Mama’s personal background may indicate why she became an influential and respected teacher. Corazon Ferrer was the eldest of 13 brothers and sisters sired by Mateo Ferrer, a government official, seven by his first wife Eufrosina Nery, who died while Mama was still a teenager, and six by his second wife Remedios Nery, Eufrosina’s sister. Mama often recounted to us the hardships of growing up with a big family. At the dinner table she would tell us about how their mother would apportion the food on each of their plates to make sure everyone was fed. No one could ask for a spoonful more. And so one of the most basic teachings she passed on to her children was: “Eat every morsel of food on your plate and be thankful for whatever is served.” She considered herself lucky because, as the first child, her mother had sent her to a private convent school in Manila, an interna at the Santa Isabel College. She remembered riding a calesa all the way from Parañaque to Manila, an elitist privilege then, like being chauffeured to school today. But soon after her mother passed away, finances dwindled; so she had to stop schooling because there were many younger brothers and sisters to feed. She also told us that her stepmother, even if she was her biological aunt, had been obviously favoring her own set of children, making the lives of the elder siblings tough. But that drove all the elder children to study harder and work harder. Mother took on the role of surrogate mother to her siblings, who later in life would always defer to her as Ka Coring, their respected ate (elder sister) and mentor. They were Jaime, a lawyer who later became Commission on Elections chairman; Paz, a teacher who went on to earn a doctorate in education; Lydia, also a teacher; Carmen, a teacher in physical education who married Eleuterio Adevoso and
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