We bought the Pandacan house after Bing was born in 1946 and relocated there from Kamuning. The place being damp, as the house was surrounded by water planted with Kangkong and “aba,” affected the delicate body of Bing and caused her to become sick from colds and whooping cough. No amount of medicine could cure her.
Per doctor’s advice to have a change of air in her lungs, I brought her every early morning to the beach, riding a ride from Pandacan to Taft Avenue and another ride by jeepney to Rizal Boulevard near the Yacht Club.
After an hour or so we rode back home, and it was time for me to go to Crame.
This routine took place for months, until somebody told us to change Bing’s name by dropping her elsewhere and somebody picking her up, then changing her name when she was brought back home.
I recalled that this was done to my late mother and that is why she was called “Idot” for “napidot,” instead of Toyang for Victoriana. She was very sickly and about to die when they did this to her in Bangued, according to her story when I was young.
The baptismal name of Bing was Arsenia, after her ninang, and her nickname was “Baby.” We changed her name to Aurora and called her Bing. After that her sickness and whooping cough stopped. A miracle!
Bing was a very crying baby. Her grandma, Nana Ulli, told us that she would be a very industrious girl like Aning when she grew big.
One day Pat and I just ignored her crying. When she stopped, we looked around and saw her sticking out her tongue rapidly at us. Then she cried again!
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