BROWN AMERICAN - (Gold Edition) ------------------------------------------------ (From the Author): -------------------------------------------------------------------- "Why 'Brown American?' ---------- On June 2, 1973, I married Millicent O. Pasaporte, a Filipina nurse on the Work Exchange Program, at the Our Lady of Help Christians Catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois. By March of 1974, our daughter, Kimberly, was born. --------- As has been the common practice of married young couples who have immigrated to America, petitioning for their parents is the next logical step they do after they become Naturalized US Citizens. Parents are a tremendous asset once they set foot on American soil. They do not only keep watch on the house while their children go to work, they also do invaluable household chores, cook favorite childhood dishes and, most importantly, babysit their grandchildren. (Culturally, mother-in-law jokes don't fly with Filipinos. In-laws are welcome to stay with married children for as long as they wish.) ---------- I did just that - applied for my retired parents' coming. In October, 1974, I met them at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. They were new immigrants with Green Cards in their possession. My father, Alejandro, and mother, Corazon, appeared timidly amazed and bewildered by what they saw around them. I gave them a tour of downtown Chicago before we proceeded to my apartment in Oak Park, a suburb west of the city. I could see the fascination on their faces as they saw tall buildings - especially the Sears Tower where I worked, the tallest building in the world at the time (the building on the left shown on the cover of this book) - glittering neon lights, huge department stores and traffic congestion starting to build up in that early-evening drive. Overwhelmed with emotion, my father said, "Thank you, son, for bringing us to America." ---------- When my wife and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary, I invited a few of my Anglo-American friends to a Filipino dinner in our apartment. My parents got into animated conversations - in English - with the guests. They were asked about, among others, their impressions of America, and how they got here. I overheard my father say, "We were sponsored by a Brown American, my son, Ron." Then I thought: Someday, if I were to write my autobiography, 'Brown American' would be a terrific title --------- And so it is. ---------- This Brown American is profoundly grateful I made it here, where I have discovered and unlocked so many secrets, indeed. ---------- Since Brown American was first published in 2007, I've done a great deal of traveling - from cruise-ship voyages through exotic places to quiet sentimental treks to my mountain hometown - and, not surprisingly, I've been seeing more and more folks who want to live in America, all over the world, who still are awed by the mystery of what the life of an immigrant in America is really like. Now, I am positive that, for these people, and for anyone for that matter, Brown American would be both an effective how-to book and an honest confession that gives them the real deal - a timeless book, no matter what generation the reader belongs to, because every generation on this planet will surely have situations similar to the ones chronicled in this book, and could certainly learn and evolve from the honesty of the human heart that dealt with each situation here - for all eternity. Veronico "Ron" Somera --- October, 2014 ---