Wednesday, June 18, 2008 Moving By Rene Lozada Papa's table
FOR the first time in more than 20 years, we are not going to the Ateneo de Davao Matina campus this school year. There is no need to anymore. Gabo, our youngest son, recently graduated. It is rather a strange feeling not crossing the Bankerohan or Bolton bridges and entering the Ateneo campus.
Our children all graduated from the Ateneo Matina Campus. Chona and I spent a lot of years there also and now those years are now part of the past, a time in all our lives that we shall always treasure. We had great times there, too bad it ended not so nicely.
There are so many memories there. Mostly good ones. In fact I can say that the days we spent at the Matina Campus were some of the happiest in our lives. There we were fulfilled, there we had meaning, there we harnessed our possibilities and our tomorrows. Though we did not have so much money, (a consequence of teaching) we were happy and fulfilled. We were happy because we were doing what we wanted.
I remember when it was lunch time and the four of us would go to the office of Chona at the Guidance Center where we would all have lunch. Our lunches were simple and yet we gathered as a family and we ate together.
We would all look tired and spent but when we got together we talked and shared things. There were days however when we would not be able to have lunch together because of busy schedules. After lunch if we had the time we would take a short nap before going back to classes and work.
There were days when the kids would come in all perspiring and Chona and I would just stare at them. It was Eps and Gabo who managed to make us cringe because of their appearances.
Migoy somehow was able to keep himself tidy and neat. But Eps and Gabo looked like they came from we sometimes would not want to know where.
After classes we would all meet up at the Guidance Office and wait for each other. Again we would cringe at the sight of Eps and Gabo because when they would arrive they just came from playing. So they were all wet, dirty, and smelly. There were days when Chona and I would complain and utter those famous words: "Ah the travails of the working class." But we earned every centavo.
We would get all our bags and whatever we were bringing and we would head for the car. There the three of them would sit at the back, sweating like God knows what. They guy in the middle would be the lucky one because at that time the aircon in our car refused to vent air perhaps because of the smell.
So whoever was in the middle would come up front and stick his head out to get the air. The two had to suffer. We usually left Ateneo at about 5 p.m. and it was a long way home. After the kids had settled, one by one they would fall asleep. Chona was way ahead of them. Like mother, like sons! And I was left alone awake.
There were days however when we would go home late because of meetings, practices and the like. But it was the same when we went home. They were asleep and I was awake. I had to be! Those were good days. Now that is all in the past. And I miss those days.
I guess I miss those days because we were free to do what we wanted. We did not have to be limited to the daily struggle of life because everyday was a struggle for us but we were together and that was what mattered. I miss those days because we were free and carefree. We were not bound by things or limitations.
Every month was a struggle to keep us afloat but we somehow managed. Years later we found ourselves having more than enough but we were not happy. Money indeed does not buy happiness.
While some people were busy making money we were making our lives. While some people were consumed with greed and selfishness, here we were doing what we liked. We were so lucky in those days because in spite of not having enough money, we had lives and we lived our lives in the manner in which it was meant to be.
Sometimes we would complain about things but this was the life we chose and the choices that we made in those days were good ones. We were happy. The kids were growing up and so were we. We grew together as a family.
And now we leave the Matina Campus filled with the memories of our lives. Now our kids are grown up. Miguel is a professor at the Ateneo De Manila, Raphael is in his third year in college, and Gabo is starting as a freshman in Manila also.
Chona heads the Human Resource office in the best hotel in Davao and I am starting my new career as a Human Resource director in one of the newest hospitals in the city. Where have all the years gone? Where have we all gone?
We have moved on as we should. We have moved as we must. But I wonder sometimes. I wonder sometimes at all that has been. I think of all the classrooms I entered for the first time to meet my classes for the first time. Those eager young faces whom I miss so. Those young high school faces that I see sometimes.
I miss the lunches and the carefree manner in which we lived our lives. We were happy and we were free. I miss the banana cue, the humba, the turon. I miss the English department, well most of them anyway. I miss the late afternoon drive home. I miss watching the sunset at the Ateneo Campus. I miss watching those birds as they came to roost. I miss those Acacia trees.
But most of all I miss the grime and the smell of my kids. The dirty uniforms, the sweat in their faces. I miss Chona wearing that old Ateneo faculty uniform. I miss wearing the barong or the long sleeves with tie outfit on Mondays.
Those were pure days, that is the only way to describe them. It was a time for our family to take root because today our children have taken flight. And sometimes it is cold in the car. But we move on.
