Surprise visit

I  received a surprise but very pleasant call early this morning from a favorite cousin. It turned out that she was in my parents' house together with another cousin (her brother) and our nephew and niece. Manang Maya or Rebecca Brey was visiting from Iloilo, taking advantage of the semestral break from her teaching job at La Consolacion School in Hinigaran, Negros Occidental. She was in Manila to meet up with our nephew Dexter Brey, who is the son of her elder brother Ernie. Manong Ernie passed away years ago and was about the age of my father. Manong and Manang's mother was the first cousin of my father but was ahead in years owing to a big family and my father being the youngest among the siblings. Accompanying Manang was her younger brother Ramon, whom I have not seen since maybe 1985 or 1986. That was 25 years ago! Our niece, Neneng Mana-ay, the daughter of Manang's elder sister, Violeta.

Dexter is in Manila to attend to personal matters. He is Registered Nurse and currently employed in a hospital in London after a stint in the Middle East. Another niece, Ivy, is there with her family and is also a nurse in another London hospital. She is the elder sister of Neneng. Dexter and I were quite close back when we were kids and regarded each other more like cousins rather than me being an uncle. He even introduced me to some of his pretty classmates at Cabatuan National Comprehensive HS when I was visiting my father's hometown in Iloilo. Nowadays, he is usually away from the country and preferring to take vacations in Europe and the United States rather than come home to Iloilo. This after his mother, Manang Dolores, passed away after battling a lingering illness. Dexter's story is a success story considering he was able to recover most if not all their properties that were pawned to finance his schooling and placement abroad, and I guess nowadays he has saved enough for a comfortable retirement later. He's the only child of Manang Dolores and Manong Ernie.

We took a few photos to mark the occasion of their visit to Manila and Cainta. I was careful to remember doing so considering I lost most of my family photos to Ketsana in 2009. We had many photos, Manang Maya, Dexter and I. Maybe Dexter was able to save quite a few in their Iloilo home. Perhaps I will borrow them for scanning in the future. I remember I even have a photo of Manong Ramon when he was a young lad. Many of my elder cousins stayed with us when they first came to Manila in the 1970's. I'm quite happy to know that they're all doing well though we seldom if not rarely have contact with each other.

 From left: Dexter, Manang Maya, Manong Ramon and Neneng. On the foreground is Tatay

From left: Me, Manang Maya, Manong Ramon and Neneng

Have a written about how much I owe Manang Maya and another cousin, Manang Dora for what I am now? They happen to be my first tutors before I had formal schooling. At the time when they were staying with us, both my parents were working so they took charge of helping me learn the ABCs and the 123s. I hope to write more about this soon considering there's is a lot to write about those days. I had only tears when Manang Maya left for Iloilo and eventually Negros in 70's. And I am always happy to see her whenever we meet. And she always refers to me as her palangga.