“Rebuilding Our Future”

Elsa Batica

Saint Paul, Minnesota | Filipina | She/her/hers

I am now retired. I originally came from the Philippines. 

There were always meetings at our house, and reporters would interview my husband about what’s going on in the Philippines. So, when President Ferdinand Marcos was toppled, it was no longer politically viable for my husband to be in the Philippines. 

We already had three kids then – 2, 6 and an 8-year-old. They were all old enough to understand what was going on. 

We finally decided to put the house on the market. One day, I was packing and putting post-its on the furniture to indicate who it was to be given to. My husband and our baby were off shopping for food. As I was sorting out clothes, I heard the boys outside of our hallway bantering. 

“You do it!” 

“No, you do it!” 

”You say it!”  

“No, you!” 

“You’re mommy’s favorite!” 

“No, you are older.” 

So I asked, “What’s going on boys?” 

My 6-year-old blurted, “WE DON’T WANT TO COME WITH YOU TO THE PHILIPPINES!” 

I said, “Yes, of course you are. You’re minors.” 

The older one said, “We don’t want to come mommy, it’s not our country, it’s yours.” 

I just slumped into the bed and started crying. Then, they were crying. I was crying because I was really looking forward to going home. I had been gone a long time already – almost ten years. I had not seen my parents. I said, “OK, let’s have a family meeting when daddy comes home.” 

Daddy came home and asked, “Who died?” 

“Nobody died, but our kids don’t want to come with us,” I said.

He responded, “Of course they are coming, they are minors.” 

We always said we’d respect our children’s opinion; now they were giving it and we weren’t listening. At the family meeting my husband said, “You’ll love it there!” 

We tried to convince them, but they were terrified with what they saw on television. 

So we canceled our reservations. One of the politicians from the Philippines came to visit. She said, “For the sake of your kids, stay here.” 

I was convinced it was the right thing to do, but I was torn between the future of my kids and my parents. 

My husband said, “Our parents are our past.Our children are our future. Who do you want to work for?” 

That’s when I realized  that our children are the future and we decided to stay and make a life here.