Dear Annette, Love, Mercy: A Story of a Woman with Fortitude Who, Despite an Unhappy Childhood and Traumatic Experiences, Still Managed to Get on with Her Life and Enjoy It!

By Virginia Lagos

A forty-year-long correspondence with a pen pal provided a record of the remarkable life of Mercedes Marin-a Filipino woman who overcame a Cinderella-like childhood and adolescence to elope with her prince charming, raise a family, and touch the lives of in-laws,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Prime Seven Media
• Release date: Jun 13, 2024
• ISBN: 9781963883510

Book preview

cover.jpg

Copyright © 2024 by Virginia Lagos

Paperback: 978-1-963883-50-3

eBook: 978-1-963883-51-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024905621

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Ordering Information:

Prime Seven Media

518 Landmann St.

Tomah City, WI 54660

Printed in the United States of America

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my mother, Mrs. Mercedes Marin and as a tribute in honor of her exemplary life.

Secondly, to my sons Anthony, Richard, and Victor, to whom I’d like to leave a legacy that they may know their roots and appreciate the value of leading a good life, as their grandmother did.

Acknowledgments

A big thank you to the wonderful people who inspired me to write this book:

My English teacher in high school, Mrs. Fely Wiedebush, who believed I had writing ability; Mrs. Carole Wilhelm, the daughter-in-law of Mom’s pen pal, who kindly sent me an album of some of Mom’s handwritten letters to her mother-in-law Mrs. Annette Wilhelm; Mr. Paul Hughes, who encouraged me and was my accountabilibuddy; and my spouse, Pedro Lagos, who was always there to support me.

Contents

Introduction

Birth

Childhood & Teenage Years

Education

Career

Marriage

The War Years

Parenthood

Trials & Tribulations

My In-Laws

My Helping Hands

My Social Life & My Friends

My Hobbies & Interests

Grandma Years

Twilight Years

Introduction

I’ve been wanting to write a book since I was in high school. This yearning sprung out of a comment made by my English teacher when she wrote in my autograph book, You have the writing ability; keep on reading. Since then, these words have been etched in my mind.

I’ve been procrastinating to write my book until January 2017 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. This made me think about the wishes on my bucket list, one of which was, of course, writing my book.

What better book to write than my Mom’s life story? I’ve been wanting to write about her life since her passing in February 2010. I was the only daughter of a family of five children. Therefore, I was the only one who had patience enough to listen to her life story.

My mother, Mercedes, had a pen pal from the United States. Her name was Annette Wilhelm and she passed away six months before my Mom did. They had kept writing to each other for forty years. This meeting came about because the Parker Pen Company had put up a stand in the New York World’s Fair in April 1964. They were promoting Parker International Penfriend Program where names, ages, and interests were matched to find an overseas penfriend. Annette wrote her first letter to my Mom on 2 August 1964, the start of a lasting friendship that would span over four decades.

My mother had the good fortune of meeting her pen pal when she came to visit us in Manila. Mom also had a chance to visit Annette at her home in Baltimore, Maryland. There, Annette proudly showed her an album containing Mom’s letters to her. She had kept them diligently. Unfortunately, my mother wasn’t as organized, and Annette’s letters disappeared when Mom went to live in the United States and then in Australia.

When my husband and I went to the United States, we also had the good fortune of meeting Annette. From then on, we always received Christmas cards from her. So, we reciprocated this kind gesture. One day, we got a letter from her daughter-in-law Carole, who informed us that Annette had passed away. Annette was ill for the last three years and was being nursed at home by her husband and a health aide. I asked Carole whether she knew of the album of my Mom’s letters. She said she had them. Thereupon, I asked her if she could send me those letters. Thankfully, Carole was kind enough to send it to me, and I now have this album in my possession. Unfortunately, this was only one album of the beginning stages of their friendship. I’ve used these letters in this book to lend more authenticity to my Mom’s story. I have filled in the gaps of her life story that her letters didn’t cover from my memories and those of others. I am telling the story as if my mother were writing an autobiography.

This book is an insight into the life of Mercedes (Mercy) Marin. Hopefully, her story will instil in your mind that no matter how bad or traumatic your childhood experiences were, you should not dwell on the past but move forward.

Another lesson that I’d like to impart is the importance of friendship. Having a friend with whom we can communicate, even at a distance, and share our experiences is wonderful. because we can express ourselves without reservation and, most of all, have a feeling of being loved for ourselves.

This is Mercy and her story!

Birth

I was born on Thursday April 29, 1920 at home and baptized Mercedes Masungsong in Manila, Philippines. I don’t know my weight, length, or the time of birth, since no one, not even my mother, ever talked about it.

When I was one month old, my mother had to leave me in the care of an aunt (Nana Dionang who was completely blind from small pox, which she contracted as a young girl). As a result, my belly button became infected. My mother (Sofia) had just given birth to me and still had to tend to my father (Sulpicio Masungsong), who was very ill, as well as make sure her business was running smoothly. Despite my Mom’s efforts and the doctor’s visits, my father later died a month after I was born. I know nothing about my father’s lineage, since most of his family perished when Taal Volcano erupted in 1911. The only ones who survived were my father and