Virgie is the second child of Belo and Tering Atega. The beautiful and kind Alicia, the eldest child, died of complications from tetanus when she was 12. From that time on, Virgie assumed the role of big sister in the family.
Fondly called 'Inse' by siblings Ansel, Egoy and Oscar, she is also 'Inse' to her cousins from the Gancino-Chan and Gancino-Ortiz and Gancino-Pagaran side whose mothers were sisters of her mother, Tering. Her younger Atega cousins call her "Manang" or "Nang."
Yes, Virginia is her full but she discovered that her real name is Berlin, a name registered by her Tio Pinsoy, either in Church or at the Civil Registry.
This came about as she was preparing to leave for the United States after retiring as grade school teacher and she had to authenticate her travel documents.
Virgie has always been protective of her brood. As a young girl, she would make sure that the perpetually hungry Egoy ate his fill, even when there was not much food to go around during the war. Virgie recalls an instance when Egoy was crying while they were trying to escape from Japanese soldiers who were after the Ategas, she had to dunk her brother's head inside a rice pot so that his mouth was stuffed with boiled rice and he made no sound.
As Ansel was an asthmatic as a child, Virgie would be the one to help her mother with all household chores, so much so that they are very much alike when it comes to standards of cleanliness in the house.
Virgie was a healthy girl with a ready smile. As peace time came after the Japanese occupation, she was often asked to do errands, not only because she was of nimble feet and easily got to where she was told to go, she also had this likeable air about her that even the otherwise fearsome Japanese soldiers were somehow taken by her chubby-cheeked charm.
Because she was her mother's favorite errand girl, especially after Alice died, a neighbor mistook her to be a hired hand in the household. She thought that perhaps, because her sister Ansel was mestiza-looking and she was a sickly child who can barely help out, they don't see her moving about with chores as much as she does. She somehow harbored some remorse over the fact that she did most of the work for her younger siblings but later on understood that the times called for it.
Virgie went to Silliman University in Dumaguete City to take up Nursing but was soon advised to shift courses when her vision failed the required 20/20. Silliman was where most of the Atega children studied. She was with her cousin Edel Atega Amante that time and he later on finished Law there. She and Edel shared many secrets, especially about the latter's love affair with the lovely daughter of the Montalbans. Edel was also her so-called romantic bridge to Polon, his a cockpit buddy, who was to become her husband.
Virgie recalls her Uncle Anoy (Mariano Atega) encouraging them to finish school. Her own father was not a model in that area, having been known to run away from home when 'forced' to go to school. Belo, as he himself confirmed, thought it better to hie off to the forests with his Tio Andres than go to school. There was even an instance when his father Juan, then a Judge, sent police to catch the wayward Belo, to put him back to class. But he was never caught, he proudly said, as he had even risked his life once and jumped towards a boat as it was moving away from the dock just to evade the policemen who were chasing him.
Virgie eventually left Silliman to go to the University of San Carlos in Cebu where she graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Education.
Dumalagan was her first teaching assignment. From Butuan proper, it was an obstacle course getting to the area in the late 50's to the early 60's when public transportation was very scarce. She took what we now call the 'habal-habal' to get to the school where she taught.
Later on, she would be transferred to Bading Elementary School in Barrio Obrero where she spent most of her teaching years up to the time she retired.
(to be continued)
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