Barrel of Money

If we had had extreme wealth and fortune of love and laughter at the end of our family's second decade, then one can say that it's in our third decade where we saw our riches multiply and our assets and acquisitions expand!

Mom and Dad's circles of friends grew as well, as Mom met fellow members of the parent groups at Elaine's school (Miriam) and Vernon's schools (Ateneo and PSHS). Dad reconnected with his Beta Epsilon brods and, of course, was a stalwart at the UP tennis courts! There was a constant, incessant flow (barrage?) of friends at the house, and our home was a hive of good fun and camaraderie.

This was true not only for our human friends, but also for our friends of the feline and canine persuasion as well. Tootsie was our first dog (from the Apolinarios), and Madam Mim, a stray cat gave birth to a dynasty of cats in our house. Thus, began our reputation as a sanctuary for our furry and feathered friends, including the likes of our other dogs Bruno and Rinnet, and our other memorable cats, Pox, Archimedes, Roonie, Spaceman Spiff, Cali, Jigoro, and Fozzy, just to name a few. At this time, we also had a few dandy ducks (like Eugene), some mischievous experimental mice

(like Bioman), a curious crustacean named Seb, and a terrific turtle named Proshtle.

Unlike our pals in 16 Maria Eva, we kids weren't wired to try our hands in the medical sciences... instead we became interested in weird, bizarre callings - of all things - engineering, business, and teaching. Hmm, go figure! Mom & Dad might have wanted us to go into the medical field, but we were busy emulating their examples, I guess.

Our family's repertoire also expanded that year... not just musically (as all of us kids continued our musical involvement in various choirs and in different capacities) but in terms of famous lines in movies. Snippets of dialogue and song from "The Little Mermaid," "Ruthless People," "Die Hard," "Terminator 2," "The Chipmunk Adventure," "Cool Runnings," and "The Shawshank Redemption," as well as songs from "Once on this Island" and "Forever Plaid," are still part and parcel of our usual banter. And before we forget, this is the decade where the word "tartar" ceased to be just nasty stuff found on teeth, and where "Speed" was a card game that involved up to 5 decks of cards and the threat of physical injury!

But our family's wealth grew the most as Mom and Dad saw us 3 oldest girls through our serious relationships which then added to the family, bringing 3 sons-in-law and the first few grandchildren into the fold. Grace met Lyndon while working at BPI, and the first wedding in our family was in 1995, with Angelica coming out a year later. Alma and Peter met during a business trip, then tied the knot in 1997, and moved to Peter's hometown in Hawaii soon afterwards. At the tail end of our family's third decade, Grace & Lyndon had Jojo, while Caps and I, who have known each other since our UPSCA days, made our vows before Caps began working in Wisconsin and Utah.

We did have our share of challenges in these years... our Grandpa passed away in Vallejo in 1991, as did Lola Paz in 1993. Dad had a minor stroke in 1994, and it was during this challenge where we witnessed

Those issues though never put a damper on our travelling... we must have hit every continent except Antartica in those years, with Dad going to Nigeria at some point, Mom & Dad traipsing around Italy and Australia, Alma reaching Turkey and New Zealand, all of us zipping around the US & Canada confusing even our relatives there, Mom meeting a certain caped crusader in Thailand, and an encounter with a seagull in Mexico... oh

"Oh we ain't got a barrel of money
Maybe we're ragged and funny
But we'll travel along
Singin' a song
Side by Side!

We don't know what's coming tomorrow
Maybe it's trouble and sorrow
But we'll travel the road, carrying our load
Side by Side."

As we settled into life back in the Philippines, we 3 oldest girls coursed through UP, where we met many of our closest friends to date, who all until now call Mom and Dad, "Tita" and "Tito." These included IE Clubbers, JMA'ers and UPSCANs. Elaine and Vernon brought the entire neighborhood cavalry into 9 Maria Eva, and a few relatives and friends even made our house their summer retreat. The hospitality of Mom and Dad made our house a pantheon of gimmicks and fun, which remains to this day. Everybody even remembers the directions to our house from

the Tierra Pura gate: "Straight the street, corner to the left, corner to the right, and stop in your face." (Courtesy of an exchange between Tita Nora Camat and the security guard.)

This was a decade of expansion, acquisition, and globalization, with the paradox that as we spread out, we became closer. "There is unity in diversity," goes the Indonesian slogan (Pancasila). But with apologies to our Indonesian roots, we've got a better way to sum it up:

all the welcoming vibes that Mom & Dad had always exuded come back to them in the form of a huge mountain of healing thoughts and prayers. Dad counted the days patiently until he could be back, good as new, on the tennis court, just to show that no stroke, tennis or otherwise, could beat him!