I don't know everyone in the picture, I have labeled that ones that I do know and still keep in touch with to this day. Our great grandmother Angela (everyone called her Ankila) died soon after this photo was taken, sometime around 1968 or 69. My lola Dora sits next to her, sister Jo is on her lap, sister O and I are sitting in front of her. My mom is the pretty lady on the right, Virginia. My mom and her cousins are a tight bunch. This may be due to the fact that my mom was an only child and cherished her relationships with her cousins, ergo she always kept in touch with many of them. Most of them, like my mom, have moved out of the little bario in Pangasinan where this picture was taken, but they all, as do I, still consider the bario as their home. They all still have their family homes their, and they all still go to visit every once in a while.
My lola lives in Los Angeles now, with my mom. Her brothers Victor and Diosdado have passed away, but her sister Ellen is still living in the Philippines. Aunt Gloria is a nurse and she now lives in Sacramento with her family. Her sister Diana lives nearby in Rancho Cordova. We had a chance to see them a year ago when my step father died and they all came. Unfortunately, we don't get to see our extended family as much anymore. Funerals and weddings have become quasi family reunions as we all have busy lives and don't always get a chance to get together.
Thanks, sister O for sending the photo.
