Abra in Time: Meeting My Family in the North

I never personally knew my maternal relatives. Back in my childhood, I only read them through snail mails that my grandmother shared with them and through her stories. But my hope of meeting them personally - to share stories of our family, to know how they are feeling - has never left me since then.

The drama of my UP journey came as a mission of many purposes. There was one important purpose: to personally meet my family in the North. And last Holy Week was indeed the perfect chance to finally get to know them although a few of them were home.

I did travel the roads of Ilocos Region three years ago, and passing again by that long, dry road made me realize how hard the journey of my grandparents was. As I posted, I saw harsh landscape of undulating plains, whipped by blistering winds... and this could probably describe also the journey of my grandparents many decades ago. That was the time when they had to leave the region in search for a place in Mindanao to build their new home... and their new dreams.

On the second bus that I took aboard, I was seated in front - a perfect spot that I was able to capture the iconic tunnel of the province of Abra. This welcomed my very first sojourn to the land where my forebears came. And it was just so amazing, knowing that finally I am home for the first time!

My Lolo Porcing, the youngest brother of my grandmother, waited for me in the capital of the province. I immediately recognized him, and I hugged his beautiful wife, Lola Norma. He looks like the handsome male version of my grandmother. We drove for about an hour before we reached the ancestral house where my great grandparents and grandmother once lived. "Ito ang bahay natin," said Lolo Porcing. It was so sweet.

I spent the three days with the family, talking about how life has been before the family migrated and how every one is doing in Mindanao now. I also lived with one of my uncles and his family, and we frequently bonded with my first cousins, Manong John and Jhey, who were there. Life is very laid back in the province, and these are the things that I missed most... the silence, the food, the home. I can never forget how they graciously made me feel a part of the family.

I thank God for this once in a lifetime opportunity. It feels so good that somewhere else in this world, you belong to a very wonderful family. I cannot even imagine until now that I trace my roots in this corner of the world, that  wonderful feeling of a place where a part of my humanity came from.

Clockwise: The Abra Tunnel; my Lolo Porcing and Lola Norma;
the old house where I stayed; and with Manong John and Uncle Chet.

On the day I was about to leave home, I hugged them with all my heart and with teary eyes. They told me to come back as often as I can, and I promised them that I will.