In late September 2018, Buena Fe and I went to Oroquieta City on a quick trip to visit relatives and friends. And upon Marilou Mutia's invitation, to attend the fiesta celebration of Aloran. Coincidentally, Manang Baby Balaoro of New Jesrsey, USA was in town for a vacation. One evening, we were invited to dinner at Dr. Joey Balaoro's residence together with cousins, nephews, nieces and Tia Noming. A mini-reunion of sorts. Below is a picture of that meeting.
After dinner, a meeting was held and among the topics discussed were a reunion in 2019 for those in-country family members, and a much bigger reunion in 2020, to include relatives living abroad. The preliminary plans were made for the dates, venues and other details for these reunions.
Another topic of importance was the creation of a family tree. To trace our ancestry all the way to Tatay Mente’s parents would be a formidable challenge considering the number of Apdujan siblings. The same thing could also be said on the Rillas side.
So it was agreed that we’ll just start with the Mente-Pania couple. Lovely Mae and Buena Fe volunteered in the making of the tree. There has been no chronicler of family events especially before the advent of the audio/video apps we routinely use today.
I volunteered to help the volunteers as we needed all the help we can get from everyone, especially the heads of families, to submit all available information on family members (such as full names & nicknames, date of birth/death, spouses of children, wedding dates, present address, contact numbers, email & social media accounts, photographs, etc.).
More than a year after that meeting, the family tree is still incomplete with several blank names and pictures. I was planning to have a big tarpaulin sign printed showing the family tree, however incomplete, in time for the reunion on June 26-28, 2020. (For some reason, the 2019 reunion didn't push through.) But the corona virus put a halt to the preparations and the reunion is postponed to 2021, that is, if conditions improve by then. Anyway, you can view the family tree by tapping on the image below.
Manang Baby and/or Vicky Ocaya were supposed to write a short family history. With the reunion another year away, maybe the family history will be ready by that time. In the meantime, here are some observations on the family tree which could form part of the family history.
a) The Birth Spacing of the Children
You will notice from the image that the children were born 4-1-7-5 years apart.
b) No Grandchild Bears the Apdujan Surname
As of today. not one grandchild bears the Apdujan surname. This is largely because the first three children were daughters. When they got married, their children bear the surname of their husbands. Thus, the Balaoro, Ocaya and Garcia grandchildren.
The sons are expected to perpetuate the family's name but Alfonso had three daughters and when they got married, they also bear the surnames of their husbands. So with Jose, who has only one child, a daughter.
I think Buena Fe is the longest running Apdujan - from 1952 until 1988 when she got married. But what's in a name? An Apdujan by any other name would smell as sweet. Apdujan is the tie that binds. The blood that flows through their veins.
c) The In-laws
As in most families, the children's spouses (the in-laws) are warmly welcomed to the family. Or, maybe not.
An incident that happened in early February, 2020 illustrates why a family tree could be useful. Someone posted that Tia Pedang Neri passed away. Condolences were offered and while everyone was sure that she was a relative, not everyone was sure why or how was she related. Somebody said that Tia Pedang's father was Tatay Mente's brother. Or that maybe she was a relative on the Rillas side.
Until somebody came up with the correct answer: Tia Pedang was the daughter of Inse Juana, who was Tatay Mente's sister.
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