CHICAGO, Illinois (JGLi) – When I was of pre-school age, I used to see the capital letters engraved on the buckle of the belt of my Dad – CLAC.
I thought it was the English spelling of “clock,” a time piece.
But when I stepped into my grammar school, I, little by little, realized that my Dad was not really wearing his belt to tell the time but to take pride of his alma mater because it turned out CLAC meant Central Luzon Agricultural College, formerly Central Luzon Agricultural School or CLAS established in 1907 and now Central Luzon State University or CLSU in Munoz, Nueva Ecija in the Philippines.
I was reminded of CLAC because of the death of the widow of my Dad’s best friend – the late Simon Genciana of Lopez, Quezon, also in the Philippines.
I was just belatedly told by the daughter of Simon, Mrs. Zenaida G. Borlongan, an employee of Chicago’s Northwestern Health Department in Chicago, that my Dad (Jose) and her Dad were classmates at CLAC.
It’s only now that I realized that close relationships start from variety of ways. But one of the more enduring ones are grounded on the length of the relationships.
Since there were no formal schools for parenting, I thought neither would there be for farming — an industry that raised our family in the rural town of what is now Sorsogon City in northern Luzon in the Philippines.
FARMING TEACHER
But unlike other farmers, my Dad went to school as a garden teacher in mostly rural public elementary schools.
I did not even realize that in order to teach farming among primary school students, a teacher has also had to follow some lesson plans, like what science and math teachers do.
My Dad’s teaching profession must have had a big influence on my two elder sisters – Antonia and Violeta – who also became school teachers later.
But knowing the low pay of teachers, I was not a big fan of the profession. I thought a big sacrifice of preparing lesson plans and dealing with students must be a very daunting challenge.
But thru the years, whenever it is summer time, the Genciana family, who lived in Manila, would take a few days vacation to our small wooden house in Sorsogon town and we would spend some time together in our small piece of land that my Dad was tilling in Cambulaga, a small farming and fishing barrio whose original name I later came to know meant Heaven.
Some of our relatives, who lived in the city (Manila), would also visit us for a vacation once in a while but it was routine.
But our relations with the Genciana family were an exception among our family friends even until recently. I really did not know why.
SOCCER MOM
When the matriarch of the Genciana family – Rosario L. Genciana-Bohorquez – died in Chicago, Illinois last May 13 at the age of 89, it was only then that I found some answers. Rosario’s daughter, Mrs. Zenaida Borlongan, told me that our Dads were classmates at CLAC.
But what impresses me most of Rosario’s life was putting a human face on the popular expression that life is a learning experience.
Rosario (the godmother of my sister Violeta in baptism) was our town mate in Sorsogon. But in a poor town that does not have a lot of opportunities, just to obtain a bachelor’s degree is already a big accomplishment. To obtain the degree is a challenge not only in the pocket book but also in the absence of role models that should inspire students to make the choice of a lifetime career.
She would supplement payment of her tuition fees by hawking food, like banana cue or sweetened banana, on the street.
Her son, Milandro, recalled that even when his mother was taking care of him and his four other siblings, his mother was also attending to their Dad, Simon, who was stricken by “illness of a half-body paralysis.” On top of this, she still struggled to continue with her education by finishing her master’s and doctorate degrees.
TRIUMPH OVER STRUGGLES
Rosario’s triumph over life struggles should be a cause for celebration. It is a very concrete manifestation that no matter what challenge you face in life, if you put your heart and mind into it, you will accomplish something.
Rosario would later become a school dean. She came to America after the death of her husband, Simon. She would later remarry for companionship.
But because of her high educational attainment, she did not find it hard to find a job in America as a teacher – a mathematics teacher at Truman College, one of Chicago’s city colleges.
lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net
