Growing old with white hair

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

I WAS looking through all the blogs at Blog Her/Life Well Said the other day and I came upon a blog entitled “How to tell if you’re getting old.” 

It inspired me to write my answer to that question. I can say I'm getting old because of the white or gray hair.

Much has been written about this topic and in fact there is another site that discusses how to fight against graying hair. Here, I will tell you my personal experience on how to deal with aging, specifically graying hair. 

First it is safe to assume that human beings want to maintain their youth. There are a select few who face creeping old age with calm and zero fear. 

As a woman I am one of those who's always conscious of their looks. It is human nature. Naturally, we would like to preserve our beauty or whatever beauty is there to preserve. 

In fact some signs of old age are scary to many others. It can cause distress and fighting it off would cost a fortune. 

Let me share then to you my own battle with graying hair. It was 10 years ago when I came across a few strands of gray hair in my hair brush. I was in denial about it but the more I brushed, the more gray hairs kept falling off my head.

When I started having white hair in high school, I didn't mind it because it was too few and far between. Back then, there's a “twissor” or tweezer that I used to pull out the white hair. It was a form of therapy for me especially during weekends.

When I was with my daughters and nieces, I bonded with them by letting them pull out my white hair. Problem is they pulled one strand too many and the white hair was enough to fill a small bowl.

When I was on TV, my hair's glossy look is maintained by the ever lovely Carla Salvana alias “Kilay 2000.” Carla, a native of Jasaan town in Misamis Oriental, northern Mindanao, Philippines remains my favorite hairdresser. 

I asked him one day where the strands of my white hair were and Carla would reply “it is all over madam. It was bullseye.”  Since then, I've been dyeing my hair every six months. 

To one used to having glossy black hair, blonde hair, strawberry red hair, brunette hair or whatever hair color, the presence of white or gray hair may at first be disconcerting and unbelievable. From six months, it became three months and so on. 

When I arrived in the US, I noticed that I had more gray hair. There's no Carla in the US and the cost of dyeing my hair may cost a fortune.

I've been reading on this subject and I came across an article entitled “The Science of Graying Hair.” In it, the writer said the human hair produces a strong hormone called catalyses that functions as an oxidative catalyst. Catalyses decomposes hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen.

In aging, the person's catalyses level lowers and the hydrogen peroxoide doesn’t break down and so can’t protect or build up hair follicle.”

Genes has something to do with the lowered catalyses level also. I did notice my mother’s hair turning white early on. So I think that's the reason why I had white hair early. 

Other studies would point to malnutrition and anemia as the culprits. My hemoglobin level is low so I guess that also led to my hair going white early.

I presented that problem to Carla Salvana six years ago and his answer was funny that even until now I recall it. “Madam- the problem with you is you look for white hair- don’t look for white hair so no worries.” It makes sense.

Still the question haunts me today. Will I still dye and hide my whitening/graying hair, deny its existence or just flaunt it? 

The many nights I've thought about it, the more I recalled Carla's answer. And come on guys, it's not only the hair on our head that grows white, it's also in our private parts.

Nobody told me about it, at least my mother never told me about it. So having lived quite a life, I embraced my growing old and I don't have any worries about it.

White hair is a sign of wisdom after all. Again, only the brave ones face this stage of life with calm and zero fears. For others, it's still a question of whether to dye or not dye one's hair. What about you, Gerva Celeredad?

(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)

Memories of the Tagoloan town fiesta

Tagoloan faithful paying homage to the town's patroness Señora Candelaria

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

I may be far from Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental in northern Mindanao, Philippines but I always remember February 1 and 2 of every year.

It is fiesta time in Tagoloan, that time of year, aside from Christmas and New Year, to be merry, eat homemade food and bond with friends and family and to attend Mass at the Sta.Maria Candelaria Church.

I've been writing about the Tagoloan fiesta every year and I never get tired doing it as it evokes pleasant memories of my birthplace. I recall the civic-military parade, dances at the plaza, the beauty queens, the band that would wake you up on fiesta day, the Mass with the many priests and of course the food.

I live to cherish those memories as it brings out the best in me. It has changed over time though- when I was little I love fiestas for personal reasons. Days before the relatives from different towns and provinces would come to the family home and I would get a break from household chores.

If I'm lucky enough the relatives would stay for a month to do the chores while I would be free to roam around the plaza, looking at familiar people or strangers and how they act.

This year in addition to my personal account I asked some long time Tagoloanon friends to share their memorable moments on February 1 and 2. The piece I wrote about the Tagoloan fiesta here in Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro drew comments from around the world.

Circus days

Gerva Celeredad, formerly Gerva Tagapolot, was a year ahead of me in elementary and high school and was in the top 10 in the class. For her, the Tagoloan town fiesta is a three-day affair and she remembered the fair and the big top circus headlined by the high wire act of Elvira Reyes.

The circus usually arrived months before the fiesta and some of them became friends with the Tagoloanons. The ancestral home of Gerva and her brother Yoyong is located at the back of the old public market where the civic military parade would pass by.

Image of the town's patroness Señora Candelaria

Another Tagoloanon, Nelcita Inday Lao, who's now based in California also remembered the circus. “And i love to go there almost every night, I love watching the circus people performing their trapeze and their games,” she said.

Nelcita Inday Lao who goes by the name Nelly Lao Montayre is the daughter of Vicente Lao”Iyo Titing” and Iya Eling. Nelly and Gerva are classmates. In those days teenagers head to the plaza to see their crushes.

In those old days, Tagoloanons prepare for the fiesta one year in advance because it is their way of thanking the Senora Candelaria, the patroness of Tagoloan.

We don’t buy meat we “grow” meat and according to Gerva, “every family would prepare food which usually comes from the pig grown in the backyard.”

To some families who don't have their own pig to slaughter there is the common practice of "ambit" which involves raising the pig of another family and on fiesta day they share the meat 50-50.

Introduction to journalism

Though the sound of pigs being slaughtered may be nothing and even enjoyable to fiesta revelers it makes my heart sad. Gerva said two pigs are butchered, one on the eve of the fiesta or known as besperas or ante- ante.

The meat from the first pig will be marinated and seasoned for the barbecue to serve as “pulutan” or finger food for the drinkers. The second pig will be roasted on the day of the fiesta itself.

Tagoloanons raise the pigs in their backyard and I would feed one of these pigs. I would be attached to the pig over time and I would cover my ears when it is slaughtered.

On to more pleasant times; another staple in the fiesta table is the “torta” or short cake. I wrote about “Iya Oling” Santander who made the torta in our family table in last year's piece.

Nelly recalled that she loved her parents' cooking. “I also love the cooking and baking of my Mama Eling, Papa Titing and my relatives,” she said.

Another part of the celebration which made it grand is the search for Miss Tagoloan. I think it's the week before the fiesta when the canvassing of votes for the candidates and most of the time I was present when they finished in the wee hours of the morning.

Actually the event introduced me to journalism work because I would be announcing the winners to the people.

On their best

“During our time, all the girls of Iyo Lino Nabong were Miss Tagoloan. Also the girls of Iya Marina Nabong from Baluarte,” Gerva said.

“During coronation night people would be treated to a fireworks display courtesy of the queen's family,” Gerva added. I thought it was the local government that would pay for it, not the winner's family.

During the coronation night only those invited would be allowed seats inside the fenced covered court. All the invited guests are dressed in their best finery. I remember Iyo Penito Casino dancing the cha-cha or tango with Iya Linda Lee.

I can also see the face of Elmer Casino of Sta. Ana and Manolo Torres. Then came the civil military parade of the queen and her court together with students of Tagoloan Central Elementary School and St. Mary's High School and the line was long with the floats of Miss Tagoloan and her court.

Students are on their best with clean, crisply ironed uniforms. During those times there were those who would be hopping from house to house for the BH or “bring house” meals that they can take home to eat.

Usually “mommies” would bring their own cellophane or plastic wrap for the BH. This amused Gerva no end because it explained why households in Tagoloan prepare an inordinate amount of food on fiesta day.

I asked Mavie Adis Collins, who lived in Sta. Ana Tagoloan town and is now based in New York to share her memories of the Tagoloan fiesta and she recalled attending Mass with her family.

“Si mama magdala kandila tapos malipay na mi watching parade ayha mamista (My mother would bring candles and we would be happy watching the parade and visiting the homes of friends to eat),” she said.

Mavie recalled that they visited the home of the late Vencie Dagus and the Paduganans. There are still a lot of stories to share and I promise to tell more next time. For now, let me and my family in the US greet every Tagoloanon a happy fiesta. Viva Senora Candelaria!

Parades always bring out the crowd.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 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)

Believing in Royale Beauty and Health products

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

I'M proud to be selling Royale Beauty and Health products. I'm not registered officially but still I believe in the product because I am a user. For this piece, I will focus on the Kojic papaya soap. 

Papaya products aren't new to me since I saw my mother use papaya extract when I grew up. Allow me to deviate and engage in a little throwback of long ago and far away. 

I got my expertise in washing clothes from my mother who would wash clothes twice a week at the Tagoloan River under the acacia tree. 

I can see in my mind that her favorite spot is below the “pangpang” or cliff where the terraces of Estela Pangca is located right now. 

While waiting for the clothes to dry off, my mother would ask me to get some papaya leaves and coconut milk. She would then get the best stone, wash it and start pounding the papaya leaves and scoop the extract, applying it to her face and legs. 

I saw the green extract. After a few minutes she would also apply the coconut milk. Looking back now I think her fair complexion came from using the papaya extract since I saw no other beauty products in the house then. 

That's one of the reasons why I am endorsing Royale Products not only for the memories of my past but also because I am witness to my mother's natural beauty which was enhanced by natural extracts from coconut and papaya. 

Truth be told, a lot of beauty products are manufactured from plants, herbs, leaves and extracts. 

I am reminded of these because I believed that the crude and unsophisticated beauty tricks used in the old days are the same things we are using now. 

The papaya juice used before found its way to the Kojic papaya soap and other anti-aging soaps and products of Royale or other companies manufacturing the beauty products. 

The Royale Business Club International,Inc a health and beauty company founded in the Philippines six years ago used ingredients from the available herbs, plants, flowers used by the older generation. 

This Kojic Papaya soap moisturizes and lightens the skin and has mild peeling effect. 

It also uses coconut oil and papaya extracts. 

Two days ago I had a talk with my dear friend Nelissa “Beth” Perez Kremer who recounted that she used papaya and Perla soap while growing up in Boog, Pagadian City. 

Beth, who lives in Roanoake, Virginia, promised to order because like me she believes in the Royale Beauty and Health products. For orders of any of the Royale Beauty products contact me through dennisnene140@yahoo.com and through these link and this link.

(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)

Making our New Year's resolutions

Image taken from www.the-joy-of-living.com

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

Do you usually make New Year’s resolutions? If your answer is yes then you are like me and the rest of this world. We all make resolutions every year. 

And I am reminded of this question since three days from now it would be 2015. My practice of making New Year's resolutions started long ago when I was a pupil of Tagoloan Central Pilot School. 

You see, after Christmas vacation my class would be asked by our teachers to write paragraphs of how we spent our Christmas vacations and our respective New Year’s resolutions. 

I think it was then Miss Realina Tapulgo now Mrs. Dalapag who would ask these questions. She was our Grade 5 teacher in charge. Since then it has become habit every year for me. 

Many of the resolutions are actually those that we failed to fulfill last year or in previous years that were recycled in the present. Of course there are new stuff--those that are imbued with energy and are achievable goals. 

Justification
Most of the resolutions revolve around fixing one's personal life, faith, love and recently health. 

As I grow older I call these goals or resolves to jumpstart the future. I also call them guides or personal GPS. There are resolutions that are grandiose and unrealistic. 

Some of these new plans are joining a gym to get fit, writing one page a day for my column Straight from the Carolinas /(apologies to Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro editor-in-chief Grace Albasin) keeping up with one's inbox, walking, eating less, studying and saving money. 

The lists are long and filled with so many ideas. But those I mentioned I consider doable and can really be done if the will is strong. 

But as most of us know, the novelty wears off as we get bored and discouraged in the coming days and we make all the justification in the world on why we stop doing it. 

Simple
We’re suddenly confronted with the daily challenge of sustaining our goals. Unexpected events throw us off course. We need to stay late at work, we can’t leave our smart phone or a relative gets sick. 

One day of missing that goal then leads to missing the next day and the next day, until we feel defeated and our goal is abandoned. I admit I am one of those who would do some and forget some. 

So this year I am making resolutions that are simple and short term. Topping my list of resolutions is to finish reading the Bible and following the doctor’s advice. 

To make this more interesting I asked some friends if they still believe in New Year's resolutions. 

Yes they still believe- in fact one of them Lynn Wolfe started one resolution last year about using Facebook less and I think she is still figuring out if she would do it. Anyway some of the answers I got from my friends are interesting. 

Determination
Mayette Rivera Bailey of Orlando, Florida still believes in New Year’s resolutions. “I would eat less because I am diabetic,” Bailey said. 

Many of us really work religiously on our health in the first days of the year  but eventually stop in the middle of the year. But some like Mayette would continue doing it. It all depends on one's will and determination. 

Mayette also wants to reduce her time on Facebook. It remains to be seen but that resolution is also shared by another Fil-American Lynn Lim Wolfe, my town mate now based in Chicago.

“Last year less FB because sometimes I can't fulfill what I set out to do because I always face the PC but I try to avoid it,” she said. Wolfe admitted that she had given up on making New Year's resolutions because it's hard to achieve no matter what one does. 

You might even consider making your own New Year’s resolution to become more resilient, to better able to find solutions and maintain your overall determination in all that you do. 

Sticking with your plan
Resolve not to let small setbacks – or even large ones – throw you off your game. Once you resolve to find a healthy determination and mindset to tackle problems one by one, you’ll be mentally and spiritually re-charged. 

Go ahead, set realistic goals, but also set an extra one – the goal of sticking with your plan when the going gets tough.

Another Fil-Am friend of mine, Nelissa Beth Perez Kremer of Virginia has this to share. “My New Year's resolution is to give more meaning and action to what I desire.” 

When asked to expound she explained that she wanted to help others and give back to society. 

“I will focus more in helping students in the remote areas in the Philippines. I was reminded of my childhood schooldays when my niece told me on the phone she cried at school because she was unable to finish copying the teacher’s lesson from the blackboard,” she said.

Lynn Polk with her grandchildren

Inputs
Kremer, who hails from Boog, Pagadian City in Mindanao, Philippines, cannot believe that until now Filipinos back home still have to write down notes. Here in the U.S. students are provided with photocopy lessons for the day. 

“I will save some dollars and help one school buy a copier or maybe there will be some generous fellas who will help me with my project,” Kremer said.

Lastly, there's this input from Lynn Lorenzo-Polk: “ My New Year's resolution is to make someone's life better, in any way I can. I'm going to focus on that”

I would add their resolutions to my list for next year. Thanks Lynn Polk, Nelissa Beth Perez Kremer,Lynn Wolfe and Mayette Rivera Bailey for your valuable inputs. 

(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 life stories: My long and fulfilling journey to teaching

My life stories: My long and fulfilling journey to teaching: by Susan Palmes-Dennis I’VE always wanted to become a teacher ever since I became more aware of the world around me.  I recall holding m...

My long and fulfilling journey to teaching

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

I’VE always wanted to become a teacher ever since I became more aware of the world around me. 

I recall holding my first class in a makeshift classroom made of old wood near the old family house fronting the Tagoloan River. I think I was in Grade 3 then and my pupils were my sisters Laura, Betty and my “little aunt” Luz Naelga who is the same age as Laura. 

My family and I in the photo

I couldn't exactly remember if my baby sister Aida was already born at that time. I also have other kids as pupils in my class who live as far as the house of Lola (grandmother) Eging Casino. 

My brothers Simeon Jr. and Ramon attended my class for a while but the lure of diving and playing “tirador” (slingshots) with the other boys proved too much to resist. 

I also have in that class the late Mary Ann Paduganan who later became the City Clerk of Court in Cagayan de Oro City. I also had the late Glafer Dagus and her sisters Brenda and Lalaine. 

Pirating students
I guess they had fun in my class as they kept coming and I had fun as I made up stories and mimicked my favorite elementary teacher Iya Puring Nabong Pacheco.  

At first I held class in our secret hideout and it became a frequent activity especially in the few days leading to the end of school season in March. Two months after, we were supposed to attend Rosary class. 

After sometime there were already non-regulars who came and started to create trouble in my class. I had to stop not only because of them but because Glafer “Pering” Dagus started her own school at their house, “pirating” my students.

She had better materials because her father, the late Benjamin Dagus, was connected to the PACD, the forerunner of the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG).

After a while even my sisters were absent from my class and attended Pering's class. Looking back it just dawned on me that it was really funny.

Defining moment
My school materials were old notebooks and books of Pepe and Pilar and also magazines (Philippine Graphic and Free Press) that my mother subscribed to which was delivered by Ms. Pingping Villegas while she worked at the Philippine Packing Corp.(now Del Monte Philippines).

I think those classes planted the seed of my love for teaching in my mind and  Pering also encouraged me to become one as she became a kindergarten teacher in Tagoloan town. 

As a senior in St. Mary’s High School in Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental in northern Mindanao, Philippines, my classmates and I were required to teach  catechism at the public elementary school.

I was assigned in Grade Six Section 1 three times a week. I was always excited to go there. It was my defining moment at that time. 

I can remember the students under me and that means I was ahead of them four years: Mercedes Sabio (through the years we maintained our friendship and she is a certified public accountant) now based here at New York, the late Mary Ann Paduganan, a lawyer, Urcel Casino (the beauty queen), Josefina “Jojo” Casino, who's also here in the US.

Life story
Other students include Pinky Lim, now a banker who spends most of her time working for the church in Tagoloan town, Bertilla Akut, my late brother Ramon and Eduardo Casino, Tess Gala and Marivic Yap. The list is long but they are the people I remembered in my class then.

At center Puring Nabong Pacheco. (Photo/Tagoloan Heritage USA)

I might have taught them well since they made good in their lives. My sincere apologies to those whom I failed to mention here.

Through the years my love for teaching was set aside as destiny would lead me to take up commerce as my first degree, then I took up Masteral units. 

The opportunity to teach again came in without me asking for it when I started to take up law  and worked at the 6th Municipal Circuit Court of Tagoloan-Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.


At the time, then Tagoloan mayor Arteo”Arting” Valdehuesa was defeated by a newcomer Vicente Emano who later rose to become the governor of Misamis Oriental. Sorry for the detour; I am writing my life story, not local politics.

Permanent assignment
Now back to my story. I was still taking up law at the time Judge Valdehueza assumed as Municipal Circuit Judge. He taught at the Cagayan de Oro College (COC) now known as COC-Phinma.

Judge Arting would be absent at times because of his heavy case load or he felt ill and he would ask me to teach on his behalf. It wasn't long before it became a permanent assignment for me.

Judge Arting entrusted his teaching load to me and it kicked off my teaching career in college. You never know when and where life leads you. 

I finished my law course and worked in media outlets in Cagayan de Oro City, also in Misamis Oriental, northern Mindanao in the Philippines.

I started at the local daily Mindanao Goldstar then to Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) dxCC then to Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro then to dxCO and finally to COC TV/Radio.

Fulfilling
I took up Masters in Communication Management and I was invited by the College of Mass Communications of Liceo de Cagayan University to teach radio broadcasting and media ethics where I stayed for eight semesters I think.

Before I left for the US, I was teaching at Xavier University College of Agriculture's Development Communication Department.

Several years after I set foot in North Carolina, I became a member in a pool of substitute teachers in one of the biggest school systems in the US and I work daily.

Until now I could hardly process what happened along the way. I guess I continue to focus on my dream of becoming a teacher. 

I value teachers as they are among the most noble of professionals in the world. I continue to abide by the values taught to me by my teachers like the late Purification Nabong Pacheco, Godilla Eduave, Realina Tapulgo, Mrs. Apolonia Yap, Mr. Ray Abejo and Nora Lim. 

Of course I also remember teachers like Rodrigo Gape and Mr. Ranedo. It was a long and fulfilling journey indeed and I'm not about to stop now.

The Grade 6 graduating class. (Photo/Tagoloan Heritage USA) 

(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)

On celebrating Thanksgiving Day Fil-Am style

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

I WROTE last year about how Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the US and how it became a national holiday. This year’s holiday falls on the 27th, the last Thursday of November. 

Thanksgiving Day is like Christmas and New Year rolled into one, when people would cook their best dishes and share their blessings with the family and their friends. 

This tradition had been handed down for many generations after the first Thanksgiving Day celebrated by the Pilgrims on the first harvest in the New World in 1621.

It is just like how we celebrate fiestas in the Philippines where we have the “anti anti” that is the second day before the fiesta and the bisperas (eve of the fiesta). 

According to American history, Thanksgiving before lasted three days and it was attended by 90 native Americans and 53 Pilgrims. Since then it has become a federal and national holiday. 

Conception Palonpon Auman preparing Thanksgiving dinner

Funny and serious
The past five years I've been going with Ronnie transferring from one home to another, sharing and partaking of their blessings. 

As you know it's best to celebrate blessings and joys with others since it would only be Ron and me at home.  I thank all for the invitations by the way.

This year I asked other friends to share their stories on how they celebrate Thanksgiving. 

Some are funny and serious; stories that deal on how they cook the bird (turkey) to the use of the best silverware as well as maintaining a good working relashionship with employers and many others. 

Lynn Lorenzo-Polk who has been here in the US for close to four decades recounted how she invited her future husband Jim and his family over for Thanksgiving.

“I never cooked a turkey before this event. This would be the first time meeting his family and everything was going to be perfect. I put that bird in the oven and an hour later, I smelled something burning and the bird caught on fire and I threw everything, pan and all, in the backyard. Talk about being embarrassed! We didn't have a turkey that day and no one will ever have one in the Lorenzo-Polk household,” she said.

Of course it doesn't mean that she no longer wanted a turkey dinner. But Lynn, a former president of the Fil-American Community of the Carolinas (FACC), would prefer that someone else cook it than her. 

She also said the Polk family have no rituals except that every family take turns having Thanksgiving dinner in their houses. 

“Before dinner, everybody would hold hands and say what they are thankful for,” Lynn said. 

Dr. Michael “Mike” Borja, incumbent FACC first vice president, said Thanksgiving is that time to reflect on the past events of one's life, “to remember the good things we have which we were brought by the people who help us.”

The Weaver family

Thankful
The soft-spoken Borja, a pediatrician, said Thanksgiving Day can be celebrated with either a feast or a simple dinner with loved ones.  Dr. Stella Lawsin remembered how her family celebrated Thanksgiving. 

“I remembered the Thanksgiving Day we had in our home a few weeks after I gave birth to my daughter eight years ago. My husband's entire family came to visit to see the baby. We used our formal wedding china and silverware for the first time. After dinner, we all played volleyball at the neighborhood clubhouse as an excuse to eat more food afterward,” she said.

From my friend Belen Alde of New Jersey who came from barangay Tiring in Cabatuan town, Iloilo province to the US in 1993, Thanksgiving Day is something she and her family celebrates every day.

“When I got here in the US, I worked as a nanny for a New York City family for 15 years. I raised their two children from birth until their eldest was 15 and the youngest was 12. I had a very good working relationship with the family. They treated me like family with love and high respect. It broke my heart when I left them but I had to move on. I still kept in touch with them after I got my second nanny job. God is great and He takes care of me that's why I am always thankful,” Belen said.

Carllyn Francisco Ave said “Thanksgiving is a daily state of mind and heart due to Jesus Christ’s unfailing, overwhelming, eternal love to me. Each day is a gift to bring Him glory and honor.”

The Weaver boys

Happy times
Originally from Valenzuela, Metro Manila, Carllyn went to the US 17 years ago and is now happily married with JP Ave, FACC first vice president in 2013. 

Another friend Evelyn Paza, the former manager of the Philippine Information Office (PIA) in Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental, northern Mindanao in the Philippines, said she can't celebrate Thanksgiving Day because she's always asked to work on that date in New York.

At least Syvel Labajo Weaver, a former native of Butuan City can celebrate the holiday with her family. 

“I received a quick education on Thanksgiving Day from my husband and his family because I arrived in the US in November of 2007. My husband's birthday is November 25th and my mother-in-law is November 23rd so their birthdays fall on Thanksgiving Day every 7-8 years,” she said.

“They have always considered Thanksgiving Day one of the most important holidays. In our house, Thanksgiving Day is a time for family, a time to thank God for all he has given us and to rejoice on what we have, not what we want. It is a time to laugh together as a family, eat a good meal and think back in all the happy times in our lives,” Syvel said.

Favorite day 
Syvel works at home, tending to her business on distributing Royale beauty and health products. Yet another Fil-Am, Concepcion Palonpon Auman said she celebrates Thanksgiving Day the traditional way.

“Of course besides feasting I remember to express my gratitude for the blessings in my life. Thanksgiving Day means being grateful and thankful since it opens the door for more blessings to flow into your life.”

Concepcion, originally from Masbate, said she came to the US 20 years ago. She said Thanksgiving Day is her favorite day because almost all Americans and Canadians celebrate it.”

“My children are always waiting for this once a year. I don't like turkey but I eat a lot of food and that's something to be thankful for.”

There is still a lot of stories to tell so stay tuned. I'll also write about the annual Black Friday event in my next blog post.

For now let me end this blog post with words from one of my favorite authors Nicholas Sparks who wrote on his book The Longest Ride: “As hard as life can be and despite all regrets there have been moments when you felt truly blessed.”

Advance Happy Thanksgiving Day to all!

(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)