HAPPY ANNIVERSAY!!!!!! TO BOTH OF YOU. THAT HAS BEEN QUITE A WHILE BUT YOU KNOW, SOME OF IT STAYS AS FRESH AS MARUNGGAY JUST PLUCKED FROM ITS LIMB. I HAD THE GREATEST TIME IN MY LIFE PLAYING A BIT ROLE IN YOUR GRAND LOVE AFFAIR. I LOVE TO REMINISCE THE NIGHT SWIMMING WE DID IN LINGAYEN BEACH. ONCE IN A WHILE, I THINK OF THAT NIGHT AND THE NAUGHTINESS OF MY YOUTHFUL DAYS ONCE AGAIN BRINGS BACK MEMORIES WRITTEN IN THE DARK AND HAD STAYED INTACT IN THE AGING PAGES OF MY BOOK OF LIFE. YEAH, IT WAS DARK AND THE MOSQUITOES WERE FEASTING ON US BUT NEVERTHELESS, IT WAS A NIGHT TO REMEMBER. YOU AND NITZ WENT THE OPPOSITE WAY TO EXPLORE THE WONDERS OF THE DARK IN A BEACH WHOSE STILLNESS DEFIED RELENTLESS WAVES AND DROWNED THE THUNDER OF POUNDING HEARTS. I TOOK HER HAND AND LED HER TO WHERE THE WAVES KISSED THE SANDY BEACH AND IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT, (AND AWAY FROM BOTH OF YOU) WE WROTE A BRIEF STORY (WITHOUT A HAPPY ENDING LIKE YOURS), BUT ONE THAT I WON'T GET BORED READING UNTIL MY MEMORY FADES. SHE IS NAMELESS HERE BUT I'M SURE YOU REMEMBER HER. PLEASE SAY HI TO HER FOR ME, IN CASE YOU GET IN TOUCH WITH HER. WELL, BUDDY, JUST THOUGHT TO SAY HI. IT HAS BEEN A REALLY LONG TIME. I WISH YOU COULD COME BY AGAIN. THE HOUSE THAT I DID NOT GET TO SHOW YOU BECAUSE IT WAS ALL TORN UP, IS NOW PUT TOGETHER. WE ADDED A NEW WING WHICH IS NOW OUR MASTER BEDROOM, A LARGE DECK, A NEW GARAGE WITH A LARGE ROOM ABOVE IT, AND A GAZEBO OVERLOOKING THE DECK. IT IS ACTUALLY OUR DINING ROOM. THE OLD TOOL SHED IS GONE AND WE HAVE A NEW ONE THAT I DESIGNED MYSELF AND IT STANDS OUT IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD BECAUSE IT IS UNCONVENTIONAL IN TERMS OF TOOL-SHED DESIGN. WE CONVERTED THE OLD GARAGE INTO A CULINARY LABORATORY WHERE I PERFORM SOME CULINARY EXPERIMENTS EVERY FULL MOON. I CALL IT THAY WAY INSTEAD OF "DIRTY KITCHEN' BECAUSE IT IS NOT DIRTY AT ALL. WHOEVER COINED THAT TERM MUST NOT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BROOM HANDLE AND A SPATULA. WE HAVE THREE GUESTS THIS WEEKEND. THEY WERE FORMER DORM MATES OF DAUGHTER KARLA WHEN SHE WAS IN UNDERGRAD SCHOOL AT N Y U. THE LADIES LOVED HAVING BREAKFAST AT THE GAZEBO THIS MORNING. THE COLORFUL SIGHT IN THE BACKYARD MAKES UP FOR WHAT IS MISSING ON THE BREAKFAST TABLE. I TRY TO KEEP THE DECK AND THE YARD ALIVE WITH COLORS DURING THE SUMMER. I GET UP AS EARLY AS 3:00 AM TO TAKE CARE OF THE PLANTS BEFORE I GET READY FOR WORK. SO LONG. HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN SOMEDAY, SOON. BEN

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Thanks for the encouragement, Sonny. Bay-am ta no manayon ti biag ko ket agbalinak to piman nga mannurat. That will be in my next life. Then my English instructor's wish for me to be published, will indeed come true. I had to take a class in English Composition as a pre-requisite to my BSN. I must have impressed her a lot with the papers I wrote. One day she took her daughter to the Navy Tricare clinic where your Auntie used to work at. She got curious, apparently, when she noticed your Auntie's name tag which of course, is my last name. To make the story short, she found out that your Auntie is my wife. When your Auntie came home that night, she related to me how this Mrs. Cooper went on singing praises for me in the presence of your Auntie's co-workers. "She calls you the "last sensitive man of the 20th century." I was tickled to death to hear that. Anyway, with time, maybe I could develop half of your writing prowess and style. Some old fellow predicted that you will grow up to be a sharp man. You must have been three years old at the time. You developed some indurated lesions on your scalp. They were rather large, almost egg size. If you were in America then, I'm sure that the clinician would have ordered a whole bunch of diagnostic tests to find out the etiology of your condition. But back there in the country where we all grew up, that didn't seem to be of much concern for anyone. Of course we were all worried but it was compensated by the prophetic diagnosis that kids who develop those kinds of scalp lesions grow up smart. (They must have been extra brain cells.) But anyway, the funny thing about that was, the old folks' way of getting rid of the "bukols" from your head Guess what? Now that I have some medical orientation, I can laugh about it. The folks' recommended treatment was for you to plant spider lilies. So your Inang dug up some spider lily bulbs from your Auntie Rosing's garden and had you plant them in your front yard. That was real weird, but it seemed to have worked because your lesions disappeared not long after you planted the lilies. And did you know who picked your name, by the way. I'll tell you next time I visit the board. Vic is right. Not that I have 2 paying jobs but it seems that way with me. My weekends are busier than normal work days. I used to be able to access the website from my office computer but the government had started cracking down on computer abuse and misuse at work, so now, they have installed mechanisms to keep people from visiting unauthorized web sites. And when I get home from work, the last thing I want to touch is another computer. Oops, it's past midnight. Got to be up at 4:30 this morning. I'll catch up with you and the board. Good night. Uncle Ben

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I have but just a hazy recollection of that boyish episode. But yes, I know I had those “dugol” but I can’t recall now how they went off. Those spider lilies are called “bakong” in Ilocano and they are still a common fixture in most local gardens. I didn’t know they have this mystical power… >>>> After you left DWA, I appropriated for myself a literature textbook of yours and another one called Philippine Reader by Camilo Osias from your old bookshelf. I actually borrowed it from Auntie Lita but I never returned them after you all went to Guam. These were my informal reading materials which I voraciously read and re-read many, many times from cover to cover. It is from these books that I learned to appreciate good literature and we were probably nurtured from the same books. I did not find such good quality materials from the NCS or RA Textbooks during my time. Reading materials then were somewhat difficult to come by. Every Wednesday, my cousin Ambong and myself will be eagerly awaiting Apong Abe’s Bannawag. While he reads on his rocking chair, we will be pestering him from behind until he is finished with it - prematurely surrendering the magazine to us, most of the time, because of our boyish meddling and mono-syllabic reading aloud of the adventures of Captain Barbell, etc. Sometimes, I would go under Apong Pe’s “parsa” and remove the magazine pages wrapped around the dangling ampalayas just to read their contents. I was such a sponge then but there is not enough to be absorbed. What I lacked in books is filled in by komiks. Auntie Mila has a big collection and she has a network of komiks addicts in the neighborhood. I used to run errands for her, returning and retrieving komiks from “neighbor’s” houses which could be half a kilometer away. I didnt mind the distance, its the chasing dogs that I detest. >>>> I don’t know how I was given my name nor was I aware that there is a story behind it. But I am happy with it. Its quite rare and unique. And in all the literature that I read and movies that I watched, my name is always associated to a good guy - which I am.  But in Rizal’s El Fili, Isagani is a hopeless romantic (which I am, also) who chose to save her ex-GF from the explosive filled lamp aimed at decimating the top civil and religious leaders who were in attendance at her wedding party. Thus, he unwittingly exposed and untracked the revolution which is to start that night. Now, would have I done the same given the situation… most probably yes. So to prevent such a treason on my part, I married ahead of my ex… .

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Pity I didn't get to closely watch you grow up. You were not of school age yet when I left town for college. But let me tell you, besides Marlene, you and Ambong never ran out of eager arms to hold you. Marlene was the first one to enjoy that much attention, then you and Ambong came along. Every chance we had, we took turns carrying you. We were that hungry to play with little kids like you. Ambong was more emotionally sensitive than you were. We had to be careful not to make him cry because if he did, he would turn blue from losing his breath. The most difficult thing to watch about you was your habit of keeping your food in your mouth for the longest time. By the time you finished breakfast, it's lunch time. Your favorite among us was your Uncle Arthur. You used to cry everytime you saw him leave for school. Then he left for the seminary hoping to become a priest someday but, we all know what happened with that. Then it was my turn to go. I don't remember seeing you on the day I left. It was the morning after my high school graduation. I stopped in Manaoag for a brief pilrimage at the shrine of the miraculous Lady of Manaoag, then caught a Pantranco bus for Baguio. I made a promise to myself to come home to Asingan only after I earned my college degree. Of course that didn't happen because I came home for Cielo's baptism. I was her godfather. (May she rest in peace.) I was in my junior year at the time. I heard of you early academic successes. For instance, your participation in a provincewide competition. Not too sure if it was math or spelling but you did an outstanding job in that event. I'm sure you had a lot of those academic conquests which slipped by me because I was too absorbed trying to make it through college while working at the same time. I wrote briefly about my life of deprivation as a working college student in my autobiography that was required by the diocese of Virginia for my petition for annulment of my first marriage in the Catholic Church. The diocese official who interviewed me prior to granting my request was quite moved by that part of my sad story. She was misty-eyed, her chin was down on her chest. Anyway, back to you. Yes your name came from that classic Philippine novel. I volunteered the name "Elmer" for you but your Auntie Rosing prevailed. It was a good choice, indeed. Nobody in town (that we knew of) was named Sonny or Isagani at that time. You would have been the second "Elmer" known to us because there was a guy in poblacion who went to school in Dupac with your Auntie Mila whose name was Elmer (Agsalud). And yes, you did have one heroic act that I can remember. It was on your Auntie Laling's wedding to Uncle Sally. Alex, who was going to be the ring bearer could not be awakened from deep sleep. Your Apong Misiong cautioned everybody not to push him because he would surely throw a fit if he woke up. Who would know him better than his own father? So the one and only choice was you. The houses being so close, I heard your Auntie Rosing yell out a command through the window for your Mama to get you ready. Everybody was kind of stressed out because it was time to hit the road for the church and no ring bearer, yet. I was in your house that morning. You were doing the usual thing, playing with your food in your mouth early in the morning. Your Mama picked you up, your mouth full of food and got you dressed for the occasion. You saved the day for the happy couple. I'm sure you did other feats of heroism. I know you can write about them and let us enjoy your stories. So long. --uNCLE bEN

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