A Life Changing Meeting...
Going to Malaybalay, Bukidnon
After Lolo Leon's death in 1937, Lolo Jose's sister Rosario was taken in by their cousin, the eldest child of Lola Soling Alfonso. Lola Epay and his brother Flaviano stayed on in Maasin where Lolo worked as Assistant Plumber. While he did assume the responsibilty of supporting his family, that did not change the fact that he was a normal teenager who liked adventures.
He travelled to neighbouring towns in Leyte during his days off in search of new friends and excitements. We cannot say if it was part of his coping, but in the next two years after Lolo Leon's death, Lolo Jose found himself romantically involved with two women at the same time, with whom he each had a child. His mature and responsible outlook must have positioned him as a good catch.
One of the women came from an influential family in Maasin and when her parents demanded that Lolo should marry her, he was not ready. He did say he would when he was summoned by her family but that very night he fled to Malaybalay, Bukidnon and stayed with his Uncle's family (Rufino Kiamco, older brother of Lola Epay), leaving Lola Epay and Lolo Viano in Maasin. Lolo Jose was then 20 years old.
When in Bukidnon, he was lucky to find a job straightaway in the construction company where Lolo Pinoy (Rufino Kiamco) was a supervisor. With Lolo Jose no longer in Maasin, Lola Epay and Lolo Viano moved back to Carmen, Cebu at the Kiamco ancestral home.
Not long after working as extra maintenance staff in the construction company in Malaybalay, Lolo got a new job as police clerk typist, a skill he learned during his two years in highschool. Later, he became part of a nationwide recruit as B.C. (Bureau of Constabulary) which is equivalent to the current police force. Together with the other recruits, he underwent a 45-day rigorous training in Davao. All the time he was employed, he kept sending money transfers for Lola Epay and Lolo Viano in Carmen, while trying to save for his own needs at the same time.
With his savings intact, he was able to buy a house in Malaybalay not far from Lolo Pinoy's, and because his job as B.C. would require frequent travels, he asked a friend of Lolo Pinoy - another Rufino, who later on would become his very own father-in-law to look after his house.
Rufino Medalla and his family stayed in Lolo Jose's house. It was then when Lolo Jose met Lola Coring, the eldest of the seven Medalla children. That meeting was the beginning of a lifelong commitment to dedicate the persons they were for one another. It was indeed life-changing for Lolo Jose - he came to Malaybalay because he was not ready to commit, but in this same place where he seek refuge he embraced that very commitment he was avoiding when he met Lola Coring. They wed in November 19, 1942 and a year after their first child was born in Linabo, a sitio in Malaybalay. Late in 1943, Lolo Jose asked permission from his in-laws to bring Lola Coring and their firstborn to Carmen, Cebu to reunite with his mother and younger brother during the difficult time of the second world war.
In Carmen, they were blessed with four more children - two sons and two daughters. Unable to finish highschool because of his circumstance, Lolo Jose did all he could together with Lola Coring to send their children to school driving home the point that the only legacy they could leave them with is their education. Despite that, only their two sons managed to finish their degrees - the older son a licensed Chemical Engineer and the younger one a Nautical graduate.