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‘Indai:’ For my mother and her loving heart
By A. Mabini Indai (n.) a beautiful Pilipina. Long legs, yellow shorts, tanned blouse, tender brown skin and a smirk on a picture of my mother in her late 20s reinforced my suspicions that she was a heartbreaker at my age. Today, a soft touch, a weary smile, her favorite duster and a warm heart […]
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Comedian gets serious about love, gay marriage and relationships
By Cristina DC Pastor Nothing about Rich Kiamco’s September 30 wedding to David Gibson is traditional. There’s no wedding planner; the hundreds of gladioli to romanticize the ceremony are grown in the couple’s farmhouse; and the Filipino mother is not exactly proclaiming the happy event to the world. “She doesn’t say anything,” Rich, a standup […]
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First gay Filipino in historic ‘I do’
By Cristina DC Pastor Three days. That’s how little time Dennis Josue, 50, and Daniel Mackey, 53, had preparing for their wedding. For some brides it’s not enough time to find the right pair of shoes. Dennis, who owns Fantasia Floral Design on the Upper East Side, and Daniel, a retired police officer who now […]
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How life in the White House killed Dr. Connie’s marriage
By Maricar CP Hampton In her book “The White House Doctor: My Patients Were Presidents: A Memoir” Dr. Connie Mariano writes about how the journey has been from being the daughter of a Navy Steward to being the first Filipino Rear Admiral of the U.S. Navy. And then there’s being the physician to two American […]
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‘Ice is good’
By Cristina DC Pastor As New York rolls out the wedding carpet to same-sex couples on July 24, Tim David looked back on his own civil ceremony to then fiancé Brian Mancuso two years earlier. The pair wed in 2009 in Connecticut with only four people in attendance: three friends and Brian’s mother. Tim’s Filipino […]
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Tito Onching and me
By Tony Joaquin When Mama was carrying me in her womb, Tito Onching was asked by my father, Ping, to stay with her and keep her company especially in the evenings when Papa played piano as a jazz musician at stage shows around Manila at the time. That would be the beginning of Nick Joaquin’s involvement […]
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The maid and other women like her: A Filipina immigrant perspective
By Cristina DC Pastor Feet in Two Worlds Humping the help, let me say, is not just a Sacramento, CA phenomenon. In the Philippines, where I come from, it is not unusual for the head of the household to help himself to a servant. When the wife finds out, the maid is often kicked out […]
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Mom put a gun in my hand and told me to ‘shoot’
By Rene Pastor She had a gamin face in a lithe body that moved with the grace of a cat. She loved to dress up in slinky boots that emphasized her curves. My mom is, as my wife would quip, “hot.” She knew she was sexy and would flaunt it. This would infuriate my dad’s […]
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‘At the lowest points in my life, mother was always there’
By Baltazar Pinguel During the past five years or so, it has been my practice to make sure that by May Day, I would have mailed my Mother’s Day card to the Philippines. I did this to be sure that my mother, Fortunata Alido Pinguel, received it in time for the occasion. As an only […]