Mindanao
Mindanao always held a special meaning to me and for my parents too. It used to be the land of milk and honey in the 1950's. Y'see, war between the Muslims and Christians have been going on, so my father saw an opportunity for him to go there. When my father graduated as a civil engineer, he moved to Mindanao from Cebu looking for golder opportunities to start a new life. Simultaneously, my grandaunt from my mother's side also heard of the "pot of godl" to be found in Mindanao. She headed south from Moncada Tarlac to open her bazaar. My mother went there to help her Aunt one summer, and there she met my dad.According to my dad, in the place of wilderness, my Mom was the prettiest dame around. He also added that he would not have married her, if she wasn't pregnant. Mean, isn't it? Well, I can't change the history of my family. I wish I could rewrite it... that my Dad wan entranced and enchanted with my Mom's beauty and would die if he could not have her as his wife.
They did get married and my eldest Brother, Glen was born there. They started from a humble beginning, living off a native nipa hut. Dad was not exactly an ideal husband, as he came home drunk every night and beat my mom up. " I had to stop drinking for your mom's sake", he recalled regretfully. "If I continued the way I was, I could have killed your mother from beating her every night!". So he stop drinking and channeled his energy into work and became a prosperous civil engineer.
I did not write this story to solicit your sympathy, I am just telling it the way it is...
