Tomorrow, Mama would finally be home.
Home.
It didn’t feel so bad to say that now.
Chapter Twenty-eight
The rest of that day and most of the next morning were spent washing clothes, sweeping out the grave house, and shaking out our sleeping mats. I even had time to go buy some food and supplies with the money we had left over after paying for Mama’s doctor’s bill. Rosie had returned to visit Mama with a letter from Tito Danny. He apologized for not returning my first call. Mang Rudy’s phone number was unfamiliar and he had been wary about calling it. It turned out he hadn’t received my message at all. When I called him again and told him about Mama’s illness, he was glad he had answered the phone this time. The letter said he had sold one of his carabaos and a few pigs to pay for her treatment and hospital stay, and included instructions on where to pick up the money. Mang Rudy had accompanied me.
Jojo had taught me how important it was to tell your friends the truth. I had learned that the hard way. It was why I decided to call Evelyn and tell her everything that had happened to my mother and me. She came to the hospital with some fruit for Mama and a book for me. She promised to pass by Ibarra bakery once a week so we could catch up. I would start working tomorrow.
Tiger had confessed to the police about stealing goods from Mr. Santiago’s store. He also confessed to cheating Mama out of the money his boss had paid for the extra work she had done in the factory.
I used some of that money to pay for medicines that Mama needed when she came home. There was enough left for food and my stock of everlasting daisies for a few weeks. My uncle promised us a small bamboo house of our own and a pig to raise if we decided to come and live in Davao someday.
“Someday seems like a long way away, Papa. I guess you’re stuck with us for now.”
Everything was ready for Mama’s homecoming. A necklace of sweet-smelling sampaguita hung around our Santo Niño statue in thanksgiving. Mama’s clothes and slippers were packed. Virgil and his tricycle would take me to the hospital to pick her up this afternoon.
While I waited for my ride, I decided to make a few everlasting-daisy garlands to decorate Papa’s tomb, when I remembered the potted plant in the corner. I picked it up to throw it out when I noticed a bundle of clothes on top of the dead sweet potato plant. It was the shirt and shorts I’d worn the last time I saw Tiger. They were stained and still smelled of the tomb he’d thrown me into.
I wanted to throw them away, to not have any more reminders of how close I came to losing everything that was important to me. But then again, it might be a good reminder of what not to do for the sake of money, and how to never, ever again lose hope.
The crusted dirt fell away like sand when I shook the shorts. Something fell out of the pocket. It was a folded piece of yellow paper, worn and ragged at the edges.
It was the flyer about the St. Anne’s Academy scholarship, the one Jojo had given me a few days ago. The image of the little nun talking to Aling Lydia flashed through my mind and my heart gave a hopeful skip.
Strange—all my desire for escape was gone. All I could think about now was filling out the forms for the scholarship to St. Anne’s. I had worked on my review book while I sat by Mama’s hospital bed. I was almost done. Kuya Efren had already given me a recommendation letter. Aling Lydia would let me have Perla’s old uniforms. I could study while I worked behind the counter at Aling Lydia’s bakery.
It was really going to happen. I could go back to school.
I found the bag containing the review book and my scholarship application forms. The convent and school were close by; I could drop it off one day after work.
I refolded the yellow paper and tucked it next to Mama’s clothes so I could show it to her. I was stuffing the smelly clothes in a plastic bag to wash later on when something odd caught my eye. A small green leaf poked up out of the debris of dried stems and leaves in the pot. It’s still alive! I cleaned the dirt around it and poured water over the plant. Then I positioned it to catch some sunlight, thinking about roasted sweet potatoes and how much Mama loved them.
The distant hum of a motorcycle became a roar as it neared my grave house. It was time to leave.
“Let’s go, Nora!” Jojo rode behind Virgil on the motorcycle, letting me have the sidecar.
With Mama’s clothes under my arm, I climbed in with a heart that was light, happy, and filled with hope. As we pulled away, I realized that my grave house looked brighter. Rays of sunshine reflected off the painted white cement of Papa’s tomb. The old plastic table gleamed with a pretty flower design that I’d never noticed before. Our worn but brightly colored checkered mat and the gauzy lightness of the kulambo were neatly stacked in the corner. The shadows of sadness were gone and all that remained were the odds and ends of our daily lives.
Mama was coming home.
Glossary of Tagalog Words
*** ALL VOWELS ARE SHORT ***
ADOBO (a-do-bo) – a chicken or pork stew cooked in soy sauce and vinegar.
ALING (a-ling) – a title of respect used before the first name of a woman.
ALIS (a-lis) – scram, go, remove.
ANAK (a-nak) – child, daughter/son.
ARAY (a-rye) – an expression meaning “ouch!”
BAHALA NA (ba-ha-la na) – an expression meaning “come what may.”
BALISONG (ba-li-song) – a butterfly knife.
BANANA-QUE (ba-na-na-kyu) – plantains deep-fried in caramelized sugar; a street food sold on skewers.
BANIG (ba-nig) – a woven mat.
BARONG TAGALOG (ba-rong ta-ga-log) – an embroidered formal shirt considered the national dress of the Philippines.
BIKO (bee-ko) – a rice cake.
BRUHA (bru-ha) – witch, old hag.
BULI (boo-li) – a kind of palm leaf.
CALAMANSI (ka-la-man-si) – a sour fruit also known as calamondin; an intergenetic hybrid of citrus fruit and kumquats.
CAPIZ SHELLS (ka-piz) – they come from windowpane oysters.
CARABAO (ka-ra-bow) – a water buffalo.
CHAMPORADO (cham-po-ra-do) – a porridge made with glutinous rice, cocoa, milk, and sugar.
CHOW (chow) – a mahjong rule when a player has a numerical series of three tiles all of the same suit.
CONSUELO (con-swe-lo) – consolation.
DAPA (da-pa) – bend over.
DINUGUAN (di-nu-guan) – a pork stew made with pork blood.
DIWATA (di-wa-ta) – fairy or goddess.
GINATAAN (gi-na-tan) – a warm dessert made with sticky rice balls and coconut cream.
HAYOP KA (ha-yop ka) – a rude expression meaning “you animal.”
HINDE, HINDI (hin-de, hin-di) – an expression meaning “no,” “not.”
HOY (hoi) – an expression meaning “hey.”
JEEPNEY (jeep-ney) – a common form of public transportation; an extended jeep with colorful decorations; a symbol of Philippine culture and art.
KONG (kong) – a mahjong rule when a player has four matching tiles.
KULAMBO (ku-lam-bo) – mosquito net.
KUMUSTA (ku-mus-ta) – hello, regards. “Kumusta ka?” means “How are you?”
KUYA (ku-ya) – older brother; a term of address or reference.
LABANDERA (la-ban-de-ra) – laundrywoman who washes clothes by hand.
LAGUNDI (la-gun-di) – a shrub that grows in the Philippines. It is used in herbal medicine.
LOLA (lo-la) – grandmother; a term of address or reference.
LUGAW (lu-gau) – a rice porridge.
MAGANDANG UMAGA (ma-gan-dang u-ma-ga) – good morning.
MANG (mang) – a title of respect used before the first name of a man.
NAKU (na-ku) – an expression that can mean “oh, my.”
NASAAN KA? (na-san ka) – where are you?
PALANGGANA (pa-lan-ga-na) – a basin.
PALENGKE (pa-leng-ke) – marketplace.
PANCIT CANTON (pan-cit kan-ton) – a Filipino noodle di
sh with vegetables, pork, chicken, and shrimp.
PANDESAL (pan-de-sal) – a common bread roll in the Philippines.
PASOK (pa-sok) – enter.
PO (po) – an expression that indicates respect or politeness.
PONG (pong) – a mahjong rule when a player has a set of three matching tiles.
PUHUNAN (pu-hu-nan) – capital for business.
SABA (sa-ba) – a common cooking banana.
SALAMAT (sa-la-mat) – thanks, thank you.
SALOMPAS (sa-lom-pas) – a topical pain reliever in patch form.
SANDALI LANG (san-da-li lang) – an expression meaning “just a moment, just a minute.”
SANTOL (san-tol) – a tropical sour fruit.
SARI-SARI (sa-ri-sa-ri) – variety; a sari-sari store sells a variety of goods.
SEMENTERYO (se-men-te-ri-yo) – cemetery.
SIGE NA (si-ge na) – an expression meaning “go on now.”
SINIGANG (si-ni-gang) – a soup made of tamarind, meat or fish, and vegetables.
SIYEMPRE (siyem-pre) – always, of course, surely, naturally.
SUMAN (su-man) – a steamed rice cake wrapped in banana or palm leaf.
SUSMARYOSEP (sus-mar-yo-sep) – an expression; a combination of Jesus, Mary, Joseph.
SUWERTE (su-wer-te) – luck; good luck; good fortune.
TITA (tee-ta) – aunt; a term of address or reference.
TITO (tee-to) – uncle; a term of address or reference.
TRICYCLE – an auto-rickshaw, motorcycle with a sidecar, a common form of public transportation in the Philippines.
TURO-TURO (tu-ro tu-ro) – a cafeteria-style restaurant.
WALANG ANUMAN (wa-lang a-nu-man) – not at all.
WALIS TINGTING (wa-lis ting-ting) – a broom made from the dried midribs of a coconut.
Author’s Note
Everlasting Nora is a work of fiction, but the telling of this tale is inspired by real children living in extreme poverty in Manila.
I was born in the Philippines, but when my family moved to the United States, I grew up without any novels about Filipino children like me. When I returned to my native country, I celebrated my first All Saints’ Day as a curious twelve-year-old girl. The cemetery was crowded with colorful, decorated tombs and mausoleums. There were lots of people there that day, visitors like me, and lots of vendors selling food and candles. It was quite festive!
But I had no idea there were people actually living there.
After college, I moved back to the United States. I loved to read, and when my children were born, I wanted them to have books they could see themselves in. I had planned to write a picture book based on my memory of my first All Saints’ Day in the Philippines, when my cousins showed me how to make balls by collecting melted wax from the candles burning around the tombs. I began my online research on Philippine cemeteries and Filipino traditions surrounding honoring the dead.
I first learned about the homeless living in cemeteries when I came across a blog post written by a Baptist missionary who had traveled to the Philippines. He wrote about a girl named Grace, an orphan living in the Manila North Cemetery, who begged in the streets to stay alive. The missionary was moved by her plight. It alarmed him that there were so many children like her. He returned home and raised money to open a safe house for orphaned, homeless children like Grace. He came back to the Philippines with volunteers to help rescue these children. He searched for Grace but learned that she had died in a charity hospital, alone. I was so touched by her story I decided I wanted to write about a girl like her and I knew it had to be a novel. Everlasting Nora took shape and became the book you now hold in your hands.
Just like the character Nora, hundreds of poor families live in cemeteries. Many children who live there were born there, just like their parents and grandparents. Some of the homeless work as caretakers for families who own graves and mausoleums; others sell peanuts or roasted corn to cemetery visitors or other homeless people. They make enough money to buy the simplest necessities. Some of the children even go to school. But most do not. Like Nora, they lack the money to buy uniforms and school supplies.
Efren Peñaflorida, a Filipino teacher and social worker, inspired the character Kuya Efren Pena. He was one of the founding members of Dynamic Teen Company, a youth group dedicated to community activism. He became CNN’s Hero of the Year in 2009 for his efforts to bring education to children who live in slums and cemeteries.
The Dynamic Teen Company continues their mission of outreach by bringing education to impoverished children and providing guidance to teens to become productive members of their community. You can read more about them at dtc.org.ph.
Gawad Kalinga is an organization whose mission is to end poverty in the Philippines by providing ways to build sustainability in very poor communities all over the country. They help build houses for homeless people who live in cemeteries and polluted slums. Their vision has reached other countries like Cambodia and Indonesia. You can learn more about them at gk1world.com/home.
If you would like to read some reference articles I studied in order to portray my characters respectfully, please go to my website: cruzwrites.com/for-teachers.html.
Thank you for taking this journey with my characters, whose lives reflect real humans who find the courage to stay alive and keep their families safe through the strength of their communities.
STARSCAPE READING AND ACTIVITY GUIDE TO
Everlasting Nora
BY MARIE MIRANDA CRUZ
Ages 8–12; Grades 3–7
With a narrative that weaves between the past and present, Everlasting Nora is a bittersweet story of both losing and finding precious things. Forced to live as a squatter in the Philippines’ Manila North Cemetery after an apartment fire destroys her home and takes her father’s life, Nora, the story’s vulnerable but resilient young narrator, is already struggling with devastating loss when her mother goes missing. Nora’s fears for Mama’s welfare, and her own, escalate when a loan shark’s thugs intimidate Nora; steal her savings and her beloved Papa’s watch; and deliver the distressing news that Mama, who has built up debt from a gambling problem, owes their unforgiving boss money. With surprising support from her cemetery neighbors, whose pockets are empty but hearts are full, Nora marshals the courage to find Mama, recover Papa’s watch, earn money, and get Mama to a hospital for life-saving care. Through her harrowing journey of change and loss, Nora finds that some things, like a parent’s love, true friendship, inner strength, hope, and memories, are enduring, maybe even everlasting.
Reading Everlasting Nora with Your Children
PRE-READING DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. In Everlasting Nora, the main character, Nora, has to drop out of school because of unfortunate circumstances in her life. She and her mother are forced to make a makeshift residence in the cemetery, where other struggling families also use mausoleums, or grave houses protecting tombs, as their homes. Looking back on her old, familiar life, Nora misses things she used to take for granted, even things she once might have complained about, like math class. Have you ever experienced a loss or change that gave you new appreciation for the importance of someone or something? Or, what are some things you have in your life today that you value, even if you don’t always think about how lucky you are to have them? What would you miss most if you couldn’t have it or do it? Why?
2. When Nora and Mama find themselves living as squatters in the Manila North Cemetery, Nora hides a shoebox with her most precious possessions in their grave house. The box contains a picture of Nora with Mama and Papa, who tragically lost his life in the fire that destroyed their home; her papa’s wristwatch; and her savings, which she hopes will help her return to a real home and school someday. If you had to put three objects in a cardboard box to represent three of the most important things in your life, what would you choose, and why? Where would you keep the box? Do you think the items you’d pick to put in the box today would be the same things you would have picked to
put in the box a year ago? Why or why not?
POST-READING DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Everlasting Nora opens with title character Nora’s thoughts about what home does and doesn’t mean: “If someone were to ask me to describe a home, I would tell them this. A home never floods during a typhoon. A home has a kitchen with a stove for cooking rice. A home does not have dead people inside it.” How would you “fill in” these blanks for yourself and your idea of home, and why would you give the answers you do?
A home never … A home has … A home does not have …
2. Throughout the novel, Nora observes many contrasts in her life and surroundings. For example, when Nora is walking home from selling everlasting-daisy garlands at the cemetery gates, she is keenly aware of differences between herself, a cemetery resident, and the visitors to the cemetery. Can you think of other contrasts, or juxtapositions (very different things close to each other, making the differences even more apparent), from the story?
3. Living as a squatter in the cemetery, Nora misses her best friend, Evelyn, a classmate from her old school, but says she wouldn’t want Evelyn to see her now. Why?
4. Author Marie Miranda Cruz incorporates words from the Tagalog language, but uses “context clues” to help readers figure out what the foreign words mean. For example, Nora says “salamat” (“thanks” or “thank you”) when outreach teacher Kuya Efren invites her to continue a lesson. Did you “translate” Tagalog words using context clues? (Use the book’s Glossary to double-check your guesses.)
5. Nora cherishes Papa’s watch as a precious link to his memory. The watch itself is important in the story, but can it also be seen as a symbol for some of the bigger themes, or important ideas, such as time, memory, and the relationship between past and present, emphasized throughout the novel? In the “story of Papa’s watch,” for example, the old man (whom Papa’s father helps) leaves the watch and a note, thanking Papa’s father for having helped save the old man’s memories. Why do you think the memories are so precious?
Everlasting Nora Page 19