CEBU, Philippines - After my youngest son, Duke Vincent, graduated from Loyola Marymount University in California, I thought living in the United States was over. It was time to go home to my family’s roots. It was back to Liloan and the uncomplicated life at Titay’s Rosquillos.
Duke has since become the mayor of Liloan, following in the footstep of his late father Mayor Dodong Daku. He has also married a pretty and promising lawyer, Christina Garcia, daughter of the energetic governor of Cebu, Gwen Garcia.
I settled happily to the routine of being “Nanay” but unfinished business summoned be back to LA, our home for over 20 years.
It was a brief visit but a memorable one. I looked at the United States with a more relaxed eye. I did not have a lot of time to appreciate various places in the past because I was raising two kids mostly on my own. (Husband Dodong Daku was in Liloan doing public service while I took care of my kids’ schooling in LA).
When cousin Menchu took me on a trip to Minnesota, courtesy of a buddy pass from her daughter Iris, I readily said “yes”. I had never been to that Midwestern state yet.
Our host, Mike Pineda, met us at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport with two large bouquets , one for me and the other for his fiancée. I was to learn that the twin cities (Minneapolis that lies next to St. Paul) constitute the hub of commerce of the state of Minnesota. Minnesota’s name is replete with history and culture. Being native Indian in origin, “Minnesota” is a Dakota word meaning “sky-tinted water.”
I did not wonder anymore how the land is so flat (from the plane) and full of bodies of water…rivers, lakes, creeks, lagoons, etc. After all, Minnesota is a state of 10,000 lakes!
Minnesota put a wonderful show for me. Spring comes in March yet the snow show was as outrageous as in the thick of winter. “This was the real America”, I whispered to myself!
The coldness of the Minnesota weather was warmed by the hospitality of our host, Mike and some Liloanons who call Minnesota their home now, like Emily Ponce and Earl Reyes with mom, Eufe; Nancy Cabahug and her family; and former Miss Liloan, Maricel Sevilla, mom Nena and husband, Willy Tropezado. Maricel hosted a dinner for us. Her daughter Cre, a nurse like her mom, was a competent assistant host.
Minnesota ranks among the healthiest states and has a highly literate population. My son, Mayor Duke, dreams of making Liloan one of the healthiest and more literate towns in the country.
Thanks to Minnesota for the inspiration.