Another success story in America

By Al S. Mendoza 

LATHROP, California—The house on Delta Lane, corner Mossy Point, isn’t just a house. 

“It is a mansion, Tatay,” said Dayong, the assistant coach of San Miguel Beer basketball team.

A two-storey edifice, it has six bedrooms and four bathrooms. 

My wife and I now occupy one of the rooms upstairs, with a view of a well-manicured Bermuda lawn with large roses of different hues lining up the brown fence.

It has three living rooms—all huge; each can accommodate at least six persons during a party.   Comfortably.

“There is yet another room, with a gym in it,” volunteered Flor.  “And that one over there is the storage house—built by Dondon himself.”

Flor is the proud mother of Dondon, the husband of Janet.  They have two kids: Jerrold, 19, and Derrick, 17.

Dondon is a Master Technician at nearby Lexus Pleasanton City and Janet a Chief Nurse at the City Memorial Medical Center.

Dondon and Janet Juvida bought their dream house, err mansion, that stands proudly in a sprawling subdivision here.

That was in 2011.

“We were among the firsts to settle down here,” said Dondon—now Don to his associates here.  “We fell in love with the serene and quiet atmosphere of Lathrop [pop: 23,284 as of May 11, 2019].”

I have a special affinity with Dondon, the nephew of my wife.

Dondon’s father, Boni, I also happen to love and consider as more than a brother. 

Boni, the master carpenter that I idolize for his made- of-narra aparador that he had gifted me some 35 years ago, lives at nearby Hayward with another son, Jay.

Dondon and Jay are already like my own sons, too.

Jay had worked at U-Bix Corp. upon the kindness of my compadre Bert Bravo, the humble U-Bix owner.

In 1993, Dondon was one of my tee boys when I handled the Media & Golfer operations of the Philippine Open at Manila Southwoods.

The following year, Dondon flew here as an immigrant.

He worked two years at Toyota in nearby Pleasanton City before getting pirated by Lexus Pleasanton City.

Dondon is now on his 12th year with Lexus.

“America has been that good to me, Uncle,” says Dondon, who owns six cars, including a hybrid Camry and a Lexus GX 470.  “Indeed, hard work, humility and love of God are the secrets to good life, Uncle.”

 I can’t be prouder, Dondon.

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