More From The Party

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Precious Baby Gus

This is Yohannan Auguste Rankine-Noke. He is the youngest of my grandchildren. He is a little bit bigger than this. I am looking forward to seeing him soon.

Rosanne's Children

Zachary all handsome and bright!

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Big Sister Jasmine, Zachary and Gus

They live in Mobile, Alabama. I don't see much of them. I miss them a lot!

More Pictures

Garrett and Alexander laying down on Dominic's trampoline. It is one of the best spots in Lauren's yard to take naps and read a book.

Random Pictures

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Pictures From The August Party

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Michigan

Family Defined

Alone today, the semester starts the day after tomorrow. Woke up earlier, Lauren, John, Dominic and Mike were leaving for Cedar Point. Cedar Point, is a park in Ohio; about 2 1/2 hours from metro-Detroit with lots of rides. Lauren loves rides, so does Dominic. Lauren was in the 9th grade, the last time I was in Cedar Point. I drove Lauren and a group of her friends there. I went to Cedar Point a lot more when my children were young.

I was going to go and take Manny with me but changed my mind. Manny is a bit small and there will be no one to take him on the rides. A lot of the rides have height and weight requirements. I don't like rides. Rides make me dizzy and sick - literally throwing up sick. I remember Tia Geline taking me to a carnival in Cebu City - the merry go round made me sick.

Anyway, it is a family day for Dominic. His birthday had been celebrated since last Sunday - on Friday, there was a birthday party at his Grandma Barb's and Grandpa Marty's house with John's family.

Yesterday - his actual birthday, September 1, I took him to Burger King for lunch. We told some birthday stories, like how we were all at the hospital, at the birthing room when he was born - Leto, Rosanne, Donna and I, that is. Donna is the first family member to hold him. Dominic is 12 years old now.

I gave Dominic his first copy of "War and Peace" for his birthday. Paperback with a promise of a hardcover if he finishes the paperback one. I was about his age when I started reading "Anna Karenina" from the old Northern High School library - I was 12 years old just finishing my junior year in high school. I remember talking to Noe Sy about Tolstoy.

Before I knew it, I was reading "War and Peace" right after that. I can't remember where I got the book. Lola used to get so angry that I read so much - she said I was very much like my mother - I guess Mom read a lot, too !!! Of course, that is according to Ms. Branzuela and Mr. Belarmino.

Yesterday afternoon, Dominic's Grandma Del had a barbecue birthday party for him at her house with Mike's family. He is a very lucky boy.

I did not meet my father until I was 13 years old.

Today, he is with his immediate blended family. Mike was a bit late, he lives across town - not quiet as far as Donna's but far enough.

We have come a long way, I still vividly remember the spankings and "Luhod sa Bugas"-
whenever Lola and Tia got wind that I had contact with any of the Rojos.

Go figure??? Catmon is a very small town - there was no way to escape contact with the Rojos, let alone hide the contacts. The gossip mill was faster than electronic e-mail, then!

I have to admit that I went out of my way to seek a relationship and connection with my father's side of the family, no matter what happened to me in process. I understand now, that it is a very natural process in human development.

Leto has Manny with him every other weekend and when he is off school or work in between. He pays his child support and carries other parts of the parenting burden. It is sometimes difficult for him - Manny lives with his mother, stepfather and siblings in Detroit and Leto lives in Ann Arbor.

I spoke to Rosanne today - just got back from church with her two boys Zachary and August (Zach and Gus). And during school holidays and summers, Creek's daughter Jasmine lives with them in Mobile, Alabama. Jasmine lives with her mother in Atlanta, Georgia.

Zachary is being home schooled. He is a very smart boy - can read and write well for a 5 year old. Rosanne is trying to save him from kindergarten boredom.

It looks like Gus may need another surgery on his tibia - I feel so bad for him. He was born with club feet. He has had to go through so many surgeries on his feet and ankles. He continues to wear braces but is walking fine according to Ro.

This is how my branch of the family is defined at the moment. Who knows what the future holds for families these days?

Hello, Kapitan Panta Families - Wherever You Are

Lolo Aqui used to tell wild stories about flying saucers and aliens landing in the bamboo grooves - the strange physical characteristics and vehicles - used to scare me a lot but I also loved it - so I would beg for Lolo Aqui tell me about the agta, or the woman who walked around Poblacion and hang out by the imburnal - that was before Ingko David moved their house and store there - so it would go on and on. It was greeaat! After listening to the stories my imagination would just go wild all night.

Remember, this was before electricity, paved roads and the last "Autobus" trip came around 8:00 PM - the end of motor traffic!!! - unless Uncle Tino had a housecall to make or an emergency run by the "corporation" - which was really a truck driven by
Tio Pedro Monsanto before he was mayor.

Anyway, after viewing Mecmec's website with the family reunion posting - I was overwhelmed. I cried a little from my heart's longing to be with all of you. Then today, I thought about Lolo Aqui a lot. I wonder what he would think about some of advances in communication and technology. I missed him a lot - his stories and his smell - he always smelled like a freshly bathe baby.

I am going to be very busy - school starts next Tuesday, I teach on Tuesdays. I am doing RA training tomorrow - had 3 faculty meetings already - skipped 2 of those - had a community meeting in Westland. Had an advising session with one of the Filipino students from Bacolod today - it was fun - he is very homesick,too.

Thank you Many Aliado and Ingko Tony - of course,Mecmec. Please feel free to comment on my blogs.

Family There, Family Here, Family Everywhere

The new generation in Michigan - Manny (Leto's son) and Mina (Nicole's Daughter)



Here's Donna and I - daughters of Teresa (Nene) - daughter of Emilio and Beatriz Montecillo.



The family here is small - these are the girls in the family taken a long time ago. In the center is Lauren, Nicole, Edna, Rosanne, Donna, Julie and Karen. Where was Gina?



Manoy Aliado gave me this family reunion photo in 1997. Although, I don't know everybody - would love to know everyone - I keep the photo in my office. A new one would be great!!! Hint, Hint!

Family, Family, Family!!!

This is John, Lauren's partner and Dominic. All these photos were taken on my 60the birthday party.


This is Alexander - Nicki's youngest son - a character for sure.


Frank is Donna's hubby. Gabriel is Nicole's middle son. He has a very Montecillo face, I think.



Can you believe it - Donna is Leto's godmother. Look at him now!


With two of my grandsons - Dominic and Emmanuel. Taken on my 60th birthday party. Oh How time flies - I do miss Ro and her boys a lot - Gus and Zachary.

Summer With Dominic

My day started early and well - went to breakfast at Baker's Square in Livonia (they closed the one in Westland). Then went for a hike at the Livonia Rotary Park with Larry. I like the park because of the woods and the trails along a tributary to the Rouge River. Reminds me of walking along the Naghalin River close to the bridge towards Suba.

It is very hot and humid today. Took my grandson, Dominic to the Henry Ford Museum. It is one of the largest historical museums in the country. Among other things the chair they used to carry Lincoln after he was shot is there - the bloodstains can still be seen. So is the car the President Kennedy was riding in, when he was shot is also there and so is Edison's laboratory and all that - it would take a good three to four days to really take in everything and appreciate US history and all that.

Needless to say, it is one of the coolest places in metro-Detroit if not Michigan. We went to see the "Rock Stars Cars and Guitars" exhibit. So we saw the cars owned by Madonna, Elton John, Elvis Presley, etc and the guitars also!!!

Yes, John Lennon's custom psychedelic Rolls Royce is beautiful. The paint job is a magnificent work of art.

We went to Henry Ford Museum three weeks ago. I did not post this earlier because I was looking for a picture of Dominic to go along with it - he has grown a lot - just a bit taller than I am.

I am not sure how the summer disappeared - haven't been swimming at all this year - have only been sailing one time - now I have one more week before school starts. I am rearranging my office - already had one faculty meeting last week and I think two more next week. A lot of thunderstorms lately and I hate driving in the rain.

Thunder and lightning still frighten me but not as bad - I use to literally crawl in bed and cover up.

Connecting Relatives

I love doing this!!! During our conversation tonight I just happened to mention how much I enjoy reading the blogs of Phoebe Montecillo Salabsab Coloscos to my sister Donna Jean Montecillo Elliott Hayden. So she asked me to show it to her.

I got on the computer here in Garden City as she got on the computer at her house in Sterling Heights (47 miles away). Donna is not into computers. So I walked her to Phoebe's blog on the phone. We had fun, although I couldn't get her to leave a comment.

I am still trying to talk her into getting an e-mail account. Slowly but surely she is getting around this wonderful technology.

Then the conversation switched to our observation that Manoy Aliado Concha (Uncle Johnny to Donna)was in one of the pictures of Mecmec's Sinulog slide show. So we had to go to the website www.thecatmonanon.cjb.net to check.

This is getting to be fun, sharing with the family here. I hope that you will all continue to keep up the good work so we can stay connected.

The Picture Of Success

This is my picture of success. Every year at the Madonna University graduation ceremonies, I have the pleasure of watching my students receive their diplomas. This particular student is from Albania. He is now in graduate school working on his graduate degree in health services. It has been a pleasure working with students from all over the world.

Two of my students from the Philippines just stopped by to let me know that they are back to Michigan. They opted to stay in the US and do some traveling, rather than go back to the Philippines for the summer. One of them is graduating this year. They just returned from South Carolina and Florida. They will be going to New York City tommorrow.

Another student from India, just returned from visiting a Hindu temple in upstate New York. Upstate New York is one of my favorite places in the US - everyone else can have New York City.

Just thought I would share a tiny slice of my life.

Tagay Tuba

On one of the shows, they had an expert give some guidance and tips on "How to Cope at the Wine Shop". I started laughing because I grew up running to stores to buy "Usa Ka Tipo" for Lola. I hated it - especially if it was dark at night - this was before electricity came to Catmon. But Lola liked her tuba. Have to admit - real good tuba tastes like champagne. No lie!

From my current position, education and life experience, I feel sad and more sympathetic about Lola Bette's plight and the other victims of the disease, Alcoholism is a disease. This disease has a biological, psychological and social component.

Genetic components make some folks more prone to the disease. So the prevention strategy that works best is complete abstinence. The younger the exposure to alcohol the higher the risk for the disease.

Psychological stress and issues can heighten the risk of disease. Often times people use alcohol to relieve psychological pain and stress. Anger, emptiness,loneliness, abandonment issues, grief issues, etc. can lead people to self medicate with alcohol and other drugs to ease if not forget the pain.

Non-judgemental, open, supportive conversations and the acquisition of coping skills are some of the healing and prevention strategies that are proven to have worked. This is one of the reasons why Alcoholics Anonymous is the most effective and successful strategy in the world.

The social component is composed of the family and friends around the individual. "Birds of a Feather, Flock Together" is the operative saying. Peer pressure, the need to be accepted and looked upon as "Cool" play a huge part. The strategy to use in prevention is to vary the people around you.

Alcoholism is a family disease. It has a reach of at least 7 generations, even with interventions and complete abstinence. Nobody wakes and decide "I think I am going to be an alcoholic today." The craving and need to drink, when the disease is full blown is completely involuntary. To stop "cold tureky" can be very dangerous.

Incidentally, if you search for "Montecillo" in the web. The majority of the hits is for Montecillo wines from Bodegas Montecillo. The origins are from the Ebro River Valley, South of Barcelona, Spain. If part of our ancestry originated from there, this makes us a high risk family!

So go figure!

Tata Batyong

The first one of the brothers to travel to the US was Tata Batyong (Gervasio). Apparently, he signed up as a Philippine Scout during the first world war. The Philippines was a colony and possession of the US then. That was around 1914 - 1916?? - will have to check my history for exact dates.

I am not sure how many of the Catmonanons served in the military, but quiet a few settled in Detroit. I know Tata Batyong served for sure because he was able to collect a small pension for his service. He brought my grandfather, Emilio to the US and I believe Michigan. Later on, his twin brother (Protacio) Uncle Tasio and his nephew, Uncle Carling(Carlos Regalado) came also. I will write about what I know about them in another blog.

Their cousins,Uncle Bennie (Benito Rivera Jurado)and Uncle Paul (Pablo Rivera Jurado)also came and settled in Detroit. So did Uncle Elie (Elias Rivera Jurado Monsanto)- Lola Ninang's son who later married Auntie Nina Joromo.

I don't know how or why Tata Batyong ended back in Catmon or how and why Uncle Tasio ended up in Knightsen, California. It is one of the twist and turns of family history that we may never find out.

It has been fun for me to think and write about the family story. I hope you will share this with your family. Knowledge of family history is supposed to be good for the identity development of young people.

Family provides us roots to keep us grounded and help us grow.

Immigration or How We Ended Up In Michigan

I showed tourism pictures of Cebu to some of my co-workers. All glossy and beautiful. The first questions asked are: "Why did you leave? What are you doing in Michigan?"

The short answer is "My Mom is from here. She was born in Tennessee Street in Detroit, on December 14, 1926."

I have seen the house. It was in a neighborhood where I worked with Habitat for Humanity for a couple of years. The City of Detroit actually gave me a Certificate of Appreciation this year for "Dedication and Commitment to Revitalize the Community" - sad, to say the city is in disrepair and need a lot of help.

Lolo Emilio - I have never met him but, I understand he was quiet a guy although very sickly - more about this later - took Lola Bette and his kids to Catmon a couple of times. The depression came with the hard financial times on the second trip.

Lola Bette was pregnant with Auntie Geline. She stayed in Catmon, where Auntie was born. Then, the Tydings McDuffie Law was passed by the US congress. The migration status of Filipinos was changed from unlimited free entry for Filipinos to a quota of 50 Filipinos allowed per year.

There were three factors driving the law and change: 1 - Filipino leadership were pushing for independence. 2 - The US economy was not doing very well and did not want shoulder the financial burden of administering the Philippines. 3 - The Filipino labor force in the US was growing quickly - then all of a sudden jobs became scarce so to appease labor demands they had to get rid of Filipino workers.

For Lola Bette and Auntie Geline - it was a hopeless situation although Mom and Uncle Junior were both US citizens. The whole family was split and splintered. I listened and watched Lola cry many nights because of the separation. She never saw Lolo Emilio ever again. Auntie Geline never met her father. My mother never saw her father alive again. Our family suffered emotional, financial, psychological and spiritual consequencies because of this.

The importance of knowing the laws and being politically active was driven home to me once I learned this story. It deepened my political understanding that real flesh and blood people are affected by government laws and policies. I am currently very active in the Immigration Reform and Immigrant and Refugee Rights!

The "Lolas" and the "Apos"

I have two of my grandchildren today - Manny and Dominic. It brought up some memories about the Lolas and the cousins growing up in Catmon. We were the "pinikas" - how I am not sure how it translates in English - roughly "designated" grandchildren.

There was me, Ethna - Teresa's daughter living with Lola Beatriz (Emilio). My mother was living first in Michigan and then California. My mother was the eldest and I am the eldest also. Later on, I was replaced by Eva (I called her Bambi)- Tia Geline's eldest. Tia Geline and Tio Edgar were living in Kiburiao, Bukidnon.

Michael - the son of Tio Lorenzo and Tia Loreto lived with Lola Vidad (Mateo). His parents also lived in Bukidnon. We went through school together. Later on, Louella lived with Lola Vidad. Her parents Tio Vicente and Tia Quiling lived in Iligan.

Lola Milyang (married to Regalado and De Dios) had Manoling and later on Riza - both daughters of Tio Dodo and Tita Remy. The family lived in the city but the two girls, especially Riza stayed in Catmon.

Lola Sayong (Gervasio - Tata Batoy)had Roy and later Villeza. They are the son and daughter of Titi Bebeng and Tia Moning. The family lived in Medellin.

Passing the Connections On

I showed the Catmonanon web page to my grandson Dominic yesterday, I told him that the angel is her cousin Ella. He seemed pretty impressed but lost interest quickly - typical of his age. Although he expressed his desire to go and see Catmon.

Well, my mother is Teresa Montecillo. Her parents are Beatriz de la Cruz and Emilio Rivera Montecillo. I don't know Lola's side of the family. I know that my great grandfather was Pantaleon Montecillo who was married to Teresa Rivera and Catalina Loyola.

I remember Lola Taling vividly.

My father is Juan Oro Rojo who is married to Julia Menchavez. If I am not mistaken, Pantaleon's mother was a Menchavez. To the best of my memory, we used to go to Sogod and Bao - a lot for birthdays, weddings, deaths, ordinations at the Menchavez branch of the family.

I married Donald Leroy Rankine II and have three children. Leto (Donald III), Rosanne Maria and Lauren Alexandra. Dominic Elliott Oro Rankine is the son of Lauren Alexandra and Michael Halam.

So Dominic and his cousins, Emmanuel, Zachary and Auguste are at least 3 degrees away from being a Rivera, Montecillo, Menchavez. Still I want them to have solid knowledge of my branch of the family.

Auntie's Betrothal

What if I start writing down various memories and remembrances about the family for reference for the future generations. This thought came to me when I got out of the shower this morning.

There is a part of me that is full of regret of my lack of interest in family and family happenings.

The memory today is about the betrothal of Auntie Evangeline to Uncle Edgar as I remember it.

Auntie was teaching in Kiburiao, Bukidnon at the time. That is where she met Uncle Edgar. She came home for the summer. Then Tia Didang Oyas came back from Bukidnon with a man and Catmon was all abuzz with rumors. There was a lot of comings and goings in our house. Auntie sent me on a lot of errands to Tia Didang's house. The man who came with Tia Didang was ill. Some said he had malaria, some said his body was trying to adjust to the lowlands.

One afternoon, a few days later - Man Iroy and the man came to our house. I was sent to Ilaya to fetch Tata Batoy - except that Tata Batoy was already on his way to the house. Man Iroy started talking to Lola and Tata Batoy.

Auntie and I were in the kitchen preparing something to serve the guests - when all of a sudden Lola burst through the curtains, picked a piece of firewood under the stove and started hitting Auntie with it.

I was stunned, Auntie was running around trying to avoid being hit. Lola was yelling something about Auntie was not ready to be married and that she would kill Auntie first before she would allow her to marry.

Auntie told Lola that she was going to get married anyway because there is a baby on the way - Lola stopped for a minute and then she started crying and hitting Auntie all over again.

Tata Batoy came in and asked both women to go into the sala, sit down and set the wedding date as he had given his permission for Auntie to marry.