On September 13, 1984 in Quezon City in the Philippines at about 11:00 A.M., Raphael Capalad indicated that he was ready to get out into the world. My officemate rushed me to the hospital and a few minutes after noon, my youngest child, Raphael was born by Caesarian birth.

 Of all my three children, he was the one who stayed longest at the hospital's nursery. Not that there was anything wrong with him, it was me who needed to stay longer as after Raphy's birth my stomach was swelling. So I had to be operated again and Raphy and I spent my birthday at the hospital.

When Raphy was three and a half-months old, we moved to Canada. He entered Junior Kindergarten at the St. Jean de Brebeuf Elementary School. He told me his first day was terrible since the other kids didn’t believe his name was Raphael (around that time, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were very popular). This event might explain why he started to introduce himself as Raphy as oppose to Raphael. In Senior Kindergarten, we were surprised when his teacher told us that a painting he did would be exhibited at the Scarborough Town Centre as part of an art show with works from other students around Toronto. His painting was of me standing beside him while he was dressed as a superhero. I started realizing he had a talent in drawing and painting. He drew characters from the Disney movie Aladdin and to this day I still have that drawing with me at work. He was five then and my officemates wondered at the detail of his drawings at an early age. His talent was recognized and he got the Art Award when he graduated from the elementary school.

High school was where his artistic talent in drawing and sense of humor emerged. He provided the illustrations for his school paper, designed the cover for the yearbook, and he designed and painted the murals in the school's gym. Near the end of this high school years, he had a co-op placement at the Reactor Art and Design where he had first hand experience in the world he wanted to be in. So it was no surprise that currently he is at the Ontario College of Arts and Design studying Illustration.