Halfway to where? As I sit in an empty house on July 1st, 2019, while my two friends/roommates embark on their well deserved vacations and travel, I found myself thinking of all that has happened. July 2nd is the official halfway point of the year. My mind is truly boggled over the concept of how fast time can pass. Looking back, I can truly say I’ve done a lot but also put-off a lot as well. This year I was able to work full time, visit the motherland known to me as the Philippines, and move out of my parents house and off of Staten Island. Those three events to me, are my proud major highlights of 2019 so far. What have I been putting off? Oh man, I am sure I can write up a decent list in regards to that. Let’s not get into that though. These photos, this post, surely would be on that last up until tonight.
What seems to be a blip in time, a blur or even a dream, my first trip back to the Philippines has truly been one of the most meaningful trips of my life so far. With the last time visiting as a 4 month old baby boy, which was for our grandfathers funeral. 25 years later, this time around was surely different. A quarter century later, alongside the best family and cousins ever, from the modern built up cities within Manila, to the older home town of Taytay, Rizal (where my parents called home), to the breathtaking, brisk mountains of Tagaytay, to a beautiful family wedding in the middle of it all, followed by some of the best beaches and clear waters in Asia. This trip came to be everything that I didn’t know I was looking for.
February 13th to March 6th 2019, 21 days, 3 weeks, and approximately 50 hours sitting on multiple flights, I found myself flying solo to the other side of the world. Not knowing exactly what to expect but knowing that everything to expect was going to be amazing. That is exactly what happened. Being the Phil-Am that I am (Filipino American) I got to experience a home away from the home that I knew as America. A feeling in which I’ve never experienced within my previous travels.
18 years later I was reunited with my grandparents and the rest of my moms family, some of which I have not seen in more than 18 years and some of which I met for the first time in my life. I walked the narrow streets that my parents grew up on and saw the homes that they grew up in. I heard the sounds of the city, the loud passing tricycles, smelled the smell of gritty air from the smog of the Jeepneys. I tasted fresh pure mango juice and felt the sand of an immaculate tropical beach between my toes. I was able to cut hair 8,000+ miles away from New York. I witnessed the sight of a large gathering of family dressed in traditional Filipino attire at my cousins wedding. I watched the sun rise and the sun set on the opposite side of the world. All for the first time in my life. As new as these experiences were for me, it surely felt all too right, throughout each day I never once felt homesick because I truly felt at home. The land where my parents came from and every generation before them. How did I go this long, living this cushy-American lifestyle? Humbled is how I feel as well as grateful, for all the hardships as well as blessings that have led up to me being where I am at today in this world. Grateful to my parents, to their parents and all the generations before.
At the start of this post, my goal was to look back on 2019. When really, after trying to type out all these thoughts, not only am I looking back at my 25 years, but also the years of parents as well as their parents. The history, the heritage, the stories and the memories, are the things that propel me forward into the future. A future of seeking more and more into my purpose, my calling, who I am in this world and who I am to those around me. A future filled with more struggles, blessings and memories that hopefully I can pass down to my kids, my family and to the next generation someday.
I’m going to end this with a conversation that I had with my Uncle Boyet who recently moved from California back to the Philippines to retire.
*After my first full 24 hours in Taytay*
Uncle: Well, what do you think so far? How do you like it?
Me: I know I just got here, but I already love it so much!
Uncle: I knew you would. Always remember this, even though you were not born here, you have history here. Your parents, your family before them was born here. Your blood runs through these lands and you belong.
Never has anyone ever told me something so meaningful and strong. Jose Rizal, Filipino Nationalist during the end of the Spanish colonial era once said “He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination.” My prayer for any of you reading this (if anyone even made it down this far) is for you to be able to look back on life, the beautiful moments, the hardships, who you were, where you have been, where family stems from, in hopes that it can propel you forward into the unwritten chapters of life. May you all look back so it can give you direction towards your destinations in the future. Oh and remember to enjoy the journey along the way. I know I am.
Thanks for reading,
-Stephen (Joey)
Taytay, Rizal, Philippines
Home to the Dela Cruz’s, the Espiritu’s, the Valera’s, the Sta. Anas, the Francisco’s, the Cruz’s, the Enriquez’s, the Andre's’,
Home to the Esguerra’s
Taytay Fiesta - Town Parade
Tagaytay & Boracay
