Misplaced Affection

June 5, 2026

Thanks to James of Los Angeles, CA

Original Artwork by Raoul Pascual

Raoul’s 2 cents

America: Land of the Blessings

If you don’t want to ponder, move on to the Jokes below.

My wife and I waited for our grandson to be dismissed from his last day of Middle School. Earlier, his older brother celebrated his Promotion Day (from Middle School to High School) with several academic medals hanging from his neck. It was a proud morning.

As I stared at the school campus with the American flag and the California flag waving at us, I turned to my wife and said: “Doesn’t this school remind you of the first time we registered our kids to an American school?” Our son’s first friend was a Hispanic kid named Carlo. They had just met but they played around the campus like best buds. (That was their first and last time to play together because they wound up in different school districts.) We fondly remember that happy day because we knew that assimilating to the culture was going to be easy. Looking far beyond, where the clouds merged with the majesty of the Sierra Madre Mountains, I thanked God for allowing us to be here. With tears, we left friends, family and church to start this adventure.

The 15 hour flight aboard Northwest Airlines was the first time our kids rode an airplane. We were allowed to bring 10 huge boxes of favorite toys, videotapes and lots and lots of clothes. In retrospect, we shouldn’t have bothered because they were practically rags compared to the quality of US garments. People at the airport stared at our family as we rolled 5 carts through the maze of LAX but I didn’t care. I recall my brother in Washington DC exclaimed “the Eagle has landed!” Indeed, it was like we had stepped on the moon.

It was a small miracle that all of this junk fit in my father’s Nissan Van: “Welcome to America … welcome to your new home!” A feeling of disbelief overwhelmed us as the van navigated towards the four-lane 10 freeway. “America is so big! Look at those tall buildings! Look at all those brand-new cars! Look at how fast everyone’s driving! Smell the clean air! There are McDonalds everywhere!

My parents prepared a spare room … a tiny room just big enough to fit one king-sized mattress on the floor and a dresser. (Don’t we need mosquito nets? Where are the mosquitoes?) Our family of 5 lived there for a few months until my wife pushed us to rent an apartment in the hopes that we would find a decent income. She eventually started as a bookkeeper while I worked for a very small graphic design shop. Even though I was hardly paid enough, I enjoyed my work and was grateful for any kind of job. I was too happy being here in America. I didn’t understand labor rates, living costs, insurance, health benefits, taxes, and the US economy. My dreams were simple.

One of the first things we searched for was a good church. It was funny how fellow Filipinos suggested we go to an all-Filipino church to feel more at home (which we did for a while) but we enjoyed discovering other cultures … we came here to assimilate into the culture. We deliberately instructed our kids to make friends with all kinds of ethnicities.

Our first church was the First Baptist Church of Alhambra, California. The congregation doted over us. They gave us furniture and clothes, taught us where the discounts were and they invited us to their homes. They taught us what Americans do for Memorial Day weekend, Super Bowl Sunday, the 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Black Friday Sales, Christmas, New Year, Easter, and Summer Camp vacations. In turn, we taught Sunday School and helped out in the church. We learned how Caucasians, other Asians, Blacks and Hispanics lived. Each group did things differently for sure — ate different food, dressed differently and spoke differently. Different meant diversity in a good rich way. We were color blind and proud of it.

TODAY

Our kids are grown up now. They all have well-paying jobs. Our grand kids are older than our kids when we first arrived. We have lived here longer than we had lived in the Philippines. We have food. We have cars. We have a home. We are living the American dream. We are headed down the mountain of success and walking towards the sunset.

To be part of America is an honor I will never take for granted. That’s why I am amazed at the arrogance of some immigrants. Wants are now demands. Blessings are now expectations. They forget the little miracles that led them up the mountain. They compare the mountains above and below. Never satisfied. Always looking for a fight. They don’t recognize my America.

America — the land of free speech and ideas. A land established by Judeo-Christian values. What other country passes its blessings to the rest of the world like America? Someone asked me why I spend so much time preparing for this Friday email. I don’t do it for the money. It is my part to pass the blessings I do not deserve.

TGIF people!

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Quotes of the week

“The White House looked into a plan that would allow illegal immigrants to stay in the United States. The plan called for a million Mexicans to marry a million of our ugliest citizens.” — Dennis Miller

“The police pulled me over and asked me if I have anything illegal in my car. I looked at my cousin and I ran.” — Felipe Esparza

“Do you know what a foreign accent is? It’s a sign of bravery.” — Amy Chua, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

“I received a letter just before I left office from a man. I don’t know why he chose to write it, but I’m glad he did. He wrote that you can go to live in France, but you can’t become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Italy, but you can’t become a German, an Italian. He went through Turkey, Greece, Japan and other countries. But he said anyone, from any corner of the world, can come to live in the United States and become an American.” — Ronald Reagan

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” — Numbers 6: 24-26

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” — James 1:17

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” — Isaiah 41:10

Memes of the Week

Thanks to James of Los Angeles, CA

Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre, CA

Thanks to Barbara of Pasadena. CA

Thanks to Tom of Pasadena, CA

Thanks to Jacob of Whittier, CA

Thanks to Norm of Encino, CA

I found these

My good friend (and jokester) Terry and I came up with these:

I hope I got you to smile.
See you next Friday!

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