11 November, My 3rd Birthday – St Francis & I, Me & Myself

I am a born-again Catholic, born again, and again – I have had 3 birthdays on record: Sept 17, Sept 22 and Nov 11, which is today, Thursday, when I blog this. Here is the explanation.

When my father Dionisio Resulto Hilario enrolled me sometime in May or Jun 1947 for Grade 1 at the Sanchez-Cabalitian Elementary School in my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan, my birthday on the “Affidavit of Birth” from the Municipio was 11 Nov 1939. First name Francisco, based on the Roman Catholic calendar, a strict requirement of the Church for any baby’s name. (Naming today’s newborn baby? You name it, you have it!)

That day, Grade 1 teacher Mrs Bautista correctly believed that I was not yet 7, a no-no in those ancient times. To show she knew her physiology, she asked me to bring my right arm above my head and touch my left ear. Thinking instinctively, I brought my right hand behind my neck, touched my left ear and, without releasing my touch, slowly brought my hand up. Touché! Everyone laughed. Mrs Bautista saw a smart boy and she wanted him in her Grade 1 class! No harm done.

This Mrs Bautista story is not finished. When I wrote my full name on the Grade 1 ruled pad, “Francisco Hilario” ran off the page! I told my father who told Mrs Bautista about the problem, and they agreed to shorten my first name to “Frank,” which was the name of my father’s US military friend during World War II. What are friends for?

Truthfully, I was born in 1940, Tuesday, 17 Sept, Stigmata of St Francis. What date was registered in the archives of the old St Louis Bertrand Roman Catholic Church in Asingan? A few years ago, when I looked at the records, it said I was born Sunday, 22 Sept 1940. A difference of 5 days!

How do I explain the discrepancy? Remember the year of birth: 1940, 81 years ago. Our house was in barrio Sanchez, more than 2 km from the town proper where the church was, still is. The Hilarios were not poor, but at that time, the only transportation available was a cart pulled by a carabao. What was the urgent reason to report a birth by walking 4 km back & forth? So Lakay Disiong waited for Sunday, when the family rode our cart to attend Mass – and he reported that same day as the birthday because he did not want the priest to get angry with him! (Yes, when I was in high school many years later, those priests were still haranguing parishioners who did not follow church instructions.)

What about the 3^rd birthday, Saturday, 11 Nov 1939? Still following the church dictate to base the first name on the Roman Catholic calendar, my father chose that date to make me older than I was and still retain the name “Francisco” – 11 Nov, somehow the calendar contained the name of “San Francisco.”

Confused? Frankly speaking, I thank God for creating me if once!@517