Luab: Treasures of the past

THE line “let us remember before we forget” best describes our treasures.

There was a time when Gen. Maxilom Ave. was called Mango Ave. That was in the late ‘40s. The street had a lot of mango trees that lined both sides of the street. Then students of St. Theresa’s College and the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion could enjoy the fruits by just picking up a stone, hitting a green mango and with a pinch of salt, sharing the fruit with their classmates.

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Of course, owners of the mango trees would shout, “students of STC are thieves” as they tried to go after us, but that was half the fun. The other half of the fun was denying—with wide-eyed innocence when our school’s Mother Superior confronted us—that we were the culprits. There were owners who complained to the school. Due to road widening and high fences, the mango trees slowly disappeared.

Another favorite pastime of the youth back then was to go at early dawn or late dusk to Parian. (That’s where the old fire station is located, right at the end of Colon St.) We would go there hoping to see the white lady that rumor said would roam the streets in search of her lover. We never saw her, but we really had fun sneaking out of the house and walking in the chilly air hoping to meet the white lady.

Beaches were open cities to us. There were no fences, no large beach resorts, no sandbars, (dividers to show boundaries between beach resorts), and no entrance fees. We could just bring boiled sweet potatoes, or boiled bananas, or freshly baked bread; and swim to our hearts content. We never worried about turning dark brown. We didn’t think of using sunblock lotion. If we got sunburned, we enjoyed peeling off the burnt skin later.

Even in the early ‘50s we could still go fishing in any of the piers. When our children were still small, we would fish and listen to the shrieks of the young ones as they shouted, “Mommy, mommy, something is tugging at my line” and indeed, a wriggling fish would come up after a hard pull. There was no danger back then in being mugged by undesirable elements. We could even enjoy eating “puso” and chicken barbecue at affordable prices at the pier without even thinking of AH1N1 virus or other dreaded diseases. Those were the days.

Playing tennis could be done anywhere without worrying about membership fees. I remember playing at the Cebu Tennis Club, which was at the corner of Ramos St. and Gen. Maxilom Ave. where Robinsons Department Store now stands. Even the tennis court near what is now Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center was also free for everyone. I remember the late Dr. George Espina, the late Mr. Tomakin and the late Itok Suson being exceptionally kind to kids like us who enjoyed the game.

Talisay was the place for anyone who wanted to swim in a pool. There was water overflowing everywhere in Talisay. Families would fill the pool and nobody minded if we ate our food by the poolside. Yes, those were really the glorious days. Mountain climbing to pick some fruits was also our favorite pastime. Armed with baskets, we would beg for kaymito, sereguelas and other fruits in season during summer and we’d never be turned away. Today, we have to buy these fruits and the price is way beyond our reach.

Mangoes from Guadalupe are no longer as sweet or as plentiful as they used to be due to the frequent use of insect repellants. Pomelos, “takoy” variety from Carcar, have long left us searching for the old sweetness.

I guess what we have lost forever due to TV shows and movies is the innocence of sweet love. People of my generation still remember the blue stationery with the message: “I saw you at mass, and my heart went pitter-patter. Can I and my friends serenade you tonight?” Courting then took several stages: wooing with sidelong glances, a quickening of the pulse, till finally the girl agrees to go steady.

Of course, not all puppy love ended in marriage. Hearts were broken, including mine, but the memory of sweetness and purity of love has remained. We have advanced in technology, but somehow we have also lost that powerful gift of innocence, that freedom from malice, that outpouring of generosity inherent in the Filipino. We can only remember the past and the treasures forever stored in our minds and in our hearts.