Date: 8/12/98 7:22 AM
Dear Perry,
Edna and I are eagerly awaiting for your stories of
the event kaya don't take
too long.Kahit na hindi organized, just write about
the happenings in whatever
order you recall it. Pleassssse!
Inday
Inday my dear, I am now poorer in exploded
convictions but richer in
experience. Hearing our classmates
voices and then seeing them again
after so many years absolutely
fills a persons kinship gap. You really
have to see our classmates because
it is just not an ordinary social
but a true family reunion. Although
the feeling of old age hit me when
Bob and Ed Sayson brought their
family, Fred's and Butch's brood. Neph
brought his wife during the
dinner and the daughter during the picnic.
Bob Torres and his wife came
during the dinner but stag siya, ako and
Reno during the picnic.
Tuesday Aug 5 - Dinner with
Larry Pay. He really really wanted to go
but his migration to Canada
was in its absolute peak. His wife was
going to DRIVE all of their
belongings from Los Angeles to Toronto
Canada. Dont get shocked but
his vacation was all used up so he had to
choose between using it to drive
or to unpack in Canada. So split
sila. What a partner! I took
some pictures with him so when I scan it
you can see how he looks like.
Thursday morning Aug 6 - I flew
in to San Jose at 12:30. I picked up
Reno at San Jose Airport at
about 11:15 in the evening cuz his
itenerary didnt say American
airlines which was the US carrier of
Canadian Airlines so my brother
and I looked for him in another pickup
area. We found him 30 minutes
later with the packed fresh salmon that
he caught. He is kalbo in front
kinda lean cuz he smokes a lot but all
in all the same happy friend
that he is, only older. He brought with
him his mother's collection
of all his yearly class pictures in prep.
I saw myself in the front row
on the right. This is my last evidence
of Prep attendance because during
my bitterness days I threw away my
prep yearbook. God bless Reno
and his mother! I also saw your picture
and Ednas. Now I remember why
I cant make ligaw to any of you. First I
didnt know how. Second I wouldnt
have lived another year had any of
the girls tried to beat me up.
Puro malalaki o kaya mapapayat. We
unpacked the salmon for the
freezer and reminisced (specially who our
crushes were) until 2:30 in
the morning. We left a message for Fred on
my brothers phone number so
we could coordinate in the morning.
Friday Aug 7 - We wake (halfway)
up about 7:30 kasi yung put.....g
gardener ng kapitbahay was trimming
trees. I jumped from bed cuz I
thought there was an oncoming
earthquake. Coffee calmed me down. Reno
woke up too but excitement was
in the air. Fred (the hyper schedule
maniac) called about 8:30 to
say that he was going to check out the
picnic area at Angel Island
and that he was going to pick us up at the
train station. My brother
and his wife took us to the train station
(our first in so many years).
We checked the schedule and we were
early for the 10:53. We talked
and waited and ignored the just stopped
train appearing to head for
the opposite direction we were going. At
10:53 the train started to backup
and headed to SAN FRANCISCO!!! It
was our train and nobody, not
even the conductor let out a pip that it
was "all aboard for San Francisco.
WE MISSED OUR TRAIN!!!! We had to
wait for another hour. We called
Fred and said that instead of 12:30
we will be there at 1:30. Namumutla
na kami ni Reno sa gutom.
Pagdating sa SF Fred looked
good, tall as ever, talks the same, very
happy to see us and proceeded
to bring this two hungry fellow for a
WINE TASTING spree at Napa Valley.
Needless to say we were gracious to
hold our fainting until we got
to Goldilocks for the needed carb
loading. On the way everywhere,
the constant questions was "Nasaan na
si...at ano na ang nangyari
kay...." Boy! did we get some revelations.
Some are unfit for publication.
(ano kaya iyon?) Fred showed the
pictures during the Manila Polo
Club reunion. When we get it in the
web, we want you to take out
your yearbook and see if you make out our
other classmates.
We arrived at Freds beautiful
home in the town of Hercules at about
7:00 (we decided to sleep over
at Freds so we didnt have to drive back
and forth from San Jose) cuz
Bob Torres was going to pick us at 7:30
for our dinner at 8:00 at La
Cheval, a French Vietnamese restaurant.
Fred's home roared with long
overdue laughter and gladness when Bob
arrived. He recognized me and
Reno right away like he just saw us the
day before. He still looked
pudgy with his chinky eyed and dark
complexion, sorta graying crew
cut. He had a restaurant for so many
years near Stanford, recently
gave it up and today he's the barbecue
man in prep for tomorrow's picnic.
So on we went to SF about 30 min
from Hercules. Waiting near
the door were: Butch and wife Geling with
daughter Franangelica (Frankie)
Ed Sayson with wife Beverly, Bobby
Sayson with wife Alice Kuykendall
and Alice's Uncle Fred. Bob Torres
and wife (forgot her name),
Fred and wife Syvel (Isabel), Neph, Reno
and I completed the group and
our group stood out from everybody. It
was a beehive. Bobby was carrying
a box of preserves from Oregon as
pasalubong to everyone. I made
a small brass plaque on hardwood with
the Prep logo and text of the
August 8 reunion and a solid wood body
parker style pen which I turned
the previous night. I gave both to all
of our classmates. Edna, better
write me your address, okey?
Part II later this afternoon.
Perry
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 00:11:24 PDT
Inday deary, It took a little bit of time
for me to sit down for the
third part of my account. My! Did I get busy. So sorry!
I got a reply
from Edna about my first and second account. Ana U. also
said that I am
"graphic" with words. Must be my "reporter's' blood.
Anywho, I now know
where Edna lives and will be sending you both what I
had promised. Did
you see the UP Badge? I had that made from the logo I
was asking about
the last time. I printed the logo took it to a place
which makes
trophies and they had a computer program that edited
the contrast and
also changed the font of our logo, except for the eagle.
Voila!
including the text we have the badge..rather plaquette.
I routed a solid
wood back and stuck the thing. I was thinking my classmates
would really
like it. I was right. I sent a set to Manny too. In the
y2k grand
reunion, it behooves us to do the same or better for
ALL of our
classmates. We'll plan it.
...../August 8, 1998....Dinner the night before was still
lingering in
our minds and exhiliration numbs our need for more sleep.
At 6:30 Fred
was already up and about in anticipation for Bob Torres
who was expected
to arrive at 7:30. Fred was right. Reno, puffing his
cigarette, and I
waited outside after Syvel served us breakfast. She is
such a sweet
woman. Dugong St Scho. Bob was going stud this time because
his family
had been scheduled for a hard to get dental appointment.
Off we went to
Tiburon in Oakland to take the ferry to Angel Island.
On the way, Fred
was in touch with Butch on the cell phone(It seems that
everyone had a
cell phone) coordinating places to park and what was
the ETA of
everyone. Tiburon is such a lovely place and Angel Island
is situated so
that you have view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the
main picnic area.
The mixture of sunshine and a slightly chilly breeze,
clean fresh air,
summer blooms at their peak already told me this reunion
is a perfectly
done deal. The choice of venue was great. Fred gave instruction
to his
son, as soon as he gets off the ferry, to run as fast
as he could and
reserve a couple of tables near the only palm tree in
the main picnic
area (with Lolo Perry right behind him). It was a good
quarter mile run
and it made me wish I was in marathon training again.
We finally got
settled at about 10:30. Bob Torres and his wife, that
morning, made
"tuhog" what looked like 200 pork barbecue and 200 chicken
kabob.
Talagang beteranong restaurateur. He also had a bag of
mesquite
charcoal. Reno takes some puff on his cigarette. He forgot
to take his
U.P. jacket from Freds trunk. Marine layer was still
in the air and he
was chilly. I lend him my OCW jacket and he is smiling
again. Bob starts
the charcoal at 11:30 and we started munching at about
12:30. Nephtali
and daughter Melanie arrive a little later with some
kanin and cooler
full of bottled water. Ed and Bob Sayson families, Butch
and brood
arrive at about 2:00 or 3:00. We meet Butch's two
towering sons TR and
Sean and super tyke daughter Frankie. Bob sculpted a
watermelon. The
rest brought more and more food. Neph's digital camera
was now working.
Everyone also had cameras and we got busy taking each
others pictures.
Bob took out a notebook and asked me to write
about my family and
thoughts at the moment. At that instant, with my so called
reportorial
prowess with words, I couldnt come up anything to describe
what I was
feeling. The closest I can get was "absolute gladness"....the
mutual
feeling of belonging to each other even after we have
not seen each
other for more than three decades. We have missed each
other for so long
that it was necessary to see each other. I believe it
holds true for all
our classmates. I guess life's book cannot be complete
until one
accounts for all the pages.
Everyone had their turn with the notebook and
each time I glance at
the one writing they kinda stare afar first and probably
just like me
cannot find the words for this re-union. Fred got hold
of the notebook
last and it took him the longest to write. I didnt read
what he wrote
but, somehow I thought, I didnt have to.
The picnic, I felt, was not enough time to really
catch up but enough
to make the reconnection. At the Tiburon (spanish for
Shark) ferry
landing we bid goodbye to each other. Bob invites us
to Oregon next
summer as a prep for the Grand reunion for y2k in Manila.
One of Bob's
son said, "Oh good, now we dont have to drive thousands
of miles to see
you." But we all did. Sooner or later.
Reno and I hitched a ride with Butch, Geling and
my buddy Frankie
beside me in her car seat towards San Jose. The sun just
set but still
had enough light to get a hazy glimpse of the Golden
Gate Bridge's
cables and hangers as we drove through it. We had
dinner at Barrio
Fiesta. Passed by the Garcia's condo at Palo Alto. When
it looked like
Butch wouldnt be finished scanning the entire 66 graduation
yearbook, we
decided to let him keep the book until he is done with
it. He could just
mail it to us. Butch drove us to San Jose and had a cup
of capuccino at
my brothers house. Chat until 2:30 with Reno's eyes involuntarily
closing amidst Butch's nocturnal tales.
Although we got to see each other, we still
long to see those we have
not seen in a long time. You, Noli, Edna, all our other
classmates here
and in RP. We have to account for all the pages.
I hope to see you and everyone soon.
In the meantime, take care
always.
Perry
Baka may kasunod pa ito.
Please check out Perry's webpage at http://palcudia.cjb.net