I never knew any of my grandparents on either side. I was told they all passed on before the second world war way before I was born. On my dad's recent wake, a cousin, my sister, and I just out of the blue began talking about our family and our roots. We talked about relatives and family members who have all departed. We talked about the origin of our last name and wondered where it came from.

My mom gave me this sole surviving picture of her parents and asked me to take very good care of it. I promised I would. I also figured I would upload it here on my blog for posterity's sake.

My grandfather, Hermenegildo, and grandmother, Apolonia, in Manila in the early 1920's. How I wish I had a picture of my paternal grandparents as well, Sotero and Maria.