February 5, 2006 – Pinay New Yorker

I never thought I’d find myself living here in the United States. Sure, like most people back in Manila, I had thought of one day setting foot in the proverbial land of milk and honey, but I couldn’t bear the thought of thinking of migrating to the US like most people I knew.

I never thought I’d find myself living here in the United States.  Sure, like most people back in Manila, I had thought of one day setting foot in the proverbial land of milk and honey, but I couldn’t bear the thought of thinking of migrating to the US like most people I knew.
It was but a thought — one of those things you daydream about but don’t seriously consider.  I just couldn’t bear the thought of being away from my family.
Then I fell in love.  That was the only reason that I gave up a well-paying job in one of the multinational companies headquartered in Manila and said goodbye to friends and family back home.  It was a big decision I made almost purely based on instinct.  After all, how can you be sure about anything about living in a strange land and starting anew to spend your life with the love of your life?
It was the beginning of a new journey.  I came to the United States focused on the goal of starting a family of my own.  I already knew that choosing the legal route was out of the question because it would invovle studying anew for the New York Bar and starting at the bottom of the heap, investing time, money and effort on building a career from scratch.
For Alan and I, it was a big gamble on a relationship we wanted to see through to our golden years.  We both had our own heartaches through the years, and for the first time (at least speaking for myself), I felt like I had found someone whose hand I would hold until the day I die.  
So now I’m a New Yorker, a wife and a Mom.  Everything else is secondary now.  I have a good paying job although it’s a world away from the advertising and public relations stint I used to do.  Now I cook, wash dishes, fold my own laundry, mend my own clothes (and I’m proud of the way I do my trouser hems!), and I blend very well into the throng of people who commute on the New York subway system on any given day.
The things you do in the name of love..