General Admission
Fiesta time, reunion time
By Al S. Mendoza
YOU forget your roots, you forget your loved ones – yourself.
You grew up loving things, places – people.
You just don’t forget them. Stick to them like lovers do to their mates.
You’ll never go wrong.
In my case, pinakbet’s the thing. Include dalag. Pantat. Bisukol. Ur-ormot. Pongke-pongke. The eternal Bonuan Bangus.
Kids you were once, kids you must still be in adulthood. At least once in a while.
All work, no play, makes you dumb all your life.
You dump that line, you dump half of your life.
Once a year would be fine. Twice, thrice, would be great.
Go home for anniversaries.
Renato E.O. Valdez (with beauteous wife, Muriel, in tow) from New Jersey/New York does that every year. So do Dolly Gurion, Cherry Mislang, Elizabeth Quitana, Amy Ramones and many more of my classmates now living in the U.S. of A.
They join their batch mates almost yearly now in merrymaking at Dolly’s mansion along the highway of Mangatarem, Pangasinan. Part of the town fiesta fare, which is today (January 25) and yesterday.
You are in Manila working, go home when it’s the birthday of Tatay, Nanay. Buy lechon.
On their wedding anniversary, surprise them with their favorites. Grapes and keso de bola, maybe. Excellente hamon from Quiapo. Anything.
Doesn’t have to be that expensive. A T-shirt for Tatay. Nanay’s favorite color for her duster. A bandanna, maybe.
Ceferino “Kanor” Tengasantos, based in Honolulu for years now, makes it a point to come home for the Fiesta Ball at the plaza.
Even before the Big Night (last night), Kanor religiously attends the nightly dances for almost week at the auditorium.
“My way of reconnecting myself with my roots,” Kanor loves to say. “You are in a faraway land, you always long to be home to your home sweet home. The best time is fiesta time.”
Always, he comes in his Sunday best for the Coronation Night. Black suit. Black tie. It’s through Kanor that I came to know of the Florsheim. He was among the very first to own a full stereophonic system in my town. My good neighbor that he’s always been, it was from Kanor’s stereo that I first heard the hits of Paul Anka, Alma Cougan, Xavier Cugat and Ol’ Blue Eyes.
Very intelligent and ever observant of the times and global events, Kanor told me years back, “Omega is the best because it’s the first watch to reach the moon.”
He loves surprises – happy surprises, that is.
In his visit to the hometown that we both dearly love many years ago, Kanor surprised me with an Omega wristwatch.
I had it on last night at the plaza auditorium.
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