18 + 1

It's Bessie's Birthday!

She is 18 years old today...which reminds me of another story.

This is going to be one of "The Club" stories...

"The Club" had a lot of rules...mostly made up in the spur of the moment.

We used to walk very slowly at the back of Mama's house... in the dark. It was supposed to be for strengthening our courage. So was our daring each other to light up firecrackers, each one larger than the next.

We had to collect "weaponry." Carlos had a collection of bullets ( which he eventually buried into the ground and never found again) I had a collection of whittled "darts" made of assorted materials from wood to bamboo. Eric never started. I think he was starting to get interested in more "techy" things...

...which was probably why Carlos and I would be the president and vice president of the club ( we would swap every so often) and Eric remained our Mascot.

One of our more "useful" rules had a protective aspect. When one of us was in trouble, we were supposed to yell out our battle cry and the other two were supposed to come running to help out the one in a jam.

Anyway, one of our birthday traditions was spanking the celebrant. One hit for every year of the celebrant's life and one extra for good luck. I'm not sure who started this and when it began but we did it to each other nonetheless.

On one of my birthdays, We went to Philippine Columbian to celebrate. We rarely went there...maybe because there was no golf course. They had a lot of amenities though. Tennis courts, bowling lanes, exercise room, a couple of pools and they had the best cream of mushroom soup ever.

Personally, I didn't like the place because the pool was never deeper than 5 feet and they always made you wear those tight plastic swimming caps. What was the point of swimming if the pool was warm from the sun and your hair never got wet? You might as well have just been walking in the rain under an umbrella.

So it was my birthday, and I knew my spanking was coming. I really didn't mind because it usually wasn't very hard. We were in the pool, Joann was standing around. Tasha was doing laps back and forth across the length of the pool. Carlos and Eric decided that they had had enough and went exploring.

All of a sudden I saw Joann and Tasha advancing towards me. I knew it was coming. Jo Ann had an evil glint in her eye and a smirk on her lips. (EEVILL) I look for Carlos and Eric and they were nowhere to be found.

I try to swim away but they catch me quickly. SMACK! (One), SMACK (Two) and suddenly, I spot Carlos and Eric come out of the Gym

"CLUB MEMBERS ATTACK!!!"

I'm sure everyone else in the entire club looked at me strangely. (What the hell?!)

And Carlos and Eric came a-runnin'.

We eventually started having a massive splash fight running and spraying water everywhere.

It was fun.

I don't think I ever got my complete complement of smacks that day.

Bessie-girl,

when you get home...

...18 + 1 (WHA-HA-HA-HA)

water water everywhere...

Lost

I got lost in Bagiuo.

Once when I was very young, we were in Baguio with some relatives, and they brought us to Burnham Park.

I remember playing with Joann and another cousin, I think it was Henry, and they started to run. Whether they we were playing "tag" or racing I don't recall now. I only remember that we were in a grassy, area filled with trees and people.

I was younger than they were and they ran so fast that I started to lag behind. I ran too slow, and suddenly, I couldn't see them anymore. I looked around for a familiar face and found no one I knew.

There were a lot of people sitting on the grass and laughing and talking. Their voices started to get louder and more obnoxious and I felt like I was in a carnival funhouse with all the Clowns laughing. I was momentarily terrified.

I tried to calm myself down and tried to remember what I was supposed to do. I remember Sesame Street. "If you get lost, find a policeman..."

I started looking around and I suddenly caught sight of a police officer standing on the sidewalk of a street.

He was tall (for me anyway) and young. I tugged at his pants and when he looked down. I told him I was lost.

I guess he wanted to calm me down so he brought me to a canteen somewhere, sat me top of the counter and asked me if I wanted some ice-cream. I said I wanted a Popsicle. The girl behind me handed me one, pineapple flavored (which has been discontinued now) and then he asked me if I wanted some juice to drink. I nodded my head and he asked what kind and I said "pineapple."

When I finished, He lifted me up from the counter and said " let's go find your parents." He held my hand as we walked out of the canteen.

We went down the steps and crossed the street... then I spotted someone. Tita Rica I think. I started to run and she lifted me up asking. "What happened?"

I don't know what happened to the police guy. I left his side as I ran to the car. He made sure I was okay and then he left.

I wonder what ever happened to him?

Baguio Babies

Old McDonald

ei-i-ei-i-o

Mom used to go to Pandi with Mrs Lacson.. CCP had a small farm there and they would go once a week to check on everything. I think it has been sold but I remember one of the days when Mom brought us there.

It was a miniature farm. There was a small house near the entrance, There was no electricity. the water was still obtained from a water pump off the side of the house. On the left side was a pig sty where huge pigs and baby piglets were lazing about, all covered in mud and were, well...a bit stinky.

Across the house there was a large field. We walked across it and saw row upon rows of teeny watermelons baking in the sun.

Off in a corner was a huge haystack.

We've seen lots of haystacks in the fields along the North Luzon Highway, but I never really thought about them. I really don't know exactly what they were there for...and why are they stacked up like huge yellow Hershey's kisses ?

The stack is just a few steps away from us. All fluffy and inviting. The first thing that goes through my head is " I wonder if anyone has a needle?"

Anyway, we look at the haystack and Mom lifts Laurie up onto it. We all take it is as permission and start climbing up on it.

Soon after, we're sliding up and down the haystack and throwing handfuls to each other. Mom warns us it'll be itchy but we don't take notice .It's way too much fun. We stop when the stack has completely disintegrated.

We get up and go back into the house to get refreshments. Mom goes off to check the cow and we are left alone to explore.

We eventually end up spotting large mango trees scattered behind the house. They were really big and had lots of branches that reached up high, but had trunks which stood close to the ground. The leaves provided a lot of shade. They also had huge mangoes dangling from it like decorations on a Christmas tree.

I always have a book with me so up I go and pick out a branch comfortable enough to sit on, climbed up to it and open my book to while away the hours.

Everyone else start choosing the crook or branch that fits them comfortably...

...and we literally hang around until Mom and Mrs Lacson calls us to go home.

Cool.

hanging around

Once Children...

We just finished our annual Easter Egg Hunt. We "borrowed" our cousins' kids , as well as the sons of my mom's youngest brother. They're growing up fast. They're all much taller now than they were last year.

One in particular, my inaanak, saw me at the door and with a casual head bob, said " Hi." and walked past me...as if I was just one of his classmates.

Weird kid. ( Manang mana sa ninang?)

Growing up and no longer wanting to be babied. ( But not quite too old to play in the Easter egg hunt?)

Anyway, this reminds me of something I picked up a while back. It's a couple letters made by two kids who were writing to their father on one of his trips abroad.

...who probably hasn't hunted Easter eggs in a while.

Dear Papa,

We are now going to San Beda College
I'm trying to be bright in school, every night before
we go to sleep we pray for you, hope you're safe. Our
classes opened at June 10, 1948 & Nonoy is in Grade II now
Jr. got a camera for his birthday with one film. We took
pictures of Nini, Jr., Nonoy, Maria, Andrew, and me. But
we took good pictures during Jr's birthday. The films are not
yet developed, but when it is, we're going to send you copies.
This morning we went to the Capitol Theater with
Mario, Mama, Jr, Nonoy and me. We're at the afternoon
section. After classes we played baseball and skate. We are
safe & sound here & we take medicine every night

Your oldest son,
Baby

Dear Papa,

We are now studying in San beda I am grade IV-e

and today we went to the movie. My companion is Mario, Nonoy
ay and Mama. Both Nonoy and I have a Skates. I already know
How to play skating. I am in the afternoon sec our class begin
at one 'clock. Boy Alonso is a good reader than Nonoy
We are always praying every night
You're loving Son
Hermenegildo Reyes Jr.

Funny to think how they were also, once children.

The Club

Ok, Tash, here's a story that has you in it...

...you're not gonna like it though ;)

The Club was borne out of a desperation to escape the older sisters.

The "Ates", being who they were in the sibling birth order, lorded it over us whenever they were bored.

Carlos, Eric and I were always being scolded, intimidated, and pinched...We also were always ordered about to do their bidding.

Eventually, we formed "The Club" to stand against them.( It was actually called "The Club")

I'm sure you know this but I' ll remind you anyway...

There is a natural order in "utos -ing".

It goes something like this...Dad is thirsty...he asks the Ate to get him a glass of water...the Ate yells for the second born to get Dad a glass of water...the Ditse then asks the younger sibling to get the water....and so on and so forth.

The youngest eventually gets Dad the glass of water.

This principle applies to everything in sibling interaction.

Carlos being the "bunso" was always getting bugged.

I, the second born , automatically had "second child syndrome" in addition to being constantly harassed.

Eric, at the time, was also the 'bunso" but being the only boy, was exempt from all resposibilities as proclaimed by the Mom. ( Sorry Mom, you know it, Eric knows it, Everyone knows it)

...but of course, the Ates are exempt from that exemption too...especially is Mom's not looking.

(Geez, this is getting complicated)

So to make to long story short (too late?)

The three of us were always tormented by the two of them

One day however, we inadvertently got even...

We used to have a large hut-like playhouse that Tita Nini had built for Rachel. It had plywood sides and a tiled roof.

We were playing around it when we had a terrific idea...

To escape the two girls, we'd dig a huge hole underneath the hut !!! When we were done, we would have made an underground cave... which could serve as our Secret Clubhouse!!

( I know...I know...give us a break... we were only around seven at the time)

So we got some spoons and ladles to use as shovels and we went under the hut to work on our hide-out.

One day, as we were going to get on to work, we spotted Jo Ann and Tasha coming our way. We knew if they caught us, we'd be in trouble (they never needed a reason). So we bolted for cover under the hut.

Eric moved too slow and got caught.

When the Ates asked where we were, Eric, with surprising presence of mind for a six year old, said we might have gone out to Tropical Hut with Otel, our maid, who had gone out a few minutes before.

Now Papa was a bit paranoid when it came to his grandchildren. We weren't allowed to be standing outside the gate... not a step out of it. We weren't even allowed to be around the gate if the small door on the gate happened to be open

Knowing this, true to form, the Ates ran straight to Papa to tattle.

We didn't know this of course. We just thought that they went to do something else seeing that we weren't "around" to torture. So we forgot about it and started our digging project.

A few minutes later, Otel came home.

All of a sudden, Eric, who had gone off to play by himself, peered underneath the hut and said. "Papa's mad...better come."

So we went to Papa.

Apparently, he was furious that Otel had "taken" us outside. She came home to find him very angry. When She said that she had not taken us anywhere. We were called to verify.

So we did. We confessed we were digging underneath the hut. ( The cave wasn't coming along as planned anyway. We barely dug an inch into the ground)

Then He faced the Ates...

I really don't know what happened since we were allowed out. We eavesdropped a bit at the window though, and heard Papa scolding them for lying.

They came out after a bit. Papa never got really mad at us (Mama on the other hand...but that's another story.)

A little deflated, the two girls didn't mess around with us for the rest of that day.

The days after were pure torture though. But at least, even if it was just once, we "got" them.

And I know it's mean, but even now, when we reminisce about it, we laugh out loud and

the inner child in me...

...still

.... gloats (hehehe)

The Conspirators and the Accused

Visita Iglesia

It's Holy Thursday.

Time for Visita Iglesia. This day in Holy week is when we would all go to seven different churches and reflect on the Stations of the Cross.

When we were younger, Mama would bring us to the churches and we would go through the entire fourteen stations, one by one. In later years, we would start "cheating" by going through only two stations per church completing all fourteen by the seventh church.

There were always long lines in the confession booths. Lots and lots of people everywhere. Children running around.

When we were young, Mama prayed with us. We would wait and listen as she read the specific passages that related to each station. Later she had Jo Ann read it aloud for all of us to hear. Eventually, as we got older, we got our own stations-of-the-cross books and paced ourselves as we wished.

One of the main reasons we liked it so much was the fiesta-like atmosphere of the day. There were vendors all around the churches. There were balloons, and toys, and cotton candy. Popcorn, boiled corn, peanuts, and my all time favorite, snow cones.

Being Reyes', you know what the attraction was for us.

Fish balls, squid balls, pineapple juice and dirty ice cream.

Mmmm.

As I got older, I would actually try and save up some money just for the purpose of buying goodies on Visita Iglesia Day.

We would end the day tired, full of junk, and happy.

And if we happened to get three wishes from finding a new church to go to...

Well!!!

Icing on the cake.


Mmmm

Egg-napped

The contenders

Lynette, I'm soo glad you has brought it up. Now I can freely publish the story without, hopefully, you disowning me. ; )

This is what I witnessed on the day of that largely debated battle for the Easter egg which happened between Lynette and Laurie years ago.

I do not recall exactly when this happened. I only remember that this was a year or so after the turnover period.

For years and years, much longer than was necessary, the two "generations" of children in our household, (the elder...Jo Ann, me , and Eric, and the younger, composed of Lynette and Laurie) all participated in the Easter egg hunt.

Sometime in our late (and I mean really late) teens, Mom started weaning the three eldest from joining the hunt.

She did this by "disqualifying" the elders by "allowing" them to hide the Easter eggs. The ones who hid it obviously cannot find it. They would have had an unfair advantage after all.

This was the point when only Lynette and Laurie were included in the egg hunt.

To appreciate this story, you have to remember that Lynette is three years older than Laurie.

These days the age difference is not significant. But as children, the age difference was tremendous. The older one, even if only one year senior, can and is bound by pride, to be taller, run faster, and be stronger than the junior. The competition involves not only the usual competition between peers but more importantly, the need to show the superiority of age.

Anyway, that day, Lynette being the older of the two, accumulated a lot more eggs than the other. This, inspite of all the outside help Laurie was getting in finding the eggs.

Near the end of the hunt, only the Jackpot remained.

Lynette was and always has been a very strong competitor. At this point in the game, especially in the absence of the elder group, she could almost taste the sweet smell success over her younger sibling.

When only the Jackpot egg was missing, people began to crowd around the garage, and the three elder siblings started to hint at the location of the jackpot.

"It's near!! Very near!!! Warmer....warmer!! You're Hot!! Hot!!!"

Lynette was at the Grotto...Laurie runs as fast as her little legs could carry her, but when she gets there she is not able to climb up... she's still too small.

She looks longingly as Lynette, who suspects that the egg is on the very top of the stone grotto, proceeds to scamper upwards to reach it.

She is midway up the grotto...and in an effort to climb up higher, she steadies herself on a nearby tree branch.

The branch bends...and something...hidden within its leaves... falls from it.

It's the Jackpot egg....which tumbles straight to where Laurie is standing, still wistfully gazing upon the grotto.

We all start yelling.

Laurie, in a flash of surprise... delightedly picks up the egg from the ground, places it in her basket, and waves in triumph as Lynette yells "...................!!!!"

(I think you get the picture. )

And today is the first time Lynette has ever admitted that Laurie won the Jackpot that year.


Is that the Jackpot?

Rain Master

When I was very young, Papa and Mama would take my sister and I everywhere. We would go to CCP together, and all the teachers would pinch our cheeks, and allow us to play with the chalk. We would go to Escolta, where we would play underneath the architect's desks and the strange giant adding machine they used to have (the kind with lots of buttons and the wind up lever). We would go to Malolos and visit Western Steel and peer up at the very high ceilings with awe.

Papa would sit in the front of the car with the driver, Mama would sit on the seat behind him. Joann and I would fight over the "high chair" which we used to think was a special seat for children, it allowed the child to sit level with grown ups and see what "they" see.

(I realize now that it actually was the pull-down armchair attachment some cars have...the one in the center of the back seat?)

During those trips, there were, of course, times when it would rain. One day, I noticed that even though it was raining, the window on the driver's side as well my side was becoming drenched (I was sitting behind the driver) my grandfather's window had not a drop. My grandmother's window only wet a teeny bit.

I asked "Papa, why is there no rain on your window?"

He paused, mulled it over, and said "Because I'm very close to God and the raindrops know that. They don't wet my window so I can see the view clearly."

And I was absolutely amazed!!

I knew my Papa was a big-shot but I had no idea how big he was!!

I had no problem believing it though. After all, when he would take me to his offices, no one scolded me when I messed around with the chalk, when I played under the tables, nor when I punched the buttons on the adding machine...it must be because he was who he was!!

In later years I, of course, realized that the rain did not go to his side because it had been raining on an angle thereby hitting only my side of the car.

However, the memory of that day remains with me...and each time I am caught in the car during the monsoon season, just when it begins to drizzle, and the windows hasn't as yet gotten wet...

I smile and remember my Papa who has power over the rain.



Rain rain go away...

Easter Tissue Trackers

In our days of yore, Holy Week consisted of one week's stay at our Baguio rest house. It used to be the place to go in those days. With the unrelenting heat of summer bearing down on us, Baguio was the place to be. Mama and Papa would take us along with them to allow my parents a week's vacation away from us.

One Easter Sunday, We came home from our Baguio trip to find Mom all aflutter with excitement.

During those days, Easter Egg hunting was, as yet, not a popular activity. Holy Week in those days was a solemn, serious affair. It meant fasting and prayer, repentance and sacrifice. No fun was supposed to be had until Easter Sunday comes.

Anyway, Mom was all excited when we got back and she called us to our front yard. Our yard in those days was fairly pitiful. It was probably fifteen feet long and ten feet wide. It had a few scrawny bushes by the walls, a small leafy tree in the corner, and the lawn consisted of packed dirt and patches of very dry, very thirsty grass.

She said "Get everything that looks unusual."

I stood bewildered for a few seconds, not understanding what she meant, Jo Ann and Eric started running around in circles.

Mom started yelling "You're warm. Warm. Cold. Colder. Warm. Hot, Hot !! Burning!!!"

She eventually directed us to a scrap of tissue paper in one of the bushes. Jo Ann got to it first and she held it out , opened it, and found that the tissue paper fragment contained a twenty-five centavo coin.

The race was on...

We started spotting tissue paper bits all over the place and we just started running around like we were on speed.

After about thirty minutes, there were no more to be found.

Mom however told us that there was just one more piece. A Jackpot Prize, very carefully hidden and hard to find.

We continued to search high and low, rechecking all the bushes, and peering up at the branches of the leafy tree.

I finally found it. It was secreted underneath an upturned flower pot.

Behold the Jackpot!!! A five peso bill!!!

I was so happy it was pathetic.

It was the start of the annual Easter Hunt for the Reyes'.

We have had one every year since then.

Although, of course, we now use either real or plastic eggs for it.

That one Sunday, thankfully. was the first and last ever occurence of the Reyes-Children's Easter Tissue Tracker Contest.


In the Garden

Rapunzel

Today is the birthday of Francis, one of my best friends, which reminds me of something...France, I hope we stay friends after I tell this story ... ;)

Dad had this fixation with our hair. He had this rule about bangs. We should never have them...Ever. Every time we would go for a trim. he would tell each of us... "Do not get bangs." I never knew why.

It just was.

He would freak if we came home with so much as a wisp of a fringe.

He also kept pointing at people's hair.

When he'd spot a woman with long, straight, shiny, hair he'd say...

" See her hair...she probably got that by brushing her hair a hundred times before she goes to bed."

Then the next day, he'd go to Cash-and Carry, and buy me and my sister Jo Ann a plastic brush set... the kind that also had a comb and a handled mirror along with it.

In those days, we weren't really girly-girls. So after a feeble attempt at the nightly ritual, eventually, the brush would lay forgotten in the bottom of the bathroom drawer.

Dad ,in his frustration with his gnarly haired girls, would once again start pointing out various glossy haired women. Inevitably, the search would end after spotting a woman's particularly long, shiny, soft-looking mountain of hair and off to Cash and Carry he will go.

This all ended the summer I turned 11. That summer, Francis and his brother came over from Bacolod for a visit.

Paul was always more social than Francis who was a always a little masungit the first few days into re-acquainting with us.

This of course made us absolutely obsessed with bugging him.

We were in Valley Golf Club the first day that we all got together that summer... and he had this brush with him. He kept it with it's handle stuck into his back pocket.

He was being a little more moody than we were used to so in a jolt of impishness we grabbed the brush and threw it into the swimming pool.

It must have stayed there for hours.

He wouldn't budge...he wasn't about to give us the satisfaction after all.

He bought another brush the next day, I guess the other one got waterlogged...and all through that summer, he kept fussing with his hair.

Every mirror we passed, he would check it out.

We once popped a plastic balloon on his head and it made him soooo mad!!!

Anyway, his hair thing inevitably made us ashamed of our own hair.

So the very next Cash and Carry brush set that Dad brought home to us was finally put to good use.


Happy Birthday Francis!!

My Castle

We used to live in a compound in Buencamino.

There was an "up and down" house. The bottom part was ours, while the top apartment was my Tita Nini's...my Grandparents lived in a bigger house right beside ours.

The compound had a cement wall which separated my grandparents' house from ours. There was a gate in the wall though, which provided access between the houses.

We usually went through the gate to play since Mama and Papa's house had numerous fish ponds, a large garden and wide open spaces allowing us to run around.

One of my favorite places to play was a stone castle. It was a rock, brick, cement thing, with a cave like opening and steel bars in the ceiling.

I used to crawl in it and pretend I was a knight...

...hey, don't bug me... so gender stereotypes had not kicked in for me yet...just deal.

Occasionally I would be joined by Aling Sepa's daughter, Nancy.

But usually, I'd play there alone looking through the metal bars dreaming of Camelot.

A couple of years later, we moved to Times...right before my fifth birthday.

We didn't return to Buencamino for years and years.

I however never forgot that I used to have a castle for my very own.

One day, when I was fourteen years old, Tita Nini stated she was going back there to check up on the tenants who were now renting the Buencamino houses. I asked to come along for the ride.

When we got there, I ran straight through to my grandparent's old backyard to check out my castle.

I paused, stunned...and started to laugh.

My castle of rock with the metal barred ceiling was actually an outdoor grill.


:0


My kingdom for a Steak

Have a cup?

Lynette with a cup

I love coffee. The Batangas Barako kind...very hot, with no milk, and lots of sugar. The kind that the nuns would serve at breakfast when I would go on my class' yearly high school retreat .

It's amazing I like it considering my first experience with legally obtained coffee was when I was eight and Mama casually asked me if I wanted a cup.

I was so surprised!

In my head I was screaming ...Coffee!!! ... You're offering me Coffee?! ...The stunt your growth poison taboo to children? Yeah baby!!!

Outwardly I quietly replied "Yes please."

All the while trying to remain unobstrusive and not to make sudden movements that would remind her I was eight and really, not allowed to drink coffee.

I watched her take a cup, put a fourth of a teaspoon of instant coffee and mix in a little hot water then add half a can of evaporated milk.

She handed me the cup,and gave me a cracker to eat with it, and went into her room.

I took my first sip and....

... bleagh, eeew, it was horrible!!!

Lukewarm and yuck!!!

And knowing my grandmother as I do, waste of any kind was never allowed.

I had, had, had to finish that cup or I was in deep trouble. ( I was too scared of her to even think of pouring it into the sink)

I kept drinking and drinking, and the cup kept getting larger and larger. I tried that pinch your nose technique but it didn't work.

I felt like I was literally drowning in coffee flavored evaporated milk...

...not a nice way to go.

After it seemed like hours and hours, I finally finished the thing. Mama came out and I showed her my now empty swimming pool-sized cup.

I was so happy my ordeal was over.

I gave her a kiss and the caffeine must have kicked in because I ran out of there so fast I seemed like a blur to her for days.

I wasn't trying to hide from her...honest.

;)

Mama and Papa

Mama and Papa (My Grandparents)

My grandmother turned a hundred years old last January.

I'm not sure if I remember entirely but she said she met my grandfather in College. She was part of the nerdy crowd and he was the popular rich playboy, big man on campus person.

She claimed she was always very snooty to him but the very snobbishness she demonstrated piqued his interest and apparently, he viewed it as a challenge. and basically pursued her until she relented.

One of my memories of them was that they were always together.

They went to work together, they went home together. They ate dinner together after which they would walk around and around our compound for exercise. They would finish their nightly rounds by stretching ( the touch your toes kind ) and then jointly, audibly, inhaling then exhaling.

Their grandchildren (including me) used to find it amusing to mimic them and would follow them around the compound giggling all the while.

They generally ignored us.

They were together until my grandfather died 5 years shy of their golden wedding anniversary.

From My Bed

I talk a lot.

I have lots of stories to tell.

People are tired of listening to me hours on end.

So I'll torture them through writing.

HAHAHAHAHAHA.