THE HOUSE THAT NARDING AND CANDING BUILT
The second cousins (they had common greatgrandparents) Leonardo "Narding" Ona and Candelaria "Canding" Aguila were as dissimilar as can be. He grew up as an only child while she was the fifth in a family of eight children. He was irascible and inflexible, she gentle and accommodating. He was a visionary, she an administrator. He was by profession a healer of bodies, she a builder of the spirit. Both achieved a high place in their respective careers: he was a respected ophthalmologist whom people from the neighboring towns and even provinces consulted, she became district supervisor of public schools covering the towns of San Jose and Ibaan. In the end, he became mayor of San Jose, with her low-keyed but invaluable support. The two of them teamed to give the town of San Jose, the St. Joseph Academy, today alma mater to more than 7,000 students.
Had they been asked what they considered as their greatest achievement, they would have pointed at the six children whom they painstakingly raised.
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