When the news finally reached me, I was thousands of kilometers away, cradling my newborn daughter and breathing in the peaceful air of Cebu. The message was simple, almost emotionless in tone: Clarissa had given birth, and the baby was a girl. For a moment, I didn’t know how to respond.
Not because the gender of the child mattered to me — in fact, it never did — but because of the way I knew the news would be received by the people who had once insisted that my own value depended on the possibility of producing a male heir.
I had lived long enough under those expectations to understand precisely what would happen next. And just as I expected, the joyful noise that had once filled the Dela Cruz household instantly dissolved.
What was supposed to be a grand celebration — complete with banners, music, and neighbors flocking to witness the arrival of a new member of an old, traditional family — ended abruptly. Decorations were removed before they had even settled in place.
The household, previously buzzing with excitement, grew unusually quiet.
Their reaction was not unfamiliar to me. It was the same silence I had once felt — the heavy, suffocating kind — when I, too, failed to meet the standards set by people who measured worth through outdated beliefs. But even though I recognized the pattern, it still surprised me how quickly joy could turn into disappointment in a home where tradition overshadowed compassion.
A Child’s Worth Should Never Be Measured by Expectations
In the Dela Cruz family, a male grandchild represented continuity, pride, and the fulfillment of a long-standing belief that only sons could carry a legacy forward.
It was an old perspective, one I never shared, and one that ultimately pushed me to step away from a life where my personal value was constantly questioned. So when Clarissa’s newborn — innocent, delicate, and unaware of the weight placed upon her tiny shoulders — arrived as a girl, the atmosphere in their home shifted dramatically.
The anticipation of a grand feast turned into murmurs of disappointment. The neighbors, who had expected to join a lively occasion, became silent witnesses to the family’s sudden embarrassment.
Aling Corazon, who had always spoken loudly and proudly about the importance of lineage, struggled visibly.
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