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Promises, promises 2/22/2012 6:13:50 PM
Dad, the quintessential playboy, was handsome, dashing and has a great sense of adventure. He loved to travel when traveling was just beginning to be fashionable. Many of his friends and family hadn’t travel that much, in his time. But he afforded to go to places we’ve heard of only through gossip or read it through the newspapers or periodicals. I remember once when I was a young boy, he and mom had gone to Japan and Hong Kong. And in those times, being in Japan and Hong Kong has a lot more to say about status and prestige. One time during Christmas, he went to Japan upon winning a spiff at his work. He brought home a pair of shoes for me. I was so thrilled that so far as several decades have passed, I can still reminisce it like it was just like yesterday.
In the Philippines, he brought us all over the place. We flew to Zamboanga for a year while he did business elsewhere. Imagine that, flying! To my knowledge, we were the first in the family to fly. He would also bring the entire clan to places they have not gone before. Baguio and the world famous Banaue Rice Terraces are among them. In Baguio, we would climb the five hundred steps to the grotto. That was tiring, although by the time you reached the top of the mountain, you had a splendid view of the valley below. We would visit Mines View Park and throw coins down the mountain and the kids who were perched by its side would race down and scramble for that coin. And who would forget Teacher’s Camp where we would sleep the night away. There was a time when we slept in the car because there was no space at the camp but the next morning, we would find ourselves sleeping in comfortable beds at the Camp. The Cathedral would be another place we go to although I did not see myself in pictures, then. It was Ate (my big sister) who Dad raised in the air like a ballerina being hoisted up. I saw this in pictures.
When we got tired of Baguio, we hopped on the car and trekked down Naguilan Road towards La Union to enjoy the beaches. It was fun. Or, we would go to the valley where the farms were and enjoy the fruits and vegetable we buy. We also went to Banuaue Rice Terraces where it was dubbed as the 8th Wonder of the World. This was created by the Ifugaos, a mountain tribe people who cultivated rice along the terraced mountain side. It was a truly an adventure to drive here because the road was only two lanes, there was only one good hotel and the several so-so hotels. We stayed at the so-so hotel and met three people from the United States. They were all from the South. During the day, we would visit the Ifugaos villages. They headhunted before but didn’t practice it anymore. They lived in a kubo (hut), and their kubo was primitive. Everything was primitive but sublime. It was a much simpler life then.
I remember my dad, saying goodbye to his Philippine family not outwardly but little by little. He showed himself less often when he was in the United State. But we still saw each other. When we saw each other, we would talk about his retirement. And this he said that when he retires, he would buy a trailer and we would travel the United States. This was his promise.
I traveled extensively in the United States and Europe. Partly, dad paid for my plane fare when I traveled to Europe. The same was true for my sisters – Dena, Kami and Leia. My sister, Olive, did not have the chance to travel on dad’s expense since she got married and had children. But his promise of traveling throughout the United States on a trailer did not materialize. There were many more such trips such as the Eastern Sea Board, Las Vegas, the Western Sea Board and part of my trans-continental travel. But we did not do it together in a trailer.
Too bad, he did not accomplish that promise for he suffered and died because of his heart disease. But his spirit lives on – through his children. We did not go as a family, but through his children, that spirit of travel and adventure moves us all.
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