'Sometimes you decide your path, sometimes it's decided for you.'

-

"But you're in control of how you walk down that path. I may be walking a bit slower now but I still want to dance my way forward." Mary Ann Punla

#CaringBridge journal entry days after being diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in 2013. #wednesdaywisdom 

Photo: August 1991, when I took her to Oakland Airport to see her off on her Europe vacation.

Reposted from Facebook post. January 10, 2018. Thank you to her sister Bernadette for referring me to her Caring Bridge journal.

Special Request

In lieu of, or in addition to a Facebook comment, please comment below if you have a Google account. Thank you! Maraming salamat po! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Hi! Thank you for dropping by. Please leave us a comment. Sige na!

Popular posts from this blog

AncestryDNA Is $34 Through October 20: Why I'm Asking My Relatives and Friends to Join Me

-
Image
Vallejo, CA • October 2026. AncestryDNA Is $34 Through October 20: Why I'm Asking My Relatives and Friends to Join Me. ancestrydna sale 2026, ancestry dna $34, filipino dna test, filipino ancestry dna results, jose rizal chinese ancestry, out of taiwan filipino dna, filipino genealogy, family history, 10/7. GENEALOGY • OCTOBER 2026 AncestryDNA Is $34 Through October 20: Why I'm Asking My Relatives and Friends to Join Me The kit is $34, plus shipping, until October 20. My cousin Melvin, Nica, and Chesca are already linked with me on Ancestry. Jian's kit is next. Here is why your family should be there too. PinoyBuilt hero image for the October 2026 AncestryDNA sale. My cousin Melvin Perseveranda, Tito Maning's eldest, got his AncestryDNA results earlier this year, after I got mine. So did Nica and Chesca. We are all linked on Ancestry now. That leaves Jian. I bought him a kit, and he hasn't taken it or sent it in yet. ...
Read more

Found: Lolo Marciano’s 1909 Baptismal Record, Hidden by a Misspelled Surname

-
Image
Ligao, Albay • October 2026. Found: Lolo Marciano’s 1909 Baptismal Record, Hidden by a Misspelled Surname. marciano perseveranda baptismal record, ligao albay 1909 baptism, familysearch misspelled surname, filipino genealogy, bicol family history, perseveranda family, fil-am ancestry, forgotten island memory, 1/2. FAMILY ARCHIVE • GENEALOGY • OCTOBER 2026 Found: Lolo Marciano’s 1909 Baptismal Record, Hidden by a Misspelled Surname A FamilySearch computer misread the Perseveranda name. A search for his lola Francisca found him anyway, right after I watched a movie about forgetting. Lolo Marciano’s baptismal entry, Ligao, Albay, January 6, 1909. Cropped from the FamilySearch image and enhanced with AI for legibility. The original is linked in Sources. On 10/6, I watched Forgotten Island. The lost island in that film is called Nakali, short for Nakalimutan, and it wipes the memories of the people who visit it. I have...
Read more

Negros 19: Massacre or Legitimate Encounter in Toboso?

-
Image
Negros Occidental • April 2026. Negros 19: Massacre or Legitimate Encounter in Toboso? negros 19 toboso, lyle prijoles filipino american, alyssa alano up diliman, rj ledesma altermidya, bayan usa, lfs sfsu, fil-am activist killed, philippine insurgency 2026, red-tagging, npa clash. Negros Occidental • April 2026 Negros 19: Massacre or Legitimate Encounter in Toboso? A 40-year-old Filipino American from California was among 19 people killed in a 12-hour firefight in Negros Occidental on April 19, 2026. The Armed Forces of the Philippines calls it a lawful encounter. BAYAN USA and rights groups call it a massacre. Here is what is verified, what is contested, and why this one should matter to every Fil-Am household. Northern Negros Occidental, where the 12-hour firefight in Sitio Sinugmawan, Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, left 19 people dead on April 19, 2026. The first shots were fired at 3:58 AM. By ...
Read more

Hiraya Manawari: The Ancient Filipino Phrase That Became a Generation's Battle Cry

-
Image
Vallejo, CA • March 2026. Hiraya Manawari: The Ancient Filipino Phrase That Became a Generation's Battle Cry. hiraya manawari meaning, ancient tagalog phrase, filipino manifestation, reach your dreams filipino, baybayin tattoo hiraya, decolonize filipino identity, pre-colonial philippines language, hiraya manawari tv show abs-cbn, filipino words of power, fil-am cultural reclamation. DECOLONIZE • MARCH 2026 Hiraya Manawari: The Ancient Filipino Phrase That Became a Generation's Battle Cry How an archaic Tagalog phrase meaning "may the visions of your heart come to pass" survived colonialism, powered a beloved 90s TV show, and is now reclaiming Filipino identity — one tattoo, one graduation caption, and one whispered prayer at a time. There are words in every language that carry more weight than their syllables suggest. In English, we have "freedom." In Japanese, ikigai . In ...
Read more

The Colorism Within Us: Celebrating Multi-Facted Filipino Identities

-
Image
When I was younger, I used to compare and contrast my skin tone to my sisters’ skin tones. My eldest sister had the lightest skin. My middle sister had the darkest skin. My skin was found somewhere in the middle. My eldest ate used cosmetics, like Eskinol, to keep a fairer complexion. We could only find these types of products at the local Filipino market or at Seafood City. My second eldest ate, who usually got negative comments on her darker complexion, refrained from using the products. Source: Belo Men Ad I wanted to try these products for myself, but was advised not to because of my young age. I had no idea what the products did. I had no idea why my family used them. I just knew that I wanted it. I wanted to look like my eldest sister so that people wouldn’t say that I wasn’t light enough. Filipinos, along with other brown Asians, have been contrasted to East Asians and their hyped stereotypes. Unfortunately, the popular ideology of colorism within the lar...
Read more

Remembering Pinsan Jun: Chicago, December 1987, After Medusa’s

-
Image
Chicago, IL • October 2026. Remembering Pinsan Jun: Chicago, December 1987, After Medusa’s. jun rivera, leonardo rivera jr, allan rivera, jason palma, medusa’s chicago, medusa’s on sheffield, chicago 1987, albany park chicago, gordon tech, barr tower lakeview, filipino american chicago, chicago nightlife, clubbing, barkada, kabataan, in memoriam, 10/25. Chicago • December 1987 Remembering Pinsan Jun: Chicago, December 1987, After Medusa’s Jun Rivera would have turned 58 today. A street corner in Albany Park, his Mustang, and the three of us fresh out of Medusa’s on a night I still can’t pin to a date. Chicago, late December 1987 (or possibly January 1988): J.F., Jun and Allan Rivera on a corner in Albany Park after Medusa’s, with Jun’s Mustang in the bottom right corner. Photo by Liza. Jun Rivera would have turned 58 today. I already posted one photo of him earlier today, the Blue Rock Springs birthday party in Vallejo in 2004 . This is the o...
Read more

Wesley So's Fourth U.S. Chess Title Starts on a Filipino Street Corner

-
Image
Saint Louis • October 2026. Wesley So's Fourth U.S. Chess Title Starts on a Filipino Street Corner. Wesley So, fourth U.S. Chess Championship, 2026 U.S. Chess Championship, Fabiano Caruana, Filipino American chess grandmaster, Eugene Torre, Philippine chess history, Bobby Fischer 1972, Saint Louis Chess Club, Bacoor Cavite, Filipino American History Month, chess Marikina, 10/22. CHESS • OCTOBER 2026 Wesley So's Fourth U.S. Chess Title Starts on a Filipino Street Corner Wesley So lost his last classical game, slept two or three hours, and beat Fabiano Caruana in the playoff for his first U.S. title since 2021. I first saw chess on two Philippine street corners in one day. A PinoyBuilt illustration: a makeshift board on a sari-sari store crate, a crowd gathered around it, and a staircase of squares climbing toward the championship tables of Saint Louis, the road Wesley So and generations of Filipino street players have traveled. In Mar...
Read more