Our Clients’ Personal Stories

Interview with Azucena Dimaano
Interview with Gerald Moody

Interview with Azucena Dimaano

Where were you born, Azucena?

In Manila, in the Philippines.

What was it like where you grew up?

We had a big family, 11 children, and lived in an apartment in Manila.

What kind of work did your parents do?

They had a laundry and dry cleaners. Before that, my father was a mechanic. My mother had a produce stand in the market. She sold fruits and vegetables.

What kind of education did you get?

I went to one year of college. We learned English in school, and I spoke it a little with my friends and classmates.

Did you marry, have children?

Oh yes. I was married and had three children in the Philippines: one boy and two girls.

What kind of work did you do when you were younger?

My husband and I ran a corner grocery store and lived in the same building, in back and upstairs.

When and why did you come to San Francisco?

My husband was a veteran. He fought in WWII in the Philippines and again in Vietnam. There was a program for vets to come to the U.S. from the Philippines. Most of the Filipino vets we knew came here to San Francisco, so we did too.

What was it like to make the change to San Francisco? Was it different from the Philippines?

The weather is very nice here. In the Philippines we have only two seasons: very hot and dry or hot and rainy. There was only one good month, around December or January, when it was nice. When I got here I got around fine because I knew English from school. I hadn’t spoken it much, but knew enough to say what I needed to. I liked it here.

Do you ever think about leaving San Francisco and going back?

I’ve been back four or five times. The last time was four years ago.

Are there things that are harder here than in the Philippines?

Nothing is harder here. But my family is not here. It’s better to live with family. After my husband died, I lived in a studio apartment with two friends for four years. It was difficult. Sometimes I couldn’t sleep because of the noise.

What are some of the reasons you might consider leaving here?

Sometimes I’m homesick for my children, who are still in the Philippines. We came here in 1994, and two years later my husband died of an aneurism. I’ve petitioned for my children to come here, all three of them at once. If they come, I’ll stay longer.

What would you really like to do that you haven’t done yet?

If I had lots of money, I’d go around the world. (She laughs.) I like to go out and be in nature, with friends and family. I have two sisters here and nieces. I have a cousin in San Diego, too.

When was the last time you had a really great experience that made you happy?

It was in the Philippines when we had a birthday party for my daughter at our home. The cousins came, and my daughter’s friends. My husband was there and our pastor too.

What do you like best about Curry Senior Center?

Dr Kantor here at CSC got me the apartment here at 321 Turk Street. It’s nice. This is a good location for me. I have many friends here and it’s close to my Thursday prayer meetings. I get medical help here. My pastor in the Philippines said, “Be contented with what you have.”

Interview with Gerald Moody

Where were you born, Gerald?

In Lowell, Massachusetts.

What was it like where you grew up?

I wouldn’t know it now. Then it was pretty rural. We were five children--four brothers and a sister--and I’m the youngest.

What kind of work did your parents do?

They had a farm. My father designed heating systems for factories. It was the Depression, and a lot of people lost their farms. My father took off when I was born, so I don’t know about him after that. My mother worked in a parachute factory and later had a boarding house. I was put in foster care when I was five. I was too young to know much about it.

I didn’t see my mother again until ten years later. I’d been at a home for wayward boys, and then went to live with her again for two years. I helped her in the morning, and she and my brother John got me a job at night.

What kind of education did you get?

I got moved around a lot in foster care. That messed up my education. I went to school through the 8th grade. Most of my schooling was at parochial Catholic school. I loved school and did well there. I was learning Latin and everything, and I was going to be an altar boy. Those nuns disciplined me and kept after me to do my schoolwork. Then the state moved me to a halfway house, and I went to a public school. It was no good. Nobody cared whether I did well, so I didn’t.

Did you ever serve in the military?

No. I’ve never killed anything.

Did you marry, have children?

I was married when I was 36, in Hayward. She walked out on me, so I got an annulment. We didn’t have kids. She did have a baby from her boyfriend before me.

What kind of work did you do when you were younger?

I worked at a lot of different things when I was young. I was a good worker, but it was hard to get jobs, and they weren’t always jobs I could do well. I worked for my brother John for a while in Chicago. I worked in bakeries in my twenties, but wasn’t fast enough to do the different bakery jobs. I also operated a high lift and cubed cement blocks.

When and why did you come to San Francisco?

My brother Ed and I drove out here about 40 years ago. I couldn’t take the Chicago weather anymore.

What was it like to make the change to San Francisco? Was it different from Lowell and Chicago?

I did okay. I drove a truck for the Masonic Home for five years in Hayward, worked for Goodwill in San Francisco for two years, and then worked in Tahoe. But that Tahoe work was seasonal. I needed to work all the time, so I came back here. I worked for the newspapers for 30 years: I had newsstands. Then they closed my corner two months ago and laid me off with less severance than it takes to pay my $500 a month rent.

Do you ever think about leaving San Francisco and going back east?

No. I’ve lived most of my life here.

What are some of the reasons you might consider leaving here?

I have a lady friend in Salem, Oregon. I met her on a Greyhound bus when I was traveling. We talked a lot. I’d like to be near her.

What ambitions do you have?

I don’t have any ambitions now. I thought of relocating to Salem, but rent’s very high there. I couldn’t afford it on my $625 Social Security. Relocating is expensive too. So we talk on the phone. Maybe I’ll get to visit.

What kind of services do you need that you haven’t been able to get?

I’m 77 and I’ve had quadruple bypass surgery. I can’t get around like I need to now. I’d like a motorized, mobile chair. I like to cook for myself. I don’t have home care; I’d rather take care of myself. The social worker has a food locker to help.

When was the last time you had a really great experience that made you happy?

Meeting Martha, on the bus back from L.A. And I love the people here at Curry. They’re very understanding.

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