Romanus Hortus Domus

Romanus Hortus Domus
September 20, 2014
By: Gina Yoryet Roman

John 4:20 - If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

Luke 14:26 - If any [man] come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

"Family" is from the Latin word familia, which means "family; household" and, originally, "slaves of the household". The word for an individual slave was famulus for a male, famula for a female.

In a world in which it is very easy to get sidetracked, family is one of the greatest gifts we are provided by God as when we are in dire need of emotional support, our familia is our strongest pillar. The most memorable and most important moments are those spent with family. Those who don’t have one, divagate like lost souls in this long journey.

 As of lately, the Romanus Hortus Domus has been in my mind, the family which I come from, the ten of us, it makes me reminiscence of that program in the 80’s, ‘Just the Ten of Us.’ An American program presenting Bill Kirchenbauer as Coach Graham Lubbock, a teacher and head of a large Catholic family with eight children who lives in Eureka, California.

When I first watched the program, my comprehension of English was very poor, but I resonated with the name. Later on, despite not watching the series on a regular basis, I was in sync with it. My intellectuality led me to believe that said show was created based on my family because we are eight siblings plus my parents. We were born and raised catholic, part of our childhood we lived in California, about 217 miles from San Francisco, approximately a four hour drive.

The Lubbock family had to face constant challenges but their faith made them remain spiritually, mentally and physically resilient, the same way my family had to face adversity against all odds. In illo tempore (at that time) life was indeed much harder for a relatively young woman (my mother), who many times had to take both roles, that of a mother, as well as that of a father, for various reasons. But in the end, she prevailed with her greatest allies; faith, courage and strength.

That woman warrior may have been bent temporarily bent, NEVER completely broken though. A myriad of poignant memories always come back when I flavor my mother’s thoroughly and lovingly made meals. They harbor a nostalgia of my childhood, not because of sadness, but because I wish we were all together physically. Sometimes I am suddenly impacted with strong emotions, especially when we see each other and we have to part once again.

Distance will never matter because we know we will always be there for one another. I’d like to believe that the Romanus Hortus Domus will reunite in the near future. My family like it was once in illo tempore: Mom, dad, HR1, HR2, HR3, RG1, RG2, RG3, RG4, RG5, DRG21, SJJR, HR1-2, HR2-2, HR3-2, ABJR1, AWR2, EM1 to celebrate the Roman Dynasty, our family legacy.