Just Me

"So it's taken a while but I've come to admit that I am different. I've been different all my life. Different religion—a Protestant in a Catholic Country. Different upbringing—more Western than Asian. Different kinds of parents—a blind, agnostic, Visayan father and an intense, passionate, British-American, working mother. A different kind of wife not content to be a homebody. A different kind of a Prime Ministers wife—an actress.

— Prologue, Just Me

Just Me, a memoir by Joy G. Virata, takes the reader through her most personal memories and life stories shaped by her parents' interracial marriage and strength of character, a childhood and family life in wartime Philippines and postwar America, gay student days preceding marriage, the joys and travails of being a full-time young mother and wife, the ups and downs of being the wife of a long-serving and high-ranking government official, her evolution as an actress, and finally her reawakened faith and the gifts her Lord has bestowed on her.

Her daughter writes:

"Don't expect her to name names—that wouldn't be Mom. She does, however, reveal in this book her path from childhood romantic dreams to che day she finally met the (unlikely) man in her life, to life as Caesar's Wife overlapping wich a life in theater and beyond. She also speaks openly about her relationship with her parents and how they connected with each other. She makes clear who her friends are, her immense devotion to her family, and her love and trust in the Lord. Opening these peepholes into her soul, a rare act for Mom, can be appreciated for the courage and generosity she needed to put them all down in writing. Still, you may sometimes have to read between the lines with a good dose of sensitivity to find them."

Published in 2022 by Cesar E.A. Virata, Phylita Joy G. Virata, and Gillian Joyce G. Virata

Paperback