DR. JESUS GONZALEZ Y SIOCO

 Dr. Jesus Lope Gonzalez y Sioco was the second son of  Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez and Florencia Sioco.   He was born on September 25, 1885, just less than a year from his elder brother, Fernando.  He, Fernando, and Virgilio became medical doctors.

Dr. Jesus and Eliodora

“MASELANG BABI”

When you mention Dr. Jesus Gonzalez’ name to any relative who knew him, the first way they would describe him would be “maselang babi”, meaning “meticulous pig” as he was very scrupulous in his cleanliness.  As a young boy, he forbade Mena, one of their  beluga^[1][1] cleaning women, to sweep his floor with a broom when he was around.  He said that whenever she did this, the dust would fly into the air and infect his room with germs.  So he preferred to clean his own room himself.  But he was so busy, his room would remain messy and untidy for a long period, a situation which drove his mother up the wall.  So everyone called him, “maselang babi.”  He was so meticulous, but would not get himself to clean his own room.

One anecdote along this line was that, whenever Jesus washed his hands, he would use three bars of soap—one for washing his hands when they were still dirty, the second bar after his hands were already relatively clean, and the third for the final rinsing.

His children remember that, during Christmas time, when friends and relatives would give coins to his children as presents, Dr. Jesus would be so worried that his children would get sick from what he thought were “those dirty coins”,  so he forbade the children to touch the coins. Instead, he put them himself into their piggy banks.

When his second wife, Mercedes, got sick with typhoid, his cousin “Imang” Betz Rodriguez was requested to give Mercedes her injections.  Jesus asked Betz not to wipe her hands after washing.  Instead, she should dry her hands by flailing them in the air until they were dry. This was to prevent her from catching germs from the towels.

FIRST WIFE  ELIODORA ESPIRITU

Dr. Jesus married his wife Eliodora “Orang” Espiritu when he was 26 years old and she was 25.  Orang  came from the well known family of the Espiritus of Sulipan, Apalit. This was considered a good match for the two well-known families in Sulipan– the Gonzalezes on one hand and the Espiritus on the other.

Orang  also shared the fastidiousness over cleanliness of Dr. Jesus. She would tell her grandchildren from her adopted daughter,  Julia,

“Don’t touch me”.

She continually washed her hands with alcohol, when they were soiled. .

She would change her beddings and pillowcases every day. But she allowed her grandchildren to sleep on her bed.[2]

Dr. Jesus and Orang had twins, but they were still born. She preserved them in a jar until her death in 1975. Her granddaughter buried the jar with Orang’s remains.  When daughter Julia gave birth to twins, Renzi and Rendell, Orang was ecstatic. She  felt that they were the reincarnation of her own twins.  She would be seen crying in front of the jar at times.

Orang was of strong character. She would put on her helmet and drive around in a car with the top down.  She enjoyed eating good food, and her favorite was “paros-paros”—a shelled prawn that was fried with laurel and crispy minced garlic. She loved imported chocolates. She had a whole tocador—a dresser — full of imported perfume and jewelry boxes.

Unfortunately, her individuality later caused the break-up of her marriage.

SECOND WIFE:  MERCEDES VELOSO

Mercedes was the exact opposite of Orang. She was soft, loving, and totally subservient to her husband.  How Dr. Jesus and Mercedes met is not known to anyone within reach anymore. Eventually, the first child of Mercedes was born. Her name was Imelda, and Imelda was born on October 3, 1921.  Two other children came in succession—Leonardo (1922)  and Cristina (1923).

The first cousins, children of Friar Fausto and Mariquita Gonzalez, were very close to each other. They would spend their holidays together.  They went to dances and other social gatherings together.  The children of Dr. Joaquin were in Apalit and Dr. Joaquin’s siblings – Soledad, Carmen, Jose, and Francisco—stayed in Baliwag.  So the cousins took turns visiting each other.  When they married, they stood as godfathers to each other’s children.  For instance, Dr. Virgilio, son of Dr. Joaquin, was godfather to Ruben, son of Soledad with Mariano Gonzales.[3]

When Dr. Jesus was already deep in his involvement with Mercedes, he needed to do something to house his growing family.  So he asked Ceferino, who was his close friend, whether Mercedes and her children could stay with them.

At this time, Ceferino had also gotten himself  in the same predicament as Dr. Jesus.  Ceferino had also started a second family.  He had gotten involved with his wife’s cousin, Magdalena de Lara, who was working in their house. They had a daughter, Crescenciana. Two other children followed later, Edita and Gaston.

Ceferino, therefore, allowed Dr. Jesus to move his growing family into their house.  Dr. Jesus put up a wall in one of their bigger rooms, installed a lock, through which one could enter.  When Ceferino died, it was the turn of Dr. Jesus to allow Magdalena and her three children to move in with them. Dr. Jesus moved the family of Mercedes to Quezon City in 1939.  By this time, he had ten  children—one of whom, Carolina, died in infancy, Milagros (1927), Antonio (1928), Geronimo (1929),  Adelaida (1931), Jesus  Jr. (1937) and Remedios (1940)..

After a while,  Orang also moved to Quezon City.  She had a house from Apalit that was owned by her father, dismantled and rebuilt.  She lived on Blumentritt Street in La Loma, at the border of Quezon City and Manila until her death on March 12, 1975. She adopted a baby whom she named Julia (1932), whom she trained well in the matters of running a house.  Julia was the source of Orang’s great happiness, especially after Julia married the son of the brother of Dr. Jesus, so that Julia became a Gonzalez herself.

THE PROFESSIONAL LIFE OF DR. JESUS GONZALEZ

Dr. Jesus trained in Munich, Germany for four years after getting his degree in medicine.   People would travel far and wide to be cured by him.

One such story close to my heart was about a certain  four-year old boy from nearby San Luis, Pampanga. [4]  His name was Luis Franco, and he had been stricken with the deadly disease, typhoid fever.  San Luis was a small town without a hospital, so the doctors advised him to go for treatment to the clinic of Dr. Jesus Gonzalez. This was located in Manila, most likely in Tondo.

Luis and his mother travelled by banca[5] to Calumpit, located along the Pampanga River. From Calumpit, they took the train to Manila, where Dr. Jesus had his clinic. Luis was already having difficulty in breathing.   Dr. Jesus quickly inserted a tube in Luis’ trachea, and the young patient immediately started to regain his rosy color.  Luis’ mother  P300, enough money in those days to buy a few hectares of land. But she did not mind forking the money over, since Dr. Jesus had saved the life of her only son. What was money in comparison with the life of your own blood?

Luis grew up to become a doctor himself.  He married the niece of Dr. Jesus, Eglantine, daughter of  his elder brother, Dr. Fernando.  At one time, there were six  houses on the same street (then called South 9th) owned by the brothers.  Three belonged to Augusto—his second wife Doña Rosario and her children, another one to Rogerio, Augusto’s eldest son, another to Sabina Escaler, his aunt—and the others belonged to Fausto (opposite that of Mercedes), plus that of Fernando and Mercedes.  When Dr. Jesus moved to Quezon City, Dr. Fernando and his other brothers followed suit. They all became neighbors.  After Dr. Jesus died, Dr. Luis Franco became the doctor of Dr. Jesus’ widow, Mercedes, and cared for her until she died in 1970.

LOVE ‘TILL THE END OF HIS LIFE.

Dr. Jesus had a very happy life.  His wife, Mercedes, adored him.  He fondly called her “Hija” (my daughter).   There was a thirteen- year gap between them. She responded with a soft, “Jesús, Mio”  (My Jesús).

Orang accepted the fact that she lost her husband to a woman who was more compatible with him.    When she learned that Dr. Jesus was seriously ill,  she went to visit her husband in Mercedes’ house, in a sincere manifestation of forgiveness toward him and sympathy toward his family.

Dr. Jesus died in Quezon City on September 23, 1941. He was 55 years old.

FERNANDO GONZALEZ- SIOCO

Dr. Fernando Gonzalez

Fernando was the eldest of the ten sons of the Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez and Florencia Sioco.  He was  the first of 5 doctors, 3 of whom are doctors of medicine (Fernando, Jesus, and Virgilio), one doctor of Science (Bienvenido) and the youngest (Fausto) doctor of Laws, from the University of Madrid.

“GENIUS IN THE FAMILY”

According to his brother Augusto, Fernando was the “genius in the family”. He excelled in the languages: German, which he did a self study in order to pursue his stamp and coin collections ) French, Spanish, English, Tagalog and even Sanskrit. -He was so proficient in these languages that he was able to write stories and plays in these languages. His wife Clementina had a musical family, and they enacted these musicales in public in San Luis. Teodoro M. Kalaw, National Library Director, met Fernando’s daughter, Eglantine, in 1933. He told her, “I knew your grandfather – Joaquin. He was a brilliant man. I knew too your father, Fernando. He was a brilliant man, too.” And the rejoiner of the daughter was not less flattering.

ARTIST,  PHILOLOGIST AND A TEACHER

Fernando was like his father, Joaquin, when the latter was young.  He was quiet and liked to do things with his hands.  One time, his aunt Soledad (sister of Joaquin) tried to help Fernando in making some art work.  She wound up messing up the job. Fernando cried and ran to his father.  Joaquin, amused that his son would be better than his sister, pretended to castigate him.  But after Fernando was out of hearing distance, he told his sister, “You should be ashamed that this eight-year old boy can do better work than you.”

Fernando’s love for the arts was so profound that he thought of becoming a philologist and a teacher, excelling in the languages.  At that time, and even to this date, these professions were not sufficient to support a family.  So his father discouraged him. Jokingly, Joaquin told him, “If you do this, you would need to wear a wide band of cloth on your forehead and hang a bolo or scythe at your waist, then be a thief, ready to rob people to support your family”. So Fernando took up medicine instead.

As a student, Fernando was easy-going. He didn’t need to study hard to get good grades. He didn’t buy his books. His classmates supplied him or lent him their books so Fernando could be able to participate in their classroom discussions. If, by chance, he did not attend class to visit to his lady love, the woman he married later, the whole class also preferred to boycott their class rather than be called to carry on the discussion of the day without Fernando.

HIS COURTSHIP OF HIS WIFE, CLEMENTINA

Fernando, being the eldest in the marriage of high profile parents, Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez and Florencia Sioco, had the pick of the eligible rich and “de buena familias” of the whole of Pampanga.  He often told his daughter, Eglantine,

“I could have married any of  the richest and most beautiful women in Pampanga during my time.  But I chose your mother for her simplicity.  I found the other women very spoiled and not to my liking.”

He met Clementina while Fernando was a medical student and  she went to Azcarraga (now Claro M. Recto Avenue) in Manila, to work as a Teacher.  Although Clementina herself owned several haciendas in San Luis, Pampanga, they were subject to floods, drought, and pests.  Her father sent her and her two siblings to work as teachers in Manila. Fernando visited her almost daily,  accompanied by one of his friends. Clementina thought he was interested in her more vivacious sister, Josefa, so she prayed to St. Anthony to give her a sign if he was at all interested in her.  At the deadline that Tinang gave to St. Anthony, Fernando slipped into her lesson plan a love letter.

They married on the day of the fiesta of San Luis.  Late on the night of June 21,m 1910, Fernando arrived with his mother Doña Florencia Sioco de Gonzalez and his brother Augusto, ostensibly to attend the town fiesta. They passed the night at the Elizalde house, but at 4:00 o’clock in the morning of the 22^nd, Fernando and Clementina, dressed in their finest, were married at the main altar of the parish church.  After a simple breakfast reception, the couple left for Manila for a seven-day honeymoon.[1]

Clementina and Fernando

“DOCTOR PROVINCIAL”

In a Provincial Hospital

Fernando went on to become “Doctor of the Provincial.” He was stationed in La Union and Rizal. As a sanitary health officer, he enforced strict health rules. He forbade women to wash clothes in artesian wells. His men had to wear uniforms at all times. Meat sold in markets had to be checked. It was necessary to be strict at that time, since typhoid and other communicable intestinal diseases were widespread and caused a lot of deaths everywhere.

In his own house, Fernando disliked fermented food that was so popular in Pampanga. He forbade his family to serve buro (fermented shrimps in rice) and  balo-balo (fermented fish in rice) whenever he was around.

Before he retired, he accepted an assignment in Manila, so he could be promoted. This was where death found him.

COMMANDING PERSONALITY

Fernando sported well shaped whiskers which added a aura of formality and strictness to his personality . His son-in-law, Dr. Luis B. Franco, always joked that he was intimidated by the movement of the whiskers of Fernando, which indicated his displeasure. So Luis always kept away from Fernando’s sight, making friends with his future wife Eglantine’s brother, Amaury, as a pretext to see Eglantine.

Fernando and Family 1935

Fernando also had a booming voice, which was characteristic of those who lived in huge houses.  However, his sawali house in San Luis was not as big as his mother’s bahay na bato in Apalit.  Aviong Ramirez recalled that they could hear his Tio Dando’s voice several houses away from where they lived.  Fernando would be heard calling their cook, “Marciana! Marciana!”  many times during the day.  And the whole community who  heard these calls, wondered what he would need from Marciana that he would need to call her many times during the day.

“Lo cortez no quita lo valiente”

Fernando was courtesy personified, a gentleman. He was fond of saying: “Lo cortez no quita lo valiente” Courtesy will not make you less a man. His daughter, Eglantine, remembers that, “as a young girl of 18 to 21 years, he showed me the utmost courtesy. I felt like a lady of consequence, with him leading the way to theaters, allowing me to go before him through doors when entering rooms, or assisting me in going up or down calesas or cars, always behaving the perfect gentleman that he was.”

To his family, Fernando was a loving family man and a pillar of strength to his very much dependent family.  He combined discipline and love and tried to impart to his children the values a father would like to give to his children, particularly regarding  money, humility, and family honor.

His eldest daughter Eglantine remembers this of her father: “He was strict in the way he let me handle my allowance – always with an accounting until the next one was given. He said it was a part of my education — the knowledge to handle money.” Such was the discipline Fernando imparted to Eglantine regarding money, that she became a successful business woman.

Eglantine also adds, “Humility was a virtue he exacted of me. Being the only girl in a big family of boys, I had the tendency to make “capricho” as my father termed it. He told me “No matter how beautiful, or how rich a girl is, she is nothing to me if she is spoiled – caprichosa. I had the best chance to marry the most beautiful, the richest and the most intelligent girls not only in Pampanga but in Manila and other provinces as well. They were nothing to me since they were spoiled girls. Instead I chose your mother who is simple, sweet and unspoiled, not the exigent or demanding type.”

FREE MASON

Fernando was recruited by Pepe Escaler to become a Free Mason when he was already an adult.  However, his wife, Clementina continued to be a Catholic.  He admonished the children to continue in the religion of their mother until they were 21 years old. When Catholic schools opened in San Fernando where he was assigned, he let the children study in them.

NATIONALISTIC

Fernando was ultra nationalistic preferring to be” ruled like hell by Filipinos rather than ruled like heaven by Americans.” (President Manuel Quezon had this same philosophy.) At one point in his life, he wanted to go into politics, but was dissuaded by his family.  However, after his retirement from the Bureau of Health, he decided to serve the country as a councilor of San Luis without pay. He could have ran for mayor but preferred not to.  He won easily, garnering more votes than the popular mayor who was re-elected. His being an idealist was, after all,  not lost to the town people who saw sincerity and simplicity on a son of a proud family– the Gonzalez of Apalit. In fact, the people from Apalit who knew the Gonzalezes as prominent and belonging to the upper class strata of society,  were surprised that even the small people loved Fernando to give him their votes.

Fernando’s political view at that time was “Anti-Independencia”. When his view ran counter to his brother Fausto’s “Pro-Independencia”,  Fernando withdrew into the background.  His wife Tinang became the campaign manager of Fausto in San Luis.

COMMON TOUCH

Fernando really had the “common touch”.  His tenants, the few who are still alive, in San Simon, Pampanga, regale stories to this day, remembering Fernando as someone who was “one of us”. During harvest time, he would visit the tenants and be with them during the duration of this period.  Naturally, mealtimes would descend on everybody, and Fernando thought nothing of eating in their homes, using his hands to eat, same as did the tenants. The tenants would set aside his share of the harvest, and Fernando, in a show of benevolence and generosity, would take a bundle of the rice harvest and give it to anyone he favored, to show his appreciation of their hard work. The camaraderie of tenant and landlord was strong between Fernando and his tenants.

As Doctor Provincial, he found himself with the people a lot. When the people offered him their “native delicacies”, such as  adobong iguanas, or snakes, he swallowed his revulsion of what was being offered to him, and accepted gracefully, even to the extent of pretending to like what was being offered to him. This was part of his courtesy, and polite demeanor.

THE PLEBEIAN GONZALEZ

Even if Augusto called Fernando “the genius in the family, he also called Fernando, “the dreamer.” While Augusto and Fausto went into high profile with their success in business and politics, they were a bit disappointed that their elder brother did not use his genius to create more money.

Augusto and Fausto laughed at Dando’s (Fernando’s nickname)  way of living.  While they (Augusto and Fausto) wore the latest fashions, drove the most expensive cars, Dando wore a camiseta and calconsillo,  drove a rickety car, a vintage Ford which often broke down.  Many times, Dando would be seen in the streets of San Luis, pushing his car with the aid of his maids and children, so it would start.

When Dando would go to Manila, he would take a truck.  His brothers would tease him,

            “Ayan ne y Dando, maca “Marcelo Diaz” ne naman!”

Marcelo Diaz owned the only truck from San Luis that went all the way to Manila.  Dando would use this truck to go to Manila when he went to visit his brothers.  “Marcelo Diaz” was a pun on “Mercedes Benz”.  Instead of riding a Mercedes Benz, Dando rode a “Marcelo Diaz” truck.

Even Fernando’s daughter, Eglantine was disappointed in her father.

“What?  A Doctor Provincial? Living in a house made of sawali?”

All the years that they were stationed in different parts of  Luzon, Eglantine accepted that they would live in rented houses. But when her father retired, she was expecting to live in a more comfortable house, maybe not unlike his mother Doña Florencia’s bahay na bato. So she was very disappointed that her father, whom she worshiped, the “Doctor Provincial of many hospitals, and respected by all, would return to live in San Luis, build his house in a lot inherited by his wife, Clementina, and made from sawali, or thatched bamboo, at that!  Eglantine swore that she would do better than her father, when the time came. And she did.

It was recently revealed to this author that the reason Fernando liked the sawali was because the air flowed easily through the house through the holes between the bamboo weaves. After Fernando died, the sawali was replaced by wood.

“DELCO”  GENERATOR

The only concession that revealed the truth that Fernando came from the wealthy Gonzalez family was his ownership of a “Delco” generator.  It was made of wet cells, and lighted up the chandelier in their living room and enabled them to listen to their classical music via their gramophone.  They were the only ones in the whole town who had a generator.  Before dusk, Fernando would gather his houseboys, and together they would start the generator, filling the whole town with its start-up noise. For lights, they had the “Aladdin” lamps.

SEARS AND ROEBUCK

One of the fond memories of the nieces and nephews of Clementina of  their Uncle Tio Dando were the gifts they received from him every Christmas.  A few weeks before Christmas, Fernando’s  order of  candies and toys from the  Sears and Roebuck would arrive.  These memories have stayed with Sofie Elizalde and Aviong Ramirez to this date.  They could not imagine how Fernando would painstakingly take the children’s characters and order presents that suited them perfectly, from the United States of America, at that! The Sears and Roebuck was also the source of the characters of the dioramas that Fernando fashioned for his children. He made dioramas depicting scenes of rural life, or war, and daily life.

 “UPHOLD THE FAMILY NAME”

Fernando had a strong obsession in upholding the honor of the family name. At that time, the Gonzalezes of Apalit had carved a niche for themselves in society.  Their father, Joaquin, was one of those who drafted the Malolos Constitution.  Fernando’s brothers, Augusto and Fausto, were well-known in the field of commerce and politics, respectively. Augusto had become a millionaire and married an Arnedo, the daughter of the political kingpin of Apalit, Macario Arnedo. Fausto, their youngest brother, was in the political limelight as a  congressman. However,  Fausto was still continuing with his naughty behavior which he had even when he was small. On his deathbed, Fernando called these two brothers and admonished them to be careful and keep the family name unsullied and untarnished.  These were his last words as he lapsed into unconsciousness, and died after two days.

This was Fernando. He never made money but he gave a shining example of honesty and integrity and an unselfish unblemished public service. This was Dando, happy in his camiseta and calconsillo, happily pushing his old Ford, composing plays and operettas, working for the poor.  The Plebeian Gonzalez.

FAUSTO AND AUGUSTO HELP THE FAMILY OF FERNANDO

Fernando died in one of the many properties of Augusto, in Malate, Manila.  After he died, Tinang (Fernando’s wife) asked Augusto if she could have the property for sentimental reasons.  Augusto gladly gave it to her, on condition that she pay off the amortization.  When Fausto heard this, he also offered to Clementina, another property that he was paying mortgage on. This was in Paco.    These two properties were eventually paid in full by Clementina, and these  helped her have a better life with the rental income until her death in 1991, at 110 years old.

Even in death, the brothers continued their guardianship of each other. Such was their love for one another.

Wedding Picture of Florencia and Joaquin

Florencia Sioco was the daughter of Josef Sioco of Bocaue, Bulacan and Matea Rodriguez of Bacolor, Pampanga.  She was  24 years old when she married Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez, a son of a Spanish friar and Mariquita Gonzalez, of Baliwag, Bulacan.  After their marriage, the couple settled in Barrio Sulipan, Apalit, where he ran a clinic.  She and Joaquin had ten sons within thirteen years after their marriage. Her husband was engrossed in his medical profession. He became a delegate of the Constitutional Convention in Malolos.  Then he became a member of Aguinaldo’s cabinet. Then he was appointed as President of the Universided Sciencia, Literaria y Cultura. Then the Americans came, and Dr. Gonzalez was appointed to become chairman of a three-man civil service board with two Americans as members.  Before he could assume office, Dr. Gonzalez died suddenly of acute appendicitis in September 21, 1900, at the age of 47.

DELEGATING AUTHORITY

Any ordinary woman would have been fazed by all these things happening around her, like a whirlpool. But Florencia took tight rein on her household.  Her son, Bienvenido, told his daughter, Eva, that his mother was “quite strict”. She had to do this to maintain order in their large family.   Florencia told the older brothers to help take care of the younger ones.   When Bienvenido (Bindo) went to Los Baños to study, Florencia designated, Augusto, the fourth brother whom everyone called Titong, to be his guardian.  This relationship between  Bindo and Titong lasted until Titong’s death in 1939.  Eva remembers her father’s making a special trip from Los Baños to Apalit to seek Titong’s counsel before accepting the presidency of the University of the Philippines.   He would have continued seeking Titong’s counsel had Titong not lost his life to the Timbol brothers.[1[1]]

When Bindo’s second-to-the-youngest brother, Joaquin Jorge, decided to take up agriculture, Bienvenido was made his guardian. This way, Bindo repeated the relationship he had with Titong, this time, be being the guardian.

She was lucky to have enough resources to hire three mayordomas to manage her staff of 20. Mayordomas have management authority.  One mayordoma was to run her kitchen. Another to oversee the children’s clothes and needs. And a third one  to take care of the house.

ALONE WITH THE CHILDREN IN THEIR TEENS

Florencia was alone when her sons hit their teenage years. The Gonzalez boys were not spared the experience of  sexually being active when their  hormones were at their peak.  There are the some stories about Florencia calling a child, but the child cannot come right away, because he is in the middle of having sex with –.  But these stories are better kept unwritten.

FLORENCIA AND HER DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW

It was a relief for her to have her sons marry well. There was an initial objection to her son Augusto marrying his first cousin, Marina Escaler, daughter of Florencia’s sister, Sabina.  That was not allowed by law.  But Augusto and Marina still went through with  a quiet marriage held in Apalit Church  at 4:00 a.m.  The wedding of Augusto and Marina took place on May 21, 1909.  In deference to his brother, Fernando also did the same when he married Clementina the next year,  June 22, 1910.  In her book about her mother, Eglantine recounts,

“Late on the night of June 21, Fernando arrived with his mother Doña Florencia Sioco de Gonzalez, and his brother, Augusto, ostensibly to attend the town fiest of San Luis.  They passed the night at the Elizalde house, but at 4:00 o’clock in the morning of the 22^nd, Fernando and Clementina, dressed in their finest, were married at the main altar of the parish church.  After a breakfast reception, the couple left for Manila for a seven-day honeymoon.  Years later, a nosey barber asked my father (Fernando) if he and my mother eloped.  It was unthingkable that two prominent families could contract marriage without the townspeople being aware of it.”[2]

Within twelve years, eight brothers had gotten married — Jesus and Isidora (1912), Javier and Josefa (1914), Emilio and Rosario Valdez (1916),  Bienvenido and Conchita Rafols (1917), Virgilio and Rosario Chong-Singson (1919), and Joaquin and Julia (1921).

Florencia and her daughters-in-law

Pictured above are, from left to right, Josefa Mercado, wife of Javier; Clementina Elizalde, wife of Fernando; Conchita Rafols, wife of Bienvenido;  and Rosario Valdez, wife of Emilio.

Florencia held Sunday lunches in her house for her children and their families. She felt  a new wave of happiness.   She kept her children and grandchildren close to her at all times.  Eglantine, the second daughter of Fernando, was born in a bed in the house of Florencia.  This bed is now an antique carved over a hundred years ago by a Chinese bed maker.  Before Florencia’s house  in Sulipan was burned,  the bed was given to Clementina. It now stands in Clementina’s and Fernando’s ancestral home in San Luis, Pampanga.

Florencia with a daughter-in-law and her grandchildren

HAVING FUN IN BAGUIO WITH GRANDCHILDREN

I will need an older generation to decipher who these people in the picture are with Florencia. Iit was the custom, then, that if you went to Baguio, you would go to a photographer to have a souvenir picture. You would be given costumes to wear.  Then you would give this picture to your relatives, for their files.  This was one such picture in my grandmother, Clementina’s, files.  I could only guess it was either Josefa Mercado and her children who were there, or Rosario Valdez and her children. It doesn’t look like Josefa Mercado because Josefa had thick hair.  But you can see the smile in Florencia’s face. She was enjoying being with her family.

Florencia died in November 6, 1925.   She was 65. She led a happy, complete, life..