PinoyBuilt — Stories of Filipino America

Vallejo, California • August 2026. A heavenly birthday remembrance for Maria Theresa "Atet" Garcia Perseveranda — Marites to her mommy, Tess to many — with a recovered 2007 portrait and a husband's message across the miles. Photos and storytelling by J.F.R. Perseveranda. In Loving Memory Happy Heavenly Birthday, Atet MARITES  •  MARIA THERESA  •  TESS Atet in 2007. One of my favorite photographs of her — and one I thought was gone for good. Happy heavenly birthday to my late, beautiful wife. In an ideal world, we would have celebrated with your mommy, and your kids, and your siblings, and their families at the Double M Hotel celebration they held on August 16 in the Philippines. We love and miss you more than ever. About This Photograph I lost this set of 2007 photos years ago. A misplaced DVD — the kind of thing you burn when you are clearing space off a laptop and you tell yourself you will put it...

Vallejo, CA • August 2026. Maligayang Bati, Mama Helen! HBD. mama helen birthday, elenita baluyut garcia, tess perseveranda family, valencia bukidnon, st basil vallejo, filipino grandmother tribute Mama Helen's Birthday • August 2026 Maligayang Bati, Mama Helen! HBD A birthday letter to my mother-in-law, Elenita "Mama Helen" Baluyut Garcia — and a 2007 photograph from Vallejo I still smile at every time I find it. Vallejo, CA, November 2007 — after Mass at St. Basil. Left to right: Mama Helen, Tess carrying Chesca, Bebot and Rowena. Standing in front, all smiles: Jian and Nica. Maligayang Bati po, Mama Helen! Happy birthday. Somewhere in Valencia, Bukidnon today, I'm guessing the table is full — most of your apo are there, and I know my three musketeers, Nica, Chesca, and Jian, wouldn't have missed it for anything. I wish I could've made the trip too. Since I couldn't, I wanted to give you this instead: a pa...

Fairfield, California • August 2002. Four Days Before Tess's Birthday, I Found This. nica perseveranda childhood video, tess garcia perseveranda, chuck e cheese fairfield california, filipino american family archive, on this day pinoybuilt, august 12 2002. ON THIS DAY • AUGUST 12 FAIRFIELD, CA • AUGUST 2002 Four Days Before Tess's Birthday, I Found This Twenty-four years ago today, my late wife Tess held onto our not-quite-two-year-old at a Chuck E. Cheese in Fairfield. In four days, it would have been her thirtieth birthday. Placeholder hero — swap for the real photos once they're pulled from the archive. Twenty-four years ago at 12:30 PM, I had a digital camera in my hand and documenting my family and building my archive as always. My daughter Veronica — Nica — is sitting on a yellow-and-black coin-operated motorcycle at a Chuck E. Cheese in Fairfield, California, gripping the handlebars like...