General Admission

By September 24, 2019General Admission, Opinion

 ‘How can you turn me down, dahlin’?’

By Al S. Mendoza

I could be on the plane by the time you are reading this.

If plans turn out right, I will fly to the US today (Sept. 22).

It’s been planned way back.  By my wife.

Call me a KJ but if I had my way, I would have dumped the trip.

The last time I was in the US was in 2006, when I covered the Pacquiao-Morales fight.

Pacquiao knocked Morales out in the third round in Las Vegas, completing a 2-1, win-loss score in their fabled trilogy.

When we got home, I had resolved not to fly to the US anymore.

Been to America yearly since 1981.

Sometimes, twice a year, thrice even, to cover boxing bouts and golf tournaments.

Enough is enough. 

But then came the wife’s intervention, deflecting my objection the day this journey was hatched.

“But how can you turn me down, dahlin’?” she said.  “I am your dear wife, have you forgotten?” 

Indeed, I could reject the advances of Catriona Gray with nary a bit of hesitation.  (Pia Wurtzbach is history.)

Not my wife’s. 

She had two reasons too valid to ignore.

One, her brother.

Two, her reunion with her town mates.

Gregorio “Bonyong” Juvida is my wife’s brother.

Eighty-ish now, Bonyong has been living in San Francisco, California, for almost two decades.

“I’m not saying anything but I guess he’d find it difficult now to come home,” my wife said.

Bonyong had a heart condition before he joined his three sons and one daughter in America.

One of his sons, Boyet, lives in Chicago, Ill. 

A nice kid, Boyet, when he learned that I collect vintage transistor radios, sent me one via door-to-door some years back.

It’s a Zenith.

My first one is named JC Penney that I bought in a flea market in a Los Angeles suburb in the Eighties.

Both are in tip-top shape.

Bonyong’s two other sons, Jay and Dondon, live in San Francisco. 

He lives with Jay at Hayward.  Dondon, chief technician at Lexus Lathrop, is with his family of four some 30 minutes away from Lathrop.  

Bonyong’s daughter, Princess, is in Colorado as a martial arts instructor.

“Bonyong would surely love seeing us again,” said my wife.  “You especially.”

I know. 

I take pride in me being Bonyong’s favorite bayaw.

My aparador made of narra was built by Bonyong, a master carpenter no less.

Our dining narra table with intricate designs was also built by Bonyong.

While Bonyong was still here, we’d have weekend gatherings over sumptuous lunches at home.

We’d talk about anything under the sun, but his one love is cockfighting.

My son, Dayong, has paintings showing a rooster in the hands of Bonyong and two cocks sparring.

From San Francisco, we proceed to New York for the Global Reunion of Calauag, Quezon, folk now living in Canada, Italy, England, Chicago and Ireland.

It’s a must-attend affair for the missus as she was the overall chairman of the Global Reunion when the biennial meet was held in the Philippines in 2017.

She will have a major part in the Gala Night, including doing a dance skit with her five fellow NACS (National Association of Calaguenans) members comprising the Philippine delegation to New York.

There’s an ongoing Broadway show depicting the Beatle phenomenon in Manhattan.

Surely, that is a no-miss event for me.

 The bodyguard also deserves a break.

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