Geneology Tale: Romeo and Juliet + The Crow

The parents of my maternal grandmother were known as Kudat and Lingayo. Before my grandparents married, there was an altercation between Kudat and Pednga-en (my grandfather’s father). One morning, they met together at a particular place while going on their respective business. Later that same day, they again crossed each other’s paths at exactly the same place. Kudat who must have been a jolly fellow made a funny comment to Pednga-en about this meeting at the same place in one day. Pednga-en, who were amongst Sagada’s leaders didn’t find the same comment funny and proceeded to bring the matter to court against Kudat. (I’ve never met such a guy!) I don’t know what happened next, but because of this dispute, when their children eventually married each other, Kudat and Pednga-en had to perform a ritual that indicated there is no remaining ill will between the two despite a prior dispute.

Moral of the story? Don’t fight against anyone. Your child may end up marrying that person’s child.

The children of Kudat and Lingayo were Conyap Ag-a, Madungit Gayagay, Carmen Nadnaden (my grandmother), and Eduardo Toyoken who settled in Tabuk, Kalinga. There is an interesting story where one of their grandchildren, an orphaned boy, was about to be brought to a Sagada orphanage because of poverty. While the surviving parent was on the way to the orphanage with the little boy, a crow hovered continuosly on their path seemingly trying to prevent the boy from being brought to the orphanage. The parent took this as an omen, and decided to raise the little boy instead. The boy grew up and eventually taught at the Saint Mary’s School in Sagada. His son, my 2nd cousin, was a batchmate during my elementary years, and a ka-barkada during my college years.

Moral of the story? If you’re contemplating a major decision and a crow seemingly stops your decided course of action, listen to it.