11:40p

among the goats and fruit trees
as a kid, I always hated going out to my cousin's
house in the central valley.
it was more like a farm.
there was never anything to do.
no atari (hence, no centipede to keep me entertained).
no cable tv.
no malls
or stores to spend time in.
it was all just goats and acres and acres of fruit trees
and crops.
as a kid, it wasn't my idea of fun.

i guess i was always conditioned to think this way
based on my childhood experience.
hence, i always dreaded going to the central valley to
visit my relatives on my dad's side, even though
they are some of the nicest, loving, genuine and humblest people i've come to know...
even though all of them now live in the suburbian
part of the central valley, complete with video games, cable tv
and tons of malls.

it's a shame i never really got to know them because of my
inability to step out of my comfort zone more often to visit them
out there.

but then this saturday, surrounded by my family in the central valley,
celebrating one of my younger cousin's recent marriage and
soon-to-arrive baby girl,
i started a conversation with one of my older cousins
that i will never forget.
it all began with my question: "Did you know Amang (our lolo)?"

Ever since i can remember, i've always wished i grew up knowing my lolo & lola
from the way my dad has talked about them.
Dad always described Amang and Inang as humble, genuine, loving and down-to-earth parents
who were loved by everyone in their town.

How could they not?
Amang was one of the town's mailmen who made friend's with everyone and was
probably the town's best storyteller,
and Inang was one of the sweetest, gentlest women...a complement to
Amang's very sociable and outgoing personality.

My cousin described him in the same way
except he added aspects of Amang from his own experience
growing up with him.
Of all the cousins, he and his other brother and sister were the only
ones that really grew up knowing Amang and Inang because
they lived with them.

According to his story, Amang used to take him to cock fights - one of
Amang's hobbies. Apparently he knew his sport well and was considered
an expert by the rest of his competitors.
And Inang...she would always call upon my cousin to buy food at the market.
Apparently, my cousin went to the market for them so often that
he was the only one who knew where Inang kept her secret stash of money
in their basement.

I was soaking in every word my cousin was sharing.
And all I could think of was, "i can't believe I have missed
out on this conversation for so many years".
I was completely humbled by and appreciative of that moment.

Then for confirmation, I asked my cousin if Amang really
was the best story teller in town as my dad had described
a hundred times before.
What he said next almost brought tears to my eyes:
"Yeah, Amang was the best. Actually he and your dad were so much alike."

My cousin continued on:
"I remember when your dad would come home from Manila,
word would spread fast in the town and all the kids would
come to our house and wait for him to tell his stories. And your dad,
he loved talking about all the movies he watched in Manila, especially
the war movies. Those were his favorite......"

How amazing it was to find out that all this time
I really did get a chance to grow up knowing my
grandfather, Amang.

And how amazing it was to look around me and see
the very essence of who my grandparents were
and what they were about.