I come from a family of 4 girls. My parents are devote Catholics. My father had dual degrees in engineering. One in Sanitary Engineering and the other one is Civil Engineering. My mother is an elementary teacher and librarian. My oldest sister, Marie Clarisa is a Chemistry graduate and teaching high school Chemistry in a Catholic all boys school. She pursued her graduate studies in Chemistry in New Orleans. I come in next. The sister following me, Marilou, studied statistics and had a master’s degree in Statistic at the University of Alberta, Canada. My youngest sister, Sharon, has a degree in Biochemistry and has a master’s degree in Special Education.
My father financially supported us all the way through graduate school. His vocation is clearly his “family”. I would remember him at home just a few minutes past 5:00 pm. He would bring us to his work place when he is on overnight shift. I got to understand how water filtration treatment is done in cities. I saw his work ethics and promised myself that I will work conscientiously in my future job, whatever it is.
I felt his passion for his family. I saw his eyes lit up each time he sees his “girls”. I hardly saw him get upset with us. Sometimes, I dare think we were just “good kids” or wonder if he was just an extra patient man? He has such a powerful voice with great resonance that just the sound of his voice puts us in line. I grew up seeing how the Catholic Faith shaped his life and my mother’s life. Daily dinners were a source of discussion of many topics ranging from their experiences at work, the stories that my mother read and my siblings “happenings” in school.
We were often embarrassed on how he had great pride of his four daughters. I feel it was overrated. He adored us. He boasted to all his friends and acquaintances how gifted his children were and how smart we were. Sometimes, we had to tell him how much he sounded like a “fool” for whatever he said about his children.
My mother, on the other hand, was more reserved about our accomplishments. However, my mother is a very alert woman and widely-read. She filled our house with books. Our house is like a library. We really had no restrictions in watching television. However, during the afternoon, when my mother is done with her chores, I see her reading and reading. We lived with lots of children so I frequently go out to play after chores and after practicing piano. As long as my parents knew where we are, we were free to roam around the neighborhood and make friends. My three sisters just stayed in the house most of time. I explored our surrounding area going from one place to another with my best friend.
At such a young age, I read the “medical encyclopedia”. I had such fondness with sickness because I got sick too often. To date, my parents and sister call me up for any medical problems before they call our Uncle who is a physician.
I attribute my “love of books” to my mother. She filled our house with all types of books. Soon, I began to teach myself and learn the ropes of “researching”. At one point and time, I felt I knew more them. Having reached that point too early in my life, I sounded like a “problem child” trying to rule our family because of the new knowledge I gained. But, my mother is very intelligent and her arguments were very difficult to contradict.
With all the books on my Catholic Faith, I seldom questioned my religion. Each question that my non-Catholic friends brought up against my religion, I knew how to defend. My parents invited priests frequently in a year, so we thought of priests not as someone supreme but a person deserving of great respect. My parents taught us the roles of priests in their lives. My parents also set an example of leadership in our parish. They encouraged me to give all my extra-curricular time to contribute something to the Church. So, I spent like 25 hours a week teaching a choir for most of my youth.
With this background, my parents motivated us to be very career-oriented. I never saw myself being a plain housewife. I always thought it was beneath me to be a homemaker. I have all these higher education and all these work experiences and I ended up raising 9 children. I keep telling myself that this is all temporary. Surely, God wants me to use my talents to get a PHD when my youngest is a little grown up.
What I did not realize is probably the “family is my vocation”. With 9 children, God must have some special mission for our children. It is only today, that I resigned to all my career ambitions. I am called to be a mother until God deem so that my mission is accomplished.
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