoloan town is owned by Iya Pamie Sabio Valdehuesa. The store is located at the stretch of Evangelista Street towards Tagoloan bridge. Iya Pamie was married to Nong Johnny Valdehuesa. 

Their store also had an extensive merchandise like the Pacheco store. I recalled Iya Pamie with her eyeglasses at the cash register. Sometimes Iya Kikay would be on the cashier sitting. 

They have all these sacks of rice and corn including “tahop” on the floor as well as firewood and charcoal or “uling.”  The store also sells yards of cloths for the local "sastres."

The store is adjacent to the house of Iya Tida (mother of Nang Sima) and the beautiful house of the Bibanco family.

I think those who could not pay the Pacheco store for credit would run to Iya Pamie's store or vice versa. But later these two owners would found out those who don't pay. Yes, they might be competitors but they compare notes. 

I'm sure of this because I hang out in these stores and I hear them all. It's funny that I remember all of this. Deep inside me I knew those who escape paying Iya Puring. I think it honed my reportorial skills. 

Finally, there's the store owned by Iyo Lino Nabong, the brother of Iya Puring Pacheco. Iyo Lino is the father of my classmate Jerrylyn Nabong. This wholesale store is in the highway and it was the biggest at the time because it had trucks. 

It's like a mini Gaisano store and it's located on the ground floor of Nabong's big house. My parents don't buy at the Nabong store but my classmate Tata Nabong would bring me to their house sometimes. 

Rich family
The Nabong store is always busy with customers who hear the noise of a nearby mill or “galingan” in the background. The family home's second floor has a piano and the walls are decorated with the diplomas of the children who finished school. 

There are 12 children in the Nabong family and I think my classmate is the baby of the family.  

It was my first glimpse of a rich family's house. I saw the diploma of Nabong's son Erac who become a doctor. I haven't met him yet because he was years ahead of me. 

I also saw the picture of the second oldest child, whom I called Manang Virgie. She retired years ago after working at the Provincial Treasurer’s Office. We talked with each other when I was still working in radio.

There were other stores in Tagoloan town during my childhood years, but these three stores were the most significant and occupied quite a substantial chunk of my memories when I was growing up in my hometown.

I hope my recollections of these stores helped inspire similar fond memories of your hometown or city of your youth. 'Till next time, have a good day.

(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines  is now employed  teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.

Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.
You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063)

How my father learned to drive

Me and my father

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

This is a story of how my father (tatay) became a great driver without having to own a car. He was already driving at an early age thanks to all the past jeepney owners in my birthplace of Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental in northern Mindanao, Philippines.  

I learned all these stories just recently from him as I spent two weeks at the family home there in the middle of July this year.  

I had a grand time conversing with my father Semeon Barros Naelga over a cup of coffee and “bingala” (cassava rice cake). Did I tell you that he is a driver first and a farmer second? 

He is the best at both of these trades, though. He has driven jeepneys, trucks and cars in his lifetime. In his childhood, he drove vehicles even if his family had no jeep.

This didn't stop him from dreaming I guess and he waited for opportunities to drive even other people's vehicles. At the time, there were jeep owners who rented their vehicles.

His story
I thought renting out a jeepney is being done nowadays but his stories tell me otherwise. I asked him if he was sure about his stories and he would answer by giving me that look that showed he is sure of what he's talking about.

To believe otherwise would mean the end of our lively conversation.  I can tell he searched his mind for a long time as he caught his breath and I know he was ready to tell his story. 

He said the first jeepneys that he managed to rent were those owned by Iyo (Uncle) Naking Cosin. He said Naking Cosin was married to a  Seno. 

I remember that one of the sons of Naking Cosin was married to the late Jenia Valdehuesa. Sure I recalled Naking Cosin--he was a businessman.

I couldn't exactly point out how much I remembered though. Could be I was still in my Nanay (mother's) womb or I was still a little girl then.   

Fare 
But the next jeep owner he mentioned was only a reminder of  memorable moments about it that are not only visions but images. Those good memories in my childhood. 

The next jeep owner was Iyo Telo as in Othelo Emano. Now, Iyo Telo I can remember. Othelo Emano’s house is strategically located in what is now fronting the manok (chicken) dealers at the other side of the highway. 

The old house is now, I think, a pharmacy and faces the store of my classmate Rolando Emano. Iyo Telo is the father of my Home Economics teacher Marilou who married my arithmetic teacher Ray Abejo. 

The late Othelo Emano is the younger brother of the father of former Misamis Oriental governor and former Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Vicente Emano.  But back to my father's story:

He rented the jeep at P7 a day. Wow, P7 a day you can’t beat that. But at that time that was a huge amount. My father told me that fare for adults going to Cagayan de Oro at the time was 20 centavos and it was 10 centavos for students. 

Memorable
This jeep, I recall, isn't as big as it is today. It's half of that size with a seating capacity of six people on each side I think with three people in the front including the driver. 

I remembered those days when my mother and I would be seated at the front as we headed to Cagayan de Oro. That was the time when I imagined how it felt good to own the jeep as I sat in the front with my parents. 

That in a way was how I felt because my father rented the jeep from Iyo Telo so technically it was ours for a day.

I previously said that going to Cagayan de Oro was one of my more memorable moments since everytime we go there my mother and I would visit Ludenas store to buy ready-made dresses.

Sorry, I forgot to ask my father how many times he has to go back to Cagayan de Oro and Tagoloan daily. Those trips honed his driving skills but my father admitted that there were days he couldn't drive since he was drunk at times.   

Detour
Then he mentioned the third jeep owner named Lucas Remolador who's married to Nang Udiang. Nang Udiang and Nong Lucas are the parents of the Remoladors like Rustica and Pilar.

My father also said that Lucas Remolador was one of the best mechanics in Tagoloan town. I knew the house of the Remoladors in barangay (village) Natumulan a few meters away from the house of Tio Memen Nemecio Neri. 

That was the time when barangay Natumolan from Centro can be reached via  short cut and you can still see coconut trees and fruit trees without the shanties that now dot the area.

Nowadays, we have to find the road because even a road right-of-way is a thing of the past. Sorry for the detour in my story.  

Eventually my father became a truck driver of Del Monte Philippines and he delivered pineapples from Bukidnon province to the Bugo Cannery. He had lots of stories about the kapre (giants) in Mangima, Bukidnon. 

Crossing the river
My father got his own car in later years given to him by his brother Mauro. Oh, how he loved it even if the car's body was deteriorating (kagangkagang.) 

At this time I asked him where did he learn to drive exactly since our family didn't own any vehicle. 

He gave me quite a lengthy story not only of how exactly he learned how to drive but a history of Tagoloan town so I ask you to bear with me as I go along with his account of what the old town was then.

My Lolo (grandfather) Felix “Ingge” Quilang Naelga worked in the “balsa”  and had my father as his buddy. Since there was no bridge from Centro to barangay Sta. Cruz  a “balsa’ was used. 

A balsa is a raft made of bamboo poles and rattan tied up together and uses a long piece of wood usually made of bamboo as a tool for crossing the river.   The balsa as he described it must be big to accommodate everything. 

Memorized
The balsa was used to ferry “isda, kahoy, lugit (fish, wood, rope) and passengers,” he said. The passengers are from Gingoog City and Malitbog, Bukidnon areas and the fare is free only if they hand carry their own items. 

The balsa navigates the Tagoloan river and the captain learns to navigate through the current. It cannot be used when the water level rises so the truck drivers would pay extra money to my grandfather to watch over the vehicles parked at his home.

Since it could not be transported to the river bank it was up to my grandfather to do something about it and my father watched how grandfather would start the ignition and park the vehicles to the front of the house. 

My father would drive the vehicles without grandfather's permission at times and he was scolded for it. He didn't mind it and told me that he memorized how to drive and the parts that went into these vehicles.

My father would observe how grandfather would drive the truck. He has no formal training as a mechanic or as a driver but eventually he taught himself how to brake, take out and attach the tires and so on. 

Salute
This started his love for jeepneys, my father said. A chance to drive these vehicles came when his cousins, the sons of Jesus Barros, would find means to skip classes so they would wash the trucks of “Gimpang Lim” (I hope I remember the name right). 

His cousins didn't like school and would hang out with my father and invited him to work with them in delivering the gravel (grabas) if he wanted to learn how to drive.

My father joined them, not because he didn't like school but he wanted to learn how to drive. He said they were among the laborers who worked on the pier of what is now Gingoog City.

He said they would deliver the sand and gravel to the construction site but there were times he had to do it alone because his cousins were too drunk at the time. They didn't even ask him if he knew how to drive nor if he had a license.

My father said he got nervous whenever he passes a policeman but his fears were unfounded since the cop would salute him. He said the truck bore the message “government projects do not delay.”

Humble
My father and his cousins stayed in Gingoog for several months and while his cousins were busy learning the tricks of drinking a lot of “tuba” (coconut wine) my father was busy honing his skills as a driver. 

My father went back home to Tagoloan as a confident young driver a year later. He applied for a license and he drove the vehicle owned by Naking Cosin who had no driver at the time. 

This is the (admittedly very long) story of how my father learned to drive and the people who helped him learn how to drive. My father is still of sound mind but the years have slowed him down physically.  

Still, I learned a valuable lesson and that is to never stop dreaming and live your dream, however humble it may be.

My father and I with family

(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who worked as a nanny and is now employed as a sub-teacher and a part-time teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.

Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.
You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063)

My daughter's wedding day

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

Today on Aug. 1, 11:30 a.m., my youngest daughter Maria Regina is getting married at Newport Town Council, England. 

Known as GG among friends and “Badik” to close family members, she would exchange “I do” to Simon Charles Boddison, her fiancée of two years.

It is a union of two adult people with diverse cultures who would like to live their lives together. 

“It is a small-relaxed wedding,” GG told me in confidence.  Attendees would include the mother of the groom Jean and his two sisters Lucy and Kate, brother-in-laws, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles. His very close friends would be in the event. 

Due to some medical issues Ronnie and I could not come and share beautiful moments with my daughter and her husband-to-be. 

GG would be wearing an ivory dress, white flowers and her veil is a birdcage type. 

She would do her own make-up. She's a simple girl with simple dreams and  is a romantic by heart. 

Her idea of a small intimate wedding includes choosing the music for her special day and her playlist consists of songs of Amy Winehouse, Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, The Ronnettes and other classics.

Six year old Louie Boddison, Simon’s son from a previous marriage, would give away the bride. 

The couple met for the first time two years ago in Charlotte, North Carolina and traveled together in some countries in Asia like Thailand and the Philippines. 

Simon works in Siemens UK and has been traveling all over the world while GG worked at the National Census Office in northern Mindanao before she came to the US five years ago. 

The wedding venue is at the Guildhall of Newport, one of the most prestigious and historic listed buildings in the town. 

The couple intends to settle in Newport, Telford, UK. 

Reception follows at the Granary Grill and Deli at Weston Park and the second reception will be held at the lovely home of Simon's mother.

(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who worked as a nanny and is now employed as a sub-teacher and a part-time teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.

Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.

You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063)

Stories of my mother

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

The two weeks I spent in my birthplace of Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental in northern Mindanao, Philippines was a reunion with my ailing father, whom I haven't visited for five years.

He might be boney and fragile but my Tatay (father) Simeon Barros Naelga's mind is as clear as the skies. During those few precious days with him I recorded all our conversations to serve as posterity for me. 

One of those topics we discussed was about his late wife, my mother Loreta “Lily” Ejem Espellarga Naelga. Sorry Nay (mother), we were talking behind your back--he said he was just stating facts about you now that you are gone.

He had no fears of retaliation from Nanay because she was six feet below ground. But trust me, my tatay's recollection of my Nanay was told with gentleness and love. I would see a tear or two drop from his eyes. 

It was not a straight recording I stopped twice for him to compose himself. Today, July 27th, is her 10th death anniversary today and she is always remembered by those she left behind. 

Nanay (Mother) took time to learn something especially if it has something to do with electricity and technology. She learned about it with my father's help but still scared if it is a new thing. 

There are exceptions of course and there are some things she didn't learn. The more I thought about it, it could be that her genes influenced my choices because there are some things I didn't push through like driving which I chickened out of.

Anyway I recalled the stories my father told me about her. One of these stories is my mother not learning to look at time. My father said he and Nanay were taught by the American Peace Corps how to read time. 

My father knew the difference between pocket watch, wrist watch, wall clock and table clock. The problem lies in my mother unable to memorize the Roman numeral equivalents to number 5 to 10 which is V to X.

We all know that V to X means adding I to V like VI or six and so on. This was too much for my mother, who knows only the Roman numeral equivalent from 1 to 5 or I to V.  

When she worked at the cannery at the former Philippine Packing Corp., now known as Del Monte Philippines, he bought a table clock with an alarm. He set the alarm before he goes to sleep and the problem came when he slept.

Tired after finishing the 2 a.m. work-shift, he would be roused from sleep by mama after the alarm went off. Since the alarm clock is set in Roman numerals she doesn't know the time so she wakes him and asks him what time it is.

He taught her how to set the alarm but she wouldn't budge because she was scared that she would break it if she set the time. To solve the problem, he asked that they work on the same shift and their employers agreed.

The second story involves my mother's fear of appliances that run on electricity. It's okay if it was battery powered but if it runs on electricity, she won't operate it. 

She doesn't have a problem with the refrigerator because it's always plugged in. The problem lies in the TV, stereo and others which usually involves unplugging it whenever there's a brownout and plugging it back in.  

When the appliances malfunction, she's not the primary suspect because of her fear of appliances. My mother was a simple woman who prefers to be left alone with her plants and laundry. 

Never one to complain, she is always proud of her children. Cooking wasn't her forte but she can do the laundry. She can cook rice without “dukot (burnt)” but she cannot cook any viand except stewed fish roe or ”inon-on.” 

One more thing, my mother has the most beautiful handwriting I have seen. She writes with dedication on a piece of paper that I noticed in my younger days. 

She might lose an argument with my father with people around since she is a believer of the old adage “respect me in the road, kill me in the house (respitahi ko sa gawas puede nan a patya sa balay) but trust me when in the house, my father would lose the argument. 

She was the winner. Yes it's been 10 years since she left us but her memory is still fresh to my mind especially the time when her seven children was on her bedside as she breathed her last. My father was outside her room at the time.

One thing I'm sure of is that she does not want to be buried alongside my father to which my father already made an oral will that he would like to be buried beside his mother at Sta.Ana cemetery. 

I guess it would be too much and too loud for the neighbors if they are together,  but don’t get me wrong they sure love each other.  My father is still a bachelor 10 years after her death.  

My sister Betty Alombro who's now based in Auckland, New Zealand told me the other day that there is a Filipino belief that on the 10th year of death the departed would be far away from their loved ones. 

That's sad because nobody would be guiding us anymore. How true that belief is I don’t know. She appeared in my dreams on several occasions and I knew it was her.  

We all love her to death and we hope she will still guide us until it is also time for us to leave this world.

(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who worked as a nanny and is now employed as  teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.

Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.
You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063)

The movies in my mind

Photos by Jong Casino from Facebook page Old Tagoloan

by Susan Palmes-Dennis 

Yes, there were movies back on the old days of my home of Tagoloan town in Misamis Oriental, northern Mindanao in the Philippines. 

I speak of this after reading a Facebook post of my friend and town mate Gerva Tagapolot nee Celeredad.

It stirred memories of a time in Tagoloan town when TV and radio were considered luxury items. I wasn't sure whether it was in grade school when I saw for the first time a giant white “telon” in the public plaza.

What I do remember is that there would be a van or a jeep that would go around the town announcing a free movie showing at the town plaza later in the evening. 

I was reminded that the movies were sponsored by “Purico” and Star Margarine. Purico is a brand name for lard. A quick side note: I remember Purico as a white bar used in cooking by my mother.

Worth living
I also remembered placing Purico on hot rice or corn if there is no fried fish, chicken or pork to eat it with. If days are good then I would also place Star Margarine on my rice. 

Since movies were hard to come by, these public film showings were always something to look forward. For me it made life worth living. 

Why? That's the time when school hours would zip by and household chores so easy to do because everyone wants to watch that movie in the plaza. 

Watering plants and cooking are done quickly and when everything is finished I bathe my sibling and dressed them so we can go to the plaza. 

Film showings are usually held during the summer evenings when the night air is cool and the acacia trees sway comfortably near the town plaza.

At its best
Bringing our own bench and some essentials we head to the plaza. My late brother Ramon Naelga would go with his buddies Onyot Rollenas and the other guys. 

We would be walking with my  aunt Luz Pete Naelga and her mother Nay Doring. The plaza isn't far from our home and so we are usually the first to arrive. 

We usually sit in the second row because the front row doesn't actually offer the best view for such a large screen. Same principle applies to today's IMAX I think.

Commercials would be playing as we wait for the movie to start. Seeing those images on the screen brings out a sense of wonder and awe in our eyes back then. To my young mind, it was technology at its best. 

Unlike Gerva who recalled the names of every movie held in the town plaza, I can only remember those cowboy and Indian movies in which the Indians are the bad guys. 

Double feature
This is unfortunate because at the time we associated unacceptable behavior or anything bad with Indians.

As the commercials played, the town plaza would soon be filled with people from all walks of life. Boys would be running around and chasing girls. Most are sitting on their benches while a few stood.

The film showings would usually consist of a two-hour movie followed by a double feature. I loved the movies but strangely can only recall those cowboys and Indian films. 

But even now I didn't know there was a movie house in Tagoloan town until I read Gerva's Facebook post entitled The Movies in My Mind.

She recalled the big movie house of Iya Pepe and Iyo Oloy Factura located in the same street that she used to live in. The movies there were sponsored by Sputnik, a traveling theater from Jasaan town. 

Breaking news
Gerva said there was no permanent schedule for screening as Sputnik would come to Tagoloan only after visiting other towns where it was eagerly anticipated by the fisherfolk.

The day would start with Sputnik securing permit from the late Tagoloan Mayor Antong Cosin. “Among my playmates, i would be the first to know because of my Tatay Kiking who was a police then. Must have been an early version of "breaking news". Haha!!!,” Gerva said.

After securing the permit, the yellow Sputnik bus with the big megaphone on top would start going around town to announce the movie showing scheduled for the evening. 

The lines would be visible at the ticket booth early in the evening. Gerva said her mother has relatives working at the Sputnik bus so she and her family watched the movie for free. 

“Inside the movie house were rows and rows of long benches in the balcony and orchestra areas. And like the moviehouses in the city, there was always the peanuts and other snacks sold by vendors near the entrance,” Gerva said.

Open air
Gerva recounted that when the movies are shown, laughter and screams would be heard depending on the film genre. At the end of every show the people would  form a line and leave, each with their own story to tell about the movies.

Besides Sputnik, other companies sponsored film showings like Darigold, a milk brand from Procter and Gamble. “It was an open air film showing in the town plaza and it was always well attended. But everyone has to bring their own chairs,” Gerva said.

Yes, those were good times. I may not recall every movie, but I cannot forget those film showings for they helped make my childhood more enjoyable and introduced me to a bigger world of which I would soon be a part of.

(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who worked as a nanny and is now employed as a sub-teacher and a part-time teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.

Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.
You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063) 

Good times anew in my hometown of Tagoloan

Photo by Jong Casino

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

For two weeks, I was home again in Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental in northern Mindanao, Philippines.

I'm at home in a town where I learned to read, write and do my arithmetic and multiplication tables. At home where my family and the friends of my youth live in, where life is just the best. 

For two weeks I was in Tagoloan and it is a beautiful town. It is one of the largest towns in Misamis Oriental and it is located to the east of Cagayan de Oro City and located southeast of Macajalar Bay. 

It is a residential and industrial town and according to Wikipedia it has five high schools, three colleges and two hospitals. Tagoloan has a population of 99,677 people as of 2013 and 29,677 registered voters as of 2010. 

As a member of the media industry in Cagayan de Oro City I knew that in the early 2000 there are 23,000 registered voters already and the number listed by Wikipedia is reasonable.

Migration
Tagoloan produced two governors in Vicente Emano and his son, the incumbent Governor Yevgeny Emano.
   
Not only did it produce politicians but also doctors, lawyers, engineers, nurses, teachers and other related courses. 

We also produced top military officials like retired Air Force General Gregorio Gerry Paduganan, son of the late Dodoy and Denny Gaccion Paduganan.

But there are many Tagoloanons who remained in the town and stood by it through thick and thin. There are many of them. I don’t have to name names and I salute them- they are the witnesses of what Tagoloan is today. 

When the Phividec Industrial Estate opened, many migrants from other towns and provinces came to Tagoloan for employment. As Phividec started growing, the migration increased and intermarriages followed. 

Stranger
Now I barely recognize a face in the crowd. Of course I understand that my contemporaries are either six feet under or migrated to other places. So for the first few hours, I felt like a stranger in my hometown. 

I recall being startled by the changes and I wasn't sure whether I could locate all the places I went to in my youth in today's Tagoloan town. Most astonishing to me then were the Mercury Drug Store and Paula Hotel—an actual hotel in Tagoloan town.

Tagoloanons can now shop in the town and don't need to go to barangay Puerto in nearby Cagayan de Oro City. What didn't change are the people in my town who remain friendly and well. 

Ask my friend Roy Paduganan and he would tell you. The stretch of the national road is a place of business. The Mercury Drug Store is located close to the home of Landa Yap who married a Dalman. It is no longer vacant. 

There are stores and business establishments of all kinds. Even the entrance of the Catholic cemetery could not be seen unless one is a frequent visitor of the cemetery. 

'Chicken place'
Then there is the hotel where my uncle Norman Naelga works and is operated  by the Ragandang family of Sta. Ana. Right in the hotel's backyard is a gasoline station. 

The area occupied by Iya Linda Lee or specifically the house owned by Seigfredo Lee is now known as the “chicken place.”  I forgot the name of the outlet though. Beside it is the terminal of taxis operating in the town.

Transportation is no longer a problem for those who can afford to go from Cagayan de Oro City to Tagoloan town. I think the fare is P300. Taxis are plenty along with the hundreds of trisikad and habal-habal (passenger motorcycle) operating in the town. 

Since there are a lot of commercial outlets, Tagoloan had become quite noisy. I recalled a time when it was a lot quieter and serene. I couldn't see the house of the Marianos because it is blocked by a three door commercial building which they own I think. 

Many other things remained the same. Tagoloan Central School, the Sta. Maria Candelaria Church  Catholic cemetery, the town plaza, St. Mary’s High school formerly known as St. Mary’s Academy and the Municipal Hall.

Improvements 
The Tagoloan Central School where I studied had been rehabilitated through the years.  I hope it won't be demolished unless it posed safety risks to the students and teachers. The building should be preserved. 

The Catholic cemetery which many believed is a public cemetery is filled with  occupants. When I visited the grave of my mother I think it rained the day before and it was messy. 

But I saw that there are improvements undertaken by the church. Five years ago I saw “condos” inside for the dead. The plaza is different now as there are finished and unfinished structures that cut its old size. 

A few acacia trees remain. The plaza used to be surrounded by acacia trees. 
St. Mary’s High School now looks new since the old one was burned several years ago. 

I hope it still houses the pictures of the old school. Being a former alumni president, I am supporting any project that improves the school. 

Nostalgia
The municipal hall is new and its compound houses new buildings. The old Puericulture center is gone. I don't know if it was necessary to demolish it to give way to the new PNP building.

The Puericulture Center, just like any other landmarks of Tagoloan, should have been preserved and rehabilitated to help Tagoloan residents remember the past. 

A long time ago I saw the market transferred to its new location. I have not visited the Tagoloan River due to time constraints. Maybe next time I would make sure to visit it.

I felt a deep sense of nostalgia on seeing my hometown. Everything seemed smaller than I remembered but it looks to be progressing and that's a good thing.

Photo by Jong Casino

(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who worked as a nanny and is now employed as a sub-teacher and a part-time teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.

Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.
You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063)