Acknowledgment

The onset of the pandemic made me realize the fragility of life and the need to make the most out of it. I had people in my life most recently succumb not only to COVID but also to other diseases that it can be a scary thought that life can be taken away just like that without anyone knowing, without warning. We are all vulnerable in some ways but that feeling of vulnerability can also serve as motivation for us to get some things done. Dissecting family roots and history has always been a daunting but exciting task. It is a journey of self-discovery and at the same time, a self-appreciation. The more you learn about your roots, the more you learn and appreciate yourself. Reconstructing the past from fragments of verified and sometimes unverified information from oral interviews, newspapers, books, photographs, maps, and written records can be a challenging detective work. It does not only require finding the information that link generation to generation but also learning about how your ancestors as people live, talk, share their happiness and sadness, their interests, character traits, their stories. As a child growing I was always fascinated with stories. I remembered reading every book on fairy tales. Almost always there is a beautiful maiden, her struggles, how she managed to overcome them and then eventually marries a handsome prince. the end. For every "Once upon a time", there was always "and they live happily every after". That's how stories should go. It was up to me to decide where, who that once upon a time will be focused and the when, where they live happily part will happen. When I decided I would write a book on the family history of the Villaflors and Campomanes it took me a while to figure out how I would lay out the individual stories and present it in an organized manner. Should I focus solely on both tatay and nanay and their love story? or the lives of their children? or soliyao where most of their memorable times were spent? The sole purpose I wrote this book is to help the younger generation understand what happened during their great grandparents' time. How they lived their lives and what values they taught to their children to become better persons. When my cousins, uncles and aunts paid us a visit in Cebu in 2019, it reminded me that every family reunion should be celebrated. History shapes what we are today and helps us understand the present. Without history we would never be able to appreciate our identity. The sources of information for this book were derived from the court case involving the Mulanay property, the various references from the web detailing the history of Pitogo and the oral interviews that were conducted from the remaining Villaflor-Campomanes siblings to help shed light on what transpired several decades ago. For this book, I focused most of my time writing on Nanay. Tatay was already gone before I was born so I had no memory of him except from the stories foretold by my mom and her siblings. Their love story will always be fascinating to me and worth telling. Nanay, though was my biggest hero. How she was able to keep the family intact despite losing the family's main pillar is not only underrated but also very inspiring. The examination of family history, though, is a never ending pursuit. Every discovery brings a new mystery to be solved. Some new information may fill the gap to several unanswered questions. Some things that we thought we knew turn out to be different. The unexpected gift of this exercise is it gives us a unique perspective on life and allow us to see ourselves in a whole new way. I would like to thank my mom, cousins, uncle and aunts for taking time in answering the multitude of questions related to the family history. Through this book, we can always remember our roots and the values that we stand for.