Nini Camelia and Uncle Rudlin

My aunt in my mother side, Nini Camelia. I call her "NINI" hard "I" like pin. Actually,it was suppose to be "aunty" but when I started to talk, I can't pronounce it well. I think I was able to read first before I really started to talk. My grand-uncle,Nini's father,has this Reader's Digest magazine collection since 1950. That was my reading source...this is another story though. Now,back to Nini...she is the youngest cousin of my mum and I even thought before that she was one of my cousins.

She studied in an all girls school here in Cebu City. Same school where her mother,Tita Luz,went...i think one of the schools, if I'm not mistaken. I would always feel excited if I would hear some news that Nini is coming home because she will have a vacation. That would mean that I would have more time with her running around the big lawn at our ancestral home in Ronda. I can have a reason to go farther from the house without being scolded by my mum because Nini is with me...hehehe!

It was Nini who gave me interest about catching butterflies and preserve them. I was never afraid of insects after that.

One thing that I wouldn't forget about Nini is that every morning she would have this runny nose. The same as my other cousins,Villalon side...hehehe...Paul is one. We have an ailment that are in common. Both of us have asthma. I can always give my mother an excuse to run as much as I can because Nini is doing it. I still can't escape with this excuse though.

One time when she was in college,she asked me if I could go with her and accompany her in the city at the dormitory where she stayed. It was summer vacation that time and she would be alone. I was very delighted about it because I can have a different environment and a chance to stay in the city for longer time. I was a bit disappointed though when we arrived at her dormitory because it was a steeper hill compared to my hometown's and the place,although the road is concrete,it is still like the country side. I have this little sense of freedom though because I'm away from my parent's watchful eyes. Actually I was grounded that time and was afraid that they won't permit me to go with Nini because prior to that, I busted me lower lip. I collided with another guy while swimming. My lower lip was ripped,the other guy's head had a big bump and bloodier.

It was here that I met Nini's husband-to-be that time,Uncle Rudlin. I liked him right away. He bribed me with comic books! It was uncle Rudlin who introduced me to X-men and to Prof. Xavier's school of young mutant. My fantasy world broadened because of this. Made me a step closer of becoming a total geek. Juggernaut vs. Wolverine was my instant favourite and I thought Jean Grey/Phoenix was not a good story. Uncle Rudlin gave me a total of 13 comic books that time. Nini's classmates were really green with envy when they saw me holding those comic books. One guy approached and tried to borrow but i did not allow him to touch any part of it. Another guy tried his luck. I think his method worked. I let him read the comic. Those comic books were part of my literary influence and my education too. Thank you for that,uncle Rudlin!I treasured those comic books until the flood covered it with mud.

Another great influence that I got from Nini (very unfortunate her architectural skills did not rub into me) was the habit of listening to music. She would tune in to this radio station,which is a hit to college students that time,I reckon. This radio station is worth mentioning here in my blog...hehehe!!! Nini would tune it to DYIO FM or popularly known as Y101. When I heard "Jack the Wack" talks on radio, I told myself that I will be like him. I got more inspired when I learnt that Jack is from the neighbouring town of my hometown. He is also from the south! His family name is also the same as my other uncle. I felt he was family.Nini was my music influence and inspired me to be a DJ. Although it it was Tita Luz who I always hear singing...i never heard Nini sing other than in the church...hahaha!!!^0^ Later when i was in high school in our journalism class,we had this "FM radio show" contest. My team won and I was voted as the best DJ. Thanks to those times that I spent with Nini listening to Y101! Not to mentioned it helped me honed my fluency in English.

Nini has helped me in many ways,directly or indirectly. She is one of my greatest influence,too. Again,i'm thankful she did not teach me how to drive...hehehe...!!! For the record! She was the one who was able to convince me to cut my long hair after I graduated high school where others failed. She even did it without any efforts. She just told me with great ease that I will be one of those who will light the candle on her wedding...and she will pay for the haircut. I accepted the deal without batting an eyelash.

Nini Camelia and uncle Rudlin are part of the few people whom I get inspiration and influence and helped me shape of who I am today.

Today is 8th of October. Nini,do you know why this day is very unforgettable for me and it always reminds me of you? I will share you this secret which my memory kept and which Yogi's memory slipped. This very day in 1983, I practised climbing a coconut tree. I learnt that you are arriving home and we talked before that, that we are going to get some coconuts and chicos. I feel from that coconut tree, 3 stories high! Yogi saw me fell but I doubt if he remembered and he did not dare to tell. I think I broke a rib or 2...hehehe!!! Only Noy Sebyo knows...my secret with the old man. A year later,in 1984,typhoon Nitang hit Ronda. Our chico tree got knocked down and never recovered including the big pomelo tree where you taught me to catch fireflies and put in a jar.

Lola Pacing

I don't know much about my ancestors, though I've met the mother of my grandfather and I was scared of her most of the time during our encounters. I thought that she was a ghost. I was 2 years old. That's my earliest memory of her. I think she died when I was 3 or 4 years old. She was ancient. That was my memory of her. How she looked like? Oh,never mind. Just think about a very healthy old person over 90 years old,that was my great-grandmother of my grandfather's side.

With my grandmother's side of the family, I only heard some stories and I would like to share this story.

Until recently,I never knew the real story of my great-grandparents,the parents of my grandmother. My grandmother has experienced a very traumatic incident during the early 1940's. It was the early stage of WWII.

From one of my uncle's account, my grandmother belonged to a prominent family. Her father,my great-grandfather was a government employee. He was then the City Assessor. Accordingly,they live in a simple modest lives and always ready to help others even think of other people first before themselves. My great-grandfather has helped a lot of people. Had he foreseen it that he would die early,he could have amass a lot wealth for himself and distribute it to his children,my grandmother and her sisters for that matter. He didn't enrich himself for he is known to be an honest man.

Then the war broke out. Soldiers of then Japanese Imperial Army invaded the Philippines. Soon,they reached Cebu. They were searching for high government officials,round them up and execute them. My great-grandfather was considered a high government official.

Japanese armies known as "Kempeitai",the military police,were the one in charge of capturing the likes of my great-grandfather. The infamous Kempeitai are known for their brutality so everyone run away and hide from them.

One story went,my great-grandparents were hiding in a cave. The Kempeitai was searching for them with a hooded traitor acting as a guide. They were well hidden in the cave but because of their dog,which was making a lot of noise,they were soon discovered by the search party. My great-grandparents were captured.

I wasn't given any details about their ordeal during the capture but they were executed immediately and was then hanged...that was the first story I heard...then another story surfaced. My grandmother together with her sisters were also captured by the Kempeitai. Their hands were tied behind their back then their parents were executed in front of them. The Kempeitai used a long bayonet to stab them and left them for dead. Later on they hanged their dead body on a tree. My grandmother and her sisters were left there to witness everything. When the dreaded Kempeitai left,my grandfather arrived. He was the one who brought my great-grandparents' body down. They could not ask for help from anybody because everyone have their own family members to bury. There were no coffins,so they ripped a closet apart and made a coffin out of it. Said a little prayer and then buried them.

I couldn't imagine how my grandmother felt that time. I don't want to dare to imagine it. Despite what happened,she moved on and raised her 9 kids. They had a hard life. My grandmother's parents did not leave them anything and whatever they had were confiscated or given to others already. My grandparents prevailed. What they lack in money they compensate with their wisdom and even more kindness. That single incident during the war was traumatic enough but my grandparents,especially my grandmother,did not teach me to hate. I know deep inside my grandmother has this hate to those who murdered her parents but she chose to live on. I am not in the position to say that she has forgiven those people. She just kept her feelings to herself. Was she thinking of revenge? I guess not or it could be that her revenge is different form. By living everyday,that's her revenge, by keeping her 9 children and brought them up,that's a revenge, by being kind and helpful,that is her revenge. She made her greatest revenge. My grandmother was able to haul her children to America. All but 2 of her 9 children are with her in America and most of the grandchildren too. She wanted me to be with them, but I have a different agenda.

Lola Pacing as she is known to all her grandchildren,a feisty woman,game show fan,a scrabble master,a mother of 9 children,wife of Lolo Inting, grandmother to countless of pups,me the number 1 knucklehead. She lived long enough and that is a revenge because she outlived,for sure, those people who,in one way or another,changed her fate.

Lola Pacing did not teach me how to hate. She taught me scrabble which I came to hate. I never won a game against her, but i was able to answer the crossword puzzle ahead of her. Only once,but that is an achievement, a big one for me. She will live longer for sure. She might still see me marry.