The greatest blessing in life
“Life is beautiful. It’s about giving. It’s about family.” —Walt Disney
When we face our deepest challenges and most overwhelming troubles, the people who will engulf us with true, undying love and support are family. Some of us are blessed to be born into a family full of all the love we need, while others choose who they want to surround themselves with.
Whether our bonds are by choice or by blood, the love of family is the greatest blessing in life.
There’s a reason people call them “family trees.” Our branches may grow in different directions, but our roots remain as one. We are all interconnected by those who came before us, and it is right to honor them by keeping close ties with our loved ones.
Every five years, my family and I have a grand reunion together with all the descendants of Teresa de la Paz. Our last reunion was right before COVID hit, on Jan. 5, 2020, so it was truly amazing to gather once more and reconnect!
The lineage of a clan is usually traced from a male progenitor. Our prominent Tuason-Legarda-Prieto-Valdes clan takes exception to this rule by tracing our common descent from an illustrious ancestress, Doña Teresa de la Paz y de los Santos, whom we affectionately call “Lola Teresa.”
She owned the fabulous Teresa de la Paz Estate, the biggest private hacienda in the country next to those of the religious orders. The estate actually consisted of two haciendas, in Marikina and in Sta. Mesa, both of which belonged to the family of her first husband, Don Jose Severo Tuason.
To the manor born
In the middle of 1863 (a hundred years before I was born!), Doña Teresa married Don Jose Severo Tuason y Patiño (1833-1874) of Binondo, Manila. To the manor born, Don Jose Severo had succeeded to the ownership of the haciendas of Marikina and Sta. Mesa in 1856. They were blessed with seven children: Don Jose Victoriano Tuason (1864-1878); Don Juan Jose Tuason (1865-1916), who married Doña Maria Paz Gonzalez; Doña Maria Teresa Eriberta Tuason (1867-1951), known to the family as “La Tata,” unmarried; Don Mariano Severo Tuason (1868-ca. 1940), single; Don Demetrio Asuncion Tuason (1870-1927), who married twice—Ellen Foley and Doña Natividad Zaragoza; Don Augusto Huberto Tuason (1872-1936), who married Doña Maria Paves; and Doña Maria Soterraña Cristina Tuason (1873-1936), who married Don Vicente Garcia Valdes, alias “El Pajaro Verde.”
After the death of Don Jose Severo, Doña Teresa remarried in 1875 to a young lawyer, Don Benito Legarda y Tuason (1853-1915), a third cousin, twice over, of her first husband. They brought three children into this world: Don Benito Legarda III (1876-1933), who married Doña Filomena Roces y Gonzalez (1872-1967); Doña Consuelo Legarda (1877-1965), who married Don Mauro Prieto y Gorricho (1872-1932); Doña Rita Legarda (1879-1945), who married Dr. Benito Valdes.
Thus bringing us to today, having four different branches under one TDLP. Every reunion, we gather in our colors: Tuason in blue, Legarda in red, Prieto in green, and Valdes in white. I come from the Prieto branch and not the Valdes, even if I had that surname (no relation). In our colored polos, we posed for family pictures that we separate first by family, then by ages. I always love seeing the age 0-19 group, the cutest group! It was so heartwarming to see just how much our family has grown since 2020; even in my immediate Prieto family alone, there are five new kiddos.
10-person band
After pictures, we enjoyed delicious food from so many different vendors: Potato Corner, KFC, Kashmir, Tenya, Racks, Sbarro, Dunkin Donuts, Your Wine Experience, La Tasca, and Via Mare. All the logistics and set-up were meticulously arranged by Maggie Gineta.
This year, there was an extra-special surprise for the family: Kowboy Santos, husband of Nanette Prieto de Leon, brought together the different branches of our family to perform in the first-ever Teresa de la Paz band. It was a 10-person band, complete with singers, guitars, drums, keyboards, and even a tambourine. They were all rockstars on stage, belting out classics like “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”
It set the tone for the rest of the fun-filled afternoon, as everyone was highly awaiting our classic sports fest: friendly games of basketball, football, volleyball, and tug-of-war. From the four families, the Tuasons are usually the most in number, so we have a running joke that the teams are “Tuasons versus the world.” While they unsurprisingly won basketball and football (no doubt as they have a few professional athletes on their side!), our Prieto family happily took the crown for volleyball—my sister Sandy Prieto-Romualdez boasts three tall and athletic sons, two of whom were captains on their high school volleyball team.
The day ended, or planned to end, with tug-of-war. We spent so long setting up and two seconds after starting, the rope snapped! It was a hilarious way to end what was a truly fun and memorable day.
Mega-fun family
Organizing the reunion is always fun because I get to reconnect with different generations. I am grateful to the organizing committee, especially Jojo Guingona and Cristina Tuason-Gonzalez of the Tuason (Demetrio) branch, Bettina Quimson of Tuason (Juan) branch, Bingbing Gonzalez-Quiros, and Gela B. Trillana of the Tuason (Mutti) branch, Suzette L. Montinola of the Legarda branch, Rose Marie Valdes-Villareal and Monique N. Legarda of the Valdes branch, and Myda Prieto, Maya A. Santiago, and Pilar P. Lorenzo of the Prieto branch.
Big thanks to cousin Inez Quimson, Audrey Prieto Gallego, and Alexi Prieto-Tarvis for arranging the Gen Z Christmas party; to Anton del Rosario of the sports committee; and to Jojo Guingona for the official photos, and kids Pablo and Ina for the special video.
I am connected to this mega-fun family through Alex “Poplex” Prieto, my father’s side, and it was also amazing to see him honored as one of the original organizers for this reunion. We missed him and uncle Jaime Legarda, who both passed away recently. It was wonderful that Jessie Huberty, one of the originals, was honored by her son Martin Huberty.
Ohana means family! And I’m so delighted to be in this wonderful Teresa de la Paz family!
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