Baker Street opens with a beautiful flute solo that build into a frenzy before the explosion of horns enters with its timeless hook. This 1978 song remains a radio staple, but to me, it is a visceral reminder of the beginning of the end. My parents separated somewhere around this time and my mother had …
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Last trip
My father loved to fish. These primal roots were established in his youth where you needed to be able to hunt and gather for sustenance. While in Navy housing in Norfolk, we were surrounded by water from creeks, the smaller Willoughby Bay to the seemingly endless Chesapeake Bay. All were fair game for my father …
5 Dollars
I had 5 dollars and there were two ways to spend it. The first included walking across Independence Boulevard and going to Tinee Giant. My purchases would have likely included a slushie, some candy and Kiss cards. Kiss cards were like baseball cards except with the Kiss Members on the front of the card and …
Honeymoon over
There are moments in a relationship that are more impervious to obstacles and include……when you fall in love…when you get married….your honeymoon …….. and the birth of a child. Once my sister and I entered the world, the cracks of my parents’ marriage began to surface. Their social circles were different and only my father …
Didn’t Know Any Better
The beauty of being a child is that you just don’t know any better and your needs are minimal…. Shelter, food and feeling loved. My sister and I had all of the above. Life was perfect. We had friends in the neighborhood and from our parent’s friends too. We went to nearby Pembroke Elementary School …
Not Welcome
My sister and I never felt truly part of either of our parents cultures. Whether perception or not, experience was our truth. Let’s start with the languages. We could not speak either Tagalog or Korean. Filipinos did not really enforce the language upon their children and were happy to assimilate to English. Koreans, however expected …
Fitting In
You learn how to fit in. Only way to survive. That is what our family did. My father definitely had the easier time of it….being Filipino. The Tidewater area of Virginia had and still has one of the largest concentration of Filipinos in the US due to the Navy. He had this luxury and could …
Liberty Bell Road
We moved to neighboring Virginia Beach sometime circa 1975-1976 before my kindergarten year. My parents saved enough to buy a house on Liberty Bell Road. I clearly remember rolling my hot wheel cars in the hall way when we first moved in. And just being excited to be in a new place. We had a …
My First Memories
My parent’s maiden voyage landed them in San Diego where my sister came into the world in 1966 and I followed 3 years later in Brunswick, Ga. These frequent transfers were part and parcel of being an enlisted US Navy sailor. My father’s final orders sent him to Norfolk,VA where my first memories occurred We …
Unlikely union
Culture clashes be damned. I am not sure how long my dad was stationed in Korea before they married. I think very few people on either side knew. And if they did know there would have been certain condemnation from the Koreans. The Filipino side would have been completely fine and would have welcomed my …
Childhood lost 