A Father's Past
My papa always tried to be as open about his past and his previous family. He had 3 children, two boys and one girl. His wife was a red hair, and they were high school sweethearts, she was his first girlfriend. He never told me why he left his family for us, but I knew he was very guilty and hurting inside. His father worked as a miner, which was the main business in West Virginia during his childhood. His mother loved him so much, she sent us magazines of West Virginia every month until it stopped when she passed away in the late 80's. He didn't like to work as a miner like his dad, so he decided to be listed in the U.S. Air force as an airplane mechanic and technician.
Franklin D. Peek was a retired Sergeant in the U.S. Air force. He was from West Virginia, USA, and was married with three children and had a wife named Barbara. I was told by my mom that he migrated in the Philippines way back in the 1970's before I was born. They met in the late 70's and decided to live together. I was still 3 years old when I saw my stepfather, whom I respected as a father until his last days.
My Mother's Story
My mother was still 16 when she worked as a clerk in Golden Dragon Hotel in Butuan City, Philippines. The owner of this hotel was a Chinese man who got married with her aunt. Her parents were not rich so they cannot afford to send her to school. With 13 siblings, it would be hard to send everyone to school. Most of her siblings worked in the farm. It did not discouraged her to continue her studies as she was school scholar while maintaining high marks in every subject. One day, there was this big event in school a special "Valentines Day" party. All the young girls lined up and waited for their prince charming. My mother was sitting down as she was in-charge of the attendance. Then suddenly this handsome guy caught her attention. He was sort of staring at her at a distance. Then suddenly he approached her and said he wanted to ask a girl for a dance. She said pick any girl you like from that line. He said, "No, I only want to dance with you. Is that okay?" Well, their love story started from there. That was how my real parents met. It sounds like a good love story, but it was not as good as it seems.
To be continued...
