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Downsizing my mother: Practicality versus tradition
By Roberto Villanueva Last year, I made the wrenching decision of “downsizing” my mother. I transferred her from a large three-bedroom multi-level house to a one-bedroom condo unit. It also meant trimming her expenses and letting go of a suburban lifestyle she was used to for many years, that is, until my financial situation improves. […]
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‘Goodbye to the little angel who taught us the meaning of faith’
By Jun Ilagan On May 9, our first grandchild died of respiratory complications from Aicardi Syndrome. Andrea was 4 months, 12 days old. Six months in her mother’s womb, the baby was diagnosed with the rare syndrome. Devastated would seem an understatement to describe how my son and his wife felt when the team of […]
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I’m sick of it
By Sheila Marcelo By now, you’ve probably seen the TIME magazine cover featuring a mom breastfeeding her preschool-aged son. It’s attention-grabbing… to say the least. While my first instinct is shock and pity for the future teenage boy who will never live this cover down, I do see the beauty in a mother’s ability to […]
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Salsa for Rafael
By Cristina DC Pastor A death in the family would, in a strange kind of way, put the swing back into Mary Jane San Gabriel’s life. Also the cha cha, the merengue and the salsa. Her U.S.-based sister passed away in 2005. From Singapore, this chemical engineer rushed to New Jersey to take on the […]
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A bittersweet memoir of hope, family devotion and one deportation after another
By Cristina DC Pastor Feet in Two Worlds Even by Filipino standards, Jen Furer’s immigration journey is one colossal heartache: Her entire family, meaning her parents and five brothers, were deported after living in the U.S. for several years. The worst episode came when a brother in California and another in New Jersey got their […]
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Papa Ping and his one last act of loyalty
By Tony Joaquin When I was about 6 years old, I was allowed by my mother to go with my father Porfirio — better known as Ping – to some of his piano playing gigs around Manila. See, Papa was already a noted jazz pianist long before I was born. In fact, he was known […]
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The unwritten clause in my marriage contract
By Jen Furer Craig and I were sitting on a bench in the middle of the American wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Before I had met Craig, I had not known such beauty existed. So the first time I visited the Met, I felt like a newborn learning new things about life – […]
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LGBT community in tears over Obama support for marriage equality
President Obama’s personal support for same-sex marriage drew praise and tears from some in the FilAm gay community. “I am just in awe. I am just in tears,” said film critic Mau Feria on hearing Obama come out in favor of same-sex unions after years of hedging his comments. Comedian Rich Kiamco, who recently married […]
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‘As I find pieces of myself I worry that it’s costing you pieces of my heart’
By A. Mabini I remembered the moment I tricked her into holding my hand. It was one of the oldest tricks in the book. I examined it with mine, and without warning locked my fingers with hers and said, “Perfect.” That was 11 years ago when we were both in high school. We had no […]