American Filipina

My Uncle died last week and I am a little in shock because he is the youngest of all my father's brothers. I have been misplaced on how to grieve, so I write and maybe I will arrive somewhere in the process. I dedicate this tale of four brothers. A real story from Agoo, La Union, Luzon, Philippines.  The concept of death somehow makes me feel the need to revisit birth. The tale starts with their father, Francisco, who fought as an ally with US troops in WWII. The history is relevant because had he not survived, I would not be here today.  War heros are ironic in a way that you can be proud, but ashamed at the same time. In a way the details of this story served as a backdrop of my child hood.  Images that both horrified me, but made me proud to come from a hard core lineage.  I am determined to make sure grandfather does not become a forgotten soldier.  This brings about the story of the impact that war has on generations.  Until this day, although I was not there, I feel t

Fables of Agoo: Now I write me down to sleep… : "There have been a lot of things happening lately that have prevented me from laying my thoughts down to paper. Ironically, the things that ..."

There have been a lot of things happening lately that have prevented me from laying my thoughts down to paper.  Ironically, the things that keep you up at night, I am thinking as I write before I sleep. Travel for work was like being instantly transplanted into a different time place continuum.  It is like a whole new life one lives without family.  The sole master of work can be focused on.  My food looks like art. I return home, only to wish a lifetime had not progressed in my absence.  To strengthen the maladjustment into my usual time zone and life, I am injected into a class reunion of twenty years.  People look different, but when you look into their eyes, you see some of the same people encapsulated into different bodies.  Perhaps they changed, but the mere collective presence of a particular set of people, again like a time machine, moves them back to a time and age of want and dream, a better place. Then to stop time, news of a relative that has gone ill, slows down the f