who is manang?

Manang is the one who takes care of my brothers (and I when I'm at the apartment). She has been with us for more than two years now. She hails from a good family in Cebu. She was referred to us by her cousin who works for one of mommy's uncle.

She didn't need to work, by the way, her family can survive even if she stay in the province. But she chose to be in Manila after her husband died. She needed to forget and get on with her life. It was hard for her to do that if she stayed in Cebu.

She has then gained our trust. The problem is, she can't do most household chores. She can do things but cannot meet our standards. She can't cook. She can't do the laundry well. She can't iron properly. She can, however, clean the house, go to the bank, pay the bills. She's not perfect but we keep her because she's easy to work with anyway.

I'm giving you Manang's brief background for you to picture how it has been in our home with her. We're always having the laughs of our lives. My brothers and I thought we should post some of her anecdotes here. No, not to make jokes at her expense but to point out that since she arrived in our lives, ours have never been livelier. Teehee!

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Note on August 17, 2005: Manang left for her hometown on August 9 to care for her ailing mother. We still aren't sure if she will return to us, but we honestly hope she would.