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Sunday, April 03, 2005
The banana boat ride
By Evelyn R. Luab
Light Sunday
My husband and I, with the children and grandchildren, spent the weekend at Portofino. Everything went well until the last morning when a group of six people who is dear to us decided to either jet ski or go on a banana boat ride. All were adults except for 10-year-old Enrico, my grandson. Since his mother was in the group, I didn’t worry.
Actually, they tried to entice their dad and me to go with them but after a dip in the sea, we decided to turn down their offer and settled to watch a movie on DVD.
When they came back just before check-out time, they tried to make light of the incident by saying, “Oh, we just had an unforgettable experience. Our banana boat overturned somewhere in the deep blue waters a little bit away from the shore.” The “little bit” was euphemism, as I later found out.
My horrified ears turned to Enrico who placated me by saying, “It’s okay Lola, I’m fine!” At this, all of them burst out laughing and they told me in detail what really happened.
When the boat overturned, all of them had the presence of mind to hold on to the banana boat even if they were down under. It was actually their fault that it overturned. It was Tessa who let go of one hand and made a grab for a red life vest under the waters, pulled Enrico out of the waters and hugged him to make him stop crying because he was very, very scared. She treaded the water and kept on saying, “It’s okay. Mommy’s here. She won’t leave you.”
My two sons-in-law checked to see if their wives were okay and since they were good swimmers, half of the tension got dispelled. Aimee, Francis and Tessa tried upturning the banana boat and they succeeded.
Actually in Boracay, good swimmers deliberately overturn their banana boats just for the fun of it and since it’s a rubberized thing it’s no big deal and people enjoy the thrill. However, when a 10-year-old boy is involved, that’s another story. The “what ifs” started to appear.
1. What if Enrico’s life vest had loosened and he had slipped out of it.
2. What if he had drunk a lot of water and needed resuscitation?
3. What if there had been sharks around for they were a good way from the shore. The “little bit away from the shore” was a fib so as not to frighten Lola.
What made one feel nice, though, was that everyone’s concern was for Enrico. According to Tessa, Aimee, her younger sister, made a grab for Enrico at the same time she did. Francis, Cesar and Mariles’ first question was, “Where’s Enrico?”
When everybody had calmed down, they decided to help Enrico get rid of the trauma. They all opted to continue with the banana boat ride. When they got near the shore, all of them jumped off the boat to practice swimming toward the shore, including Enrico, at Tessa’s prodding. The morning ended well with everyone able to laugh about the reactions from all the people involved. We left the beach full of merriment.
However, once we were back at the house, we all thanked the Lord for the safe return of the family and the bonding we had.
You see, it dawned on us all that accidents do occur at the most unexpected times. We remembered the freak accidents, which happened in the past, of even buses ramming into houses by the side of the road while the occupants are asleep with no thought of death in mind.
Because we were dealing again with the “what ifs”, my son-in-law started kidding me. “Naku, kung sumama si Mommy, lagot!” (My gosh! If Mommy had gone with us, it could have been worse!)
Aimee, my irrepressible daughter, countered, with “Hindi, malakas ang buoyancy ni Mommy!” (No, her buoyancy is great. She will not sink! Just look at her weight!) With that, the “what ifs” disappeared.
A good sense of humor can always help in situations like this. This incident showed to me the closeness of our family.
This overturning incident also proved that the Filipino family is still
the best we have in surviving the crises we are all in today.
1. We look out for each other.
2. We all paddle the same canoe and we protect each other to the hilt.
3. The children are our first concern.
4. We are resilient. We don’t give up that easily. (Everyone agreed to continue with the banana boat trip if only to remove Enrico’s fear of the ride and fear of the sea.)
One bad incident does not negate the good family reunions bring.
Bonding, even while enjoying the simple fare of fish, can be great.
Any place where values are taught and caught, where love blossoms among family members, is a good place to start our rehabilitation process from despondency and pessimism due to our economic situation. We start building a stronger foundation.
There will still be a lot of overturning in our voyage in life but as long as everybody keeps his head and looks out for the weakest among us, we shall make our way back to the shore of stability. As long as our family unit is good, we will make it. Life vests are helpful precautions to have at sea or in the air. However, it is always good to have the presence of mind to stick close to one another if one expects to pull together. There is no greater shield against a downfall except the ties that bind a family together.
(NOTE: There were some errors in the column last week. It should have read “good over evil” (not good or evil); and “leaving only” (not living only). We apologize to the columnist.)
(April 3, 2005 issue)
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