Dreams and Wonders

Chapter 5

[Cairo Gascon's POV]

I woke up with the sound of the alarm clock banging through my ears. I groaned in response.

"Argh, anong oras na ba?" antok kong sambit habang kinapa ang aking cellphone sa ibabaw ng mesa sa tabi ng higaan ko.

It was the first day of class and I'm already tired. I'm usually not a morning person so waking up at 7:00 in the morning literally sucks. I hesitated whether to get out of bed and go to school or just sleep the whole day, but I realized my Dad will pound me to death if I do the latter.

Grudgingly, I forced myself to get out of the bed and went straight to the bathroom. Nothing beats a morning with a hot shower. Habang naliligo, napag-isip-isip ako sa paaralang papasukan ko. It's my first time transferring to a school in a province dahil sa syudad ako lumaki at nag-aral simula pa noong bata ako. It's actually sad, though.

My classmates and I planned on entering the same school altogether in senior high school but my parents had problems with the business so we had to move back here, to their hometown dahil dito sila lumaki.

Basically, I grew up with a golden spoon in my mouth. My parents would provide all of our wants and needs dahil sa laki ng business namin. We currently have a rice and corn mill located here in the province.

Ipinamana ito ng lolo ko sa Dad ko kaya naman dito nagsimulang lumago ang aming pamumuhay. We also have hectares of rice and corn plantations as well na ngayon ay may binabayaran si Papa para bantayan ang mga taniman doon.

My Dad grew up with a golden spoon in his mouth. His side of the family is very well-known in this province to the point that whenever some people ask who my parents are and I tell them my Dad's name, they immediately say that they know him. Our business was passed down from generation to generation ever since my grandfather was still alive. Still running for more than 25 years is such a blessing. My Dad took a business degree since he's the only business-minded one among his siblings. As soon as he graduated, he asked for his parents' blessing that he would take charge of the rice and corn mill since his siblings want a different career to take. Fortunately, my grandparents agreed and made him promise to hopefully pass the business on to the next generation if possible.

My mom, on the other hand, grew up as the breadwinner of the family since then. Compared to Dad, my Mom was his exact opposite. Kaya niyang kumain lamang ng isang beses sa isang araw para may maitira sa mga kapatid niya. The only source of income of her family ay ang pangingisda ng kanyang ama. She always tells me that being poor taught her a lot. It taught her to become independent, to become content with the things she currently had back then, and that she was able to see what reality in life really is. My mother often tells me how she becomes envious during her childhood days when she sees other pupils spend their money during recess since she did not have any of those back then. Instead, my Mom offers to answer her classmates' assignments in exchange for a penny or two. Whenever she tells us her side of the story, I can see in her eyes that she is happy with what she achieved today. She had so much to teach us, her kids.

When I try to think about the social status of both my parents back then, it's hard to believe how they both met and ended up marrying each other. It's like both of them lived in different worlds but for some reason, these worlds collided and here we are. Was it destiny? Was it unexpected? No one really knows. But what I know for sure is that they deserve each other. My Dad did not look at my Mom's unmatched slippers or her rugged pants when he first saw her. He was not bothered about Mom's small house when he introduced himself to her parents for the first time, nor bothering to look at her calloused palms when he first asked her hand for a date. My Dad humbly appreciated the simple life my Mom had back then. Maybe because it was all new to him. Before he met Mom, he never experienced eating with his own bare hands, he never experienced walking on long roads for hours, he never experienced removing gills from a fish, he never experienced climbing up a coconut tree for coconuts, he never experienced eating 'kinilaw', and even mga kakanin. All of which he only experienced as he was courting my Mom. My Mom's parents would usually ask him to get coconuts from a not-so-tall coconut tree, hunt for fish and clean it afterward, and share a homemade dinner with him, at mag-igib ng tubig galing sa poso. Sa tuwing kasama siyang kumain ng pamilya ng Mom ko or even during in dates, my Dad never talked about his family's wealth, but rather my Mom was mostly doing the talking.

Meanwhile, Mom was stern about not involving herself in romantic relationships unless she hasn't graduated from school yet and that became true. My Dad would wait outside her house on weekdays to offer her a ride to school and my Mom would only pass by his motorbike without saying a word. Boys from my Dad's circle of friends would say that Mom was playing hard to get but in reality, she had no intentions of even looking at Dad's eyes or even batting an eyelash at him unless she finishes school. I can't blame my Mom for behaving that way, though. As the breadwinner of the family, she didn't want to entertain any shape or form of distractions kung gusto niyang maiahon ang pamilya niya sa hirap. She could've been to many relationships and she could've been to many night-outs with some friends if she wanted to but she didn't. It was until she graduated that her parents approved my father for courting her. Bilib rin ako sa Dad ko for patiently waiting for her for a year at saka nanligaw sa kanya. I do not know what he saw in Mom back then that made him wait for her for a long time to let him court her in front of my Mom's parents, but I can really see how they both love each other. My Mom never had an interest in Dad's money to the point that she never asked him for money even after marriage. Currently, as a self-employed entrepreneur, my Mom works from home and has a food business that she's taking care of. Her food business basically offers local cuisines and some even are from her recipes that she learned from her parents. May dalawang branch ito ngayon sa city and hopefully, dadami pa ito.

Thinking about both of their stories made me realize that not everything is about money. Not everything is all about social status, but it is about appreciating even the smallest things that happened in our lives.

Here I am, living the best of my life under their arms. After my parents got married and soon gave birth to me, they decided to move to the city miles away from the village. Mahirap ang desisyon na iyon para sa Mom ko since she doesn't want to live far away from her parents but they still understood that Mom and Dad want what they believe was best for me. Then I grew up all my life in the city, up until our plantation's caretaker told Dad that our plants were starting to wither. Some people were sabotaging our plantations and Dad wants to take charge of them in the village. Mom even took a temporary leave and asked her secretary to take charge of the business only until our other business in the province will be resolved since she will be managing our rice and corn mill so they had no choice but to move back to our old house for the time being. This is actually my first time visiting the place they both grew up and I already like the fresh cold air and the sound of birds chirping every afternoon.

My parents, specifically my Mom, always remind me of how thankful we should be for the things that we have right now and that's because she doesn't want us to experience the life she had back then. Ayaw niyang magkandarapa kami sa paghahanap ng pera para may makain, ayaw niyang pupunta kami sa paaralan na hindi magkapares ang sapatos at ayaw niyang hindi kami nakakakain ng tatlong beses sa isang araw.

The most important thing that my Mom always wants me to remember is to keep my feet on the ground. To remain humble and not brag about the things that I have because not everyone is as privileged as I am. Marami pa rin ang hindi nakakakain ng sakto sa isang araw, marami ang natutulog lamang sa gilid ng daan, at marami ang nanlilimos para may pambili ng pagkain. And that I should be mindful of spending the money that I have. Nagpapasalamat ako na sila ang naging magulang ko. 'Yong tipong nandiyan lagi sila kapag may kailangan ako, sa lungkot at saya. I really couldn't ask for more. For me, they're more than enough.

Pagkatapos maligo at magbihis ay bumaba na ako para kumain ng almusal. Saktong-sakto pagbaba ko sa hagdanan ay siyang paglabas ni Mom sa kusina habang bitbit ang dalawang plato ng eggs at bacon.

"Agang-aga, ah? Maaga ba pasok mo?" sambit niya habang naglalakad.

"Oo, Mom. 7:30 'yong first class namin. Gusto ko pa naman matulog ulit," tugon ko habang inaayos and kwelyo ng aking uniporme.

"Cairo, tandaan mo na nasa senior high school ka na ha? Sanayin mo ang sarili mo na gumising ng ganyan ka aga," papaalala niya. "Sige, kain na. Para maihatid ka agad ng Dad mo sa school."

"Gising na si Dad?" nagtataka kong tanong.

"Syempre naman. First day of class mo kaya excited 'yon na ihatid ka sa school mo. Mas nauna nga siyang nagising sa akin," sabi niya habang ngunimiti.

"Gano'n ba, Mom? Sige, I'll finish this up real quick. Baka naghihintay na si Dad sa 'kin," I replied back.