I had wonderful childhood. My grandparents from my father's side immigrated to the Philippines during the Chinese Civil War. I know very little from my mother's side, but there is a mix of Spanish in my mother's side. My mother was the 7th child of 10 children from a farming Spanish/Chinese Family in the Philippines. My father was the youngest of 6 children to a wealthy Chinese family.
I grew up in a loving family. My father was a business man, who dearly loved my mother. My mother was content with being loved and created such loving memories for my sisters, my brother and I. There was 4 of us kids and we were wonderfully close. At the age of 2 yrs. old my world drastically changed, on the eve of my grandmother's birthday (Father's mother), my father was in a car accident that took his life. He was coming home from a business trip and rushing to be there for her birthday. Needless to say, he left my mother a widow with 4 children.
While I always felt a loss and an ache for him, I live by the stories that I have gathered from people who knew him. I knew of his love for me, and his need to sit me on his lap before he ate. He loved food as much as I do. He was wonderful with people. He was the man who saw everyone as a friend and he changed a city with his love.
You see, my father left his children and his wife a legacy. He ran the family business successfully through import/export of goods, as a major distributor for Proctor and Gamble products, as the major source for warehouse that was set to fill the need of a sustainable city. My father did it all with my mother at his side helping him with his books. He was tenacious, persistent, determined, and had a heart so large that it reflected on the people within the city. He supplied flour and oil to bakeries, goods into markets and loaned to farmers in order to help them keep their land. My father built us a glamorous life and while building quite an empire with his insurance business, real estate, retail stores, trades, community outreach, warehousing and distribution of highly sought-after goods.
As I write this.... I feel my father's blood, like a river, running through my veins. While there isn't much that I can remember of his face, the warmth of his hand, the comfort of a father's hug, in me, I find an undeniable strength, courage and determination that sustain me.
And so my friends, family and new-found companions, I begin this journey of leaving a legacy for my son, Joshua Allen Finfrock.
My God, I pray, give me strength.
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