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Mothering Me
She wasn’t chosen. Only borrowed.
In 1991, Romalyn leaves the Philippines believing she’s beginning a new life in Canada with her adoptive mother.
Instead, she grows up in a home where love is conditional, gratitude is expected, and the threat of being ‘sent back’ shadows her childhood.
At fifteen, that threat becomes reality.
Abandoned in the Philippines under the guise of a two-week vacation, Romalyn is forced to navigate a fractured biological family, survive poverty and abuse and the devastating realization that the people meant to protect her have become the source of her deepest wounds.
Told with warmth, wit, and unexpected humour, Mothering Me is a powerful memoir about abandonment, survival, and the extraordinary power of choosing the life you were never promised.
In 1991, Romalyn leaves the Philippines believing she’s beginning a new life in Canada with her adoptive mother.
Instead, she grows up in a home where love is conditional, gratitude is expected, and the threat of being ‘sent back’ shadows her childhood.
At fifteen, that threat becomes reality.
Abandoned in the Philippines under the guise of a two-week vacation, Romalyn is forced to navigate a fractured biological family, survive poverty and abuse and the devastating realization that the people meant to protect her have become the source of her deepest wounds.
Told with warmth, wit, and unexpected humour, Mothering Me is a powerful memoir about abandonment, survival, and the extraordinary power of choosing the life you were never promised.
248 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 7, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
November 8, 2026
I could not put this book down. Romalyn Alpaz has been through more in one lifetime than most people could imagine, and she tells it with so much honesty and vulnerability that I teared up more than once while reading. The only things that saved me from a full-on ugly cry were her well-timed jokes and the way she’d move on to another chapter of her life just when it got heavy. There’s so much life packed into Mothering Me, and every chapter pulled me further in.
If you loved Tara Westover’s Educated or Collin Gosselin’s In the Shadow of Eight, this beautifully written memoir belongs on your shelf. It has that same mix of heartbreak, resilience, and a voice you can’t stop rooting for.
My only complaint is that I wanted more! I would love a follow-up about her life in Canada after moving here with Allan 💜 I’ll be first in line if she writes it.
And Mertha, if I ever see you on the streets of North York, girl, I hope you’re a fast runner.
Highly recommend.
If you loved Tara Westover’s Educated or Collin Gosselin’s In the Shadow of Eight, this beautifully written memoir belongs on your shelf. It has that same mix of heartbreak, resilience, and a voice you can’t stop rooting for.
My only complaint is that I wanted more! I would love a follow-up about her life in Canada after moving here with Allan 💜 I’ll be first in line if she writes it.
And Mertha, if I ever see you on the streets of North York, girl, I hope you’re a fast runner.
Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review