Turning Silver in the City of Golden Friendship

You welcomed me, took me in, made me one of your own. It was not difficult to adapt to you. So simple and uncomplicated then; humdrum even. Somehow, I felt right at home as home was similar to you. Time does more than just fly, I guess. It is ages since I came, and yet I can recall every bit of memory from that epic day, the 28th of May, 25 years ago and all those times that have helped make me the person that I am now.

A day after my parents' 25th wedding anniversary, I flew to what has been known as the City of Golden Friendship. With just my gradeschool classmate's (the former Gay Pimentel Hojas) generous offer to help me settle in, I excitedly began my journey. Having very few options in my hometown for a teaching job, I decided to venture out of it as I wanted to teach what I majored in. The only other school that offered Development Communication was Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan. And so I braved having to fly the coop and explore what life had to offer, far from the comforts of home and family.

I was excited, but was also naturally anxious. A lot had happened since May 28, 1986. A new life bloomed.

I miss the Cagayan de Oro of 25 years ago. One can get from one point to another in more or less 5-10 minutes. Traffic was made up of 2 cars, 1 PU minica, 3 jeepneys, & 2 motorelas. One could reach Carmen from Divisoria via the ubiquitous motorela! Shopping was done either at Ororama or Gaisano in Cogon or in small boutiques. The telephone system was unlike any other! As you dialed the second of four digits, a busy tone came on - such efficiency! ;) That was cross bar, the forerunner of Misortel (or Samsung, as most old-timers would say).

I would walk from my boarding house (2nd floor of Cinco Bldg. along Gomez St., across Wanda's Beauty Salon) to Xavier U. I miss my "first CDO family" - Panky & Badette Cortejos and their kids. Badette managed her own dress shop, one which she inherited from her Mama Nene Gamonez. I remember being scolded by my Associate Dean, Mrs. Thelma Zablan for reporting for work in jeans, shirt and "pam" (pump) shoes (rubber shoes). I was often mistaken for a student! (Yes, my weight was in the double digits, 25 yrs. ago!) So my dear mother sent me several cuts of cloth which Badette creatively designed and sewed. She even went so far as to teach me how to use make-up, and voila! Ms. Ignacio had a great make-over!

Weekends were spent scouring Gaisano or Ororama for odds and ends. Or I had stay overs at my co-teachers' apartment at Dolores-Tiano. Sisters Chona, Ating and Layloy Echavez and their fellow Bol-anons Tita Cayme & Ellen Pantollana would welcome me during the week-ends. We'd have karaoke sessions or beach outings with fellow Aggie Faculty Jojo Murro, Floro Dalapag, Lope Tabil, Alex Jayna & Danny Paduano. Sometimes, other Aggie associates would join us - Mayette Rivera, Tootsie Besinga, Clark Clarete, & Lillian Occena. Other friends Jojo Ortiz, Ngengen Batoctoy & Nancy Chiu would also take part in the fun. When a good movie was on, we'd troop to either Kairo or Roket Theater and our former College Dean Fr. Tony Ledesma, SJ (now the Archbishop of CDO) would gamely treat us to ice-cream or lomi afterwards; of couse, after the movie analysis session.

Other friendships were made over the years. Especially those with my co-teachers and my former colleagues at Northern Mindanao Devt. Bank, where I worked after my academic stint at XU, and with my Tapok Family.

Can it be that it was all so simple then...I miss Sesame's burgers and Paolo's pizza, and (much later) Consuelo's sizzling spaghetti! Blueberry (I think the first coffee shop in CDO) had the best specialty cakes. If you were lucky, the very charming Becky Tamparong would say hello and guide you in choosing from her yummy, delectable desserts.

It was in CDO that I had my firsts.

My first job was at XU-Ateneo de Cagayan. But my one great first was meeting and marrying my first and true love, Gani. And then I had my other first (which, as God would have it, turned out to be the only) - my baby Anna Fides Celine.

However, my first encounter with "motherhood" was when I had the joyful (and challenging!) babysitting dates with the Delgado kids - Joelo, Alexys, Miggy and Frits (children of my godbrother, and then boss and mentor, Guido and his wife Joy Delgado). They gave me a foretaste of motherhood. From their infancy to their toddler years, intermittent, though they were, my babysitting dates would either be to accompany Joy, or in her and Guido's absence, the yayas, in minding the babies. I never regretted having had just one baby, my Anna. There have been 4 others, after all.

A few years after I came to CDO, my brother Mike Ignacio and sister Concon joined me to also start their lives here. My parents eventually settled down to join us. Mike married Grace Basilan and now have kids Miggy and Pia; Concon has been catering (Country Flavor) for more than 15 years now. And then a sad note...Daddy passed on last year, 1 year before their golden wedding anniversary wich would have been on May 27, 2011.

And so now, although I see regrettable, unfortunate, disappointing things in CDO (the traffic, the chaos, the lack of discipline, the complacency and everything else that slows down the City's progress) - I really can't help but be grateful to her for making me one of her own.

I did more than just settle down in CDO. I built my life here.

It has been 25 years since I first came. And life has been good.