Dear Irene,
Here are my insights upon viewing the film, Paulie.
The film has many flashbacks. And I am fond of reminiscing the past.
Oops, another point of similarity between us. We are both capable of recalling such minutest details of our lives with keen nostalgia. In fact, every time, before closing my eyes at night to sleep, (this may or may not be triggered by what I was doing all day) a rundown of all the past events would occur in my mind, from the very recent down to the remotest.
And since human mind can think on several thoughts almost simultaneously, my flashback takes me many, many years back through momentous events, scenarios, & unforgettable faces.
This is one of the many areas or facts of life, which I would like you and me, to tackle on a forum of some sort. And this forum will end up in a piece of writing that will be contributing something in the aspect of (a) memory enhancement (b) study aids to help students (c) exploring reading & writing that will help would-be writers like our kids to fan into flame the budding talent they have right now -- all geared towards helping our kids.
It doesn't have to be very authoritative which I guess you'd be worried about; just a simple discussion, as if 2 former classmates were lively chatting about vital topics, and our other classmates could join in, like how we used to do way back in Carlos P Garcia's four walls, but now we do it via cyberspace.
This is the very topic I was trying to bring up to you, ever since I started asking you about "What We Might Offer As Life's Legacies To The Youth." And the reason why I consider it a privilege to work with you on this is that we have amazing similarities, not only in likes & dislikes but in some instances of our lives.
Yes, we're similar in hobbies (reading-writing); computer software we enjoy using (remember I asked you about this?); number of kids (both of us have 3); both of us hailed from Cavite (land of hero - Emilio Aguinaldo) and Pandacan (land of poet - Francisco Balagtas); we're both fascinated with the creative arts, culture, customs, & morality; both graduated in PSBA; both took up Accounting; both work in insurance companies (me, many years ago in Philamlife); both applied for immigrant visa in Canada (me, last year); both do have relatives & friends in Canada; both have articles published & read publicly (yours in your website, mine, in our school organ & recently in our home subdivision's newsletter); both of us were endowed by GOD to have been multi-awarded in Garcia High & represented our school in various competitions; both have fond memories about some special personalities (like Dionisio "June" Chavez, Jun Arriola, Emmanuel Bonife, Rodolfo Paral, Josephine "Ote" Briones-Cruz, Ms. Letty Borromeo, Ms. Heidie Farrol, Mrs. Muego, Mrs. Rose Mori, Miss Lucy de Jesus of Pilipino, Mrs. Tampoc, Mrs.Fantone of English, etc.); both still do have contacts with former classmates & teachers; both are contemplating of somehow retiring in the Phils. after many years of stay in foreign land upon old age; both have fear of GOD; and finally, both are passionate upon leaving a noble legacy for our younger generations, right? However, this is just a suggestion, you can take it or leave it. It's up to you & our classmates. Or perhaps we just do it separately, then jibe the output in unified form.
By the way, the parallelism I saw in the film was this. I don't understand why I can subliminally identify with the parrot, Paulie, and in the scenic mountain ranges that was shown in the film. Later on, I found out the reason. You know what, when I was a kid, 7 or 8. I was often seen at window ledges (just like what Marie & Paulie did in the film, out into the open sky trying to teach each other how to fly). I enjoyed sitting at safe portions of garage rooftops, gazing upon the sky & the expanse of the vicinity in Beata Pandacan.
Guess what time of day I usually did this? From 1 to 3 pm when all the other kids of my age used to nap. I enjoyed looking on panorama of nature - the small river (tributary to Pasig River), right at the back of our house in Pandacan.
You know what, this river, crystal clear at that time, was reputed to be the very sight where the famous Francisco Balagtas, afloat a make-shift boat, together with her sweetheart "Celia" roamed the vicinity of Pandacan, which was then strewn with the plant, "pandan", thus, the people called it Pandacan.
I enjoyed viewing the trees, clouds, the wind blowing on my face. In fact, one of my favorite pastimes was flying kites, yes, near this river.
I would later on learn in school that this was called communing with nature which some of our well-known writers & heroes did likewise, such as Dr. Jose Rizal in his childhood at Calamba. But I wasn't yet aware of all these at that time. And certainly, I'm not insinuating that I have heroes' blood.
You know what, throughout elementary, high school, & college, I used to do this gazing on nature thing. I would find a suitable portion of the school building, usually on the 2nd or 3rd floors. In elementary my close friend who joined me in this so called, "bliss of solitude" was Jonathan G. Pumar, Grade 2-3, now he lives in Taiwan with his wife; Luisito Mendoza, Grade 4-5, now a US Navy, living in Japan with his wife; & Joselito Agamata, Grade 6, still in Pandacan with his family. Though, I'm not sure whether they were conscious of what we were doing at that time.
In high school, during 2nd year, that was 1979-80, it was Rodolfo Paral who joined me in friendly conversations while we sat on the fence of the riverbank. We talked about our crushes at that time, our favorite teachers, movies that we'd seen, such as "Prince & the Pauper" with Mark Lester & Sofia Loren; and "Annie Batungbakal" starring Ms. Nora Aunor & Lloyd Samartino. Many times we would walk all the way up to the Liwasang Balagtas, a plaza with elegant lights, constructed by the Municipality of Manila, in honor of the Pandacan Poet, Francisco Balagtas. Many folks promenaded here in the afternoon eating their "merienda" or strolling with their kids. Rudy & I used to sit at the concrete benches here savoring the cool afternoon breeze watching the Pandacan folks. By the way, Rudy, our batchmate, IV-2, is now married to the Vice-President of their class, Ms. Rowena Tisado, also, IV-2. From what I heard, this couple still lives in Pandacan. Regards to both of you.
During 4th year, that was 1981-82, it was our classmate, Rodrigo Costales, who joined me in some of the most memorable visits to different tourists' parks of our land, such as Luneta, Fort Santiago, & Nayong Pilipino. While on those nostalgic parks we pondered on our lives & joyfully drafted casual plans on what we would do when we grew up. By the way, Rodrigo, my seatmate in our English subject, under Mrs. Fantone, is now a professor at Lyceum College, Intramuros Manila, teaching Political Science. But he told me he'd like to transfer to his provincial hometown because students here in Manila were becoming unbearably obnoxious.
We met once, year 2001 and guess what we did? We went to Luneta. He was wearing short polo Barong Tagalog, straight from school, while I was wearing long sleeves straight from Philamlife. Like what we used to do, we promenaded along the sea-wall, at the back of Luneta Grandstand, ate balot & chicharon, & chatted boisterously. "Namasyal pa sa Luneta nang walang pera", so goes the tagalog hit song, "Memories", popularized by Rico J. Puno in the 70's. He was the contemporary of Rey Valera, who composed the famous local song, "Kahit Maputi na ang Buhok Ko" popularized by Sharon Cuneta; and Hadji Alejandro, who sang, "Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika", composed by Ryan Cayabyab.
Finally in college, 1982-1986, each of my very close friends every school-year (I usually had 1 for each year different from the preceding years) would join me in this "bliss of solitude". We normally discussed future plans, lesson from mistakes, & gave thanks to GOD for all His blessings right at the spot where we were looking over the schools' vicinity. This happened usually at the very top floor of PSBA, near the college gym in R.Papa Sampaloc Manila; and while in PSBA Q.C., during departmental exams, in any open porch there, overlooking the province of Rizal mountain ranges.
On first year, it was Erwin Abad, Filipino, now living in the U.S.; on 2nd year, Robert Morco, Chinese; on 3rd year, Wilfredo Trajano, Chinese; finally, on 4th year, Jesse Tiquia, Filipino. Yea, I never had a girlfriend in my entire college days. Of all these male friends, though, only Jesse was fully aware of the deeper & spiritual meaning of what we were doing for he was a born-again Christian living in Marulas Valenzuela Manila. And only him do I still see & communicate with until now. He is now the President of the transport corporation their family put up. He is married with 3 lovely girls who look like him. His entire families run the Baptist Church, Simbahang Kristiyano ng Marulas; Abet, his elder brother, is the resident Pastor.
Particularly about the parrot, "Paulie," his flying experience somewhat rang a bell in me because until now since boyhood, I've ceased not to be amazed at the mechanics of how planes fly. In fact, as a boy I created toys that would catapult things into the sky. There's something in flying that fascinates me much more than what could be experienced in any other means of transportation. If Dionisio "June" Chavez, our class favorite, was fascinated with Voltes V, the mechanical giant fighting robot from Japan, that he meticulously handcrafted a replica of it by using cardboard, replete with matching moving parts, as what he related to us in one of his emails (posted in Garcia Website), well, I myself is enthralled by flight itself, because of the sceneries.
Since I now live in Bacoor Cavite, very near the airport, I would slow the car down in the middle of the coastal road just to view the rear or belly of a plane hovering us at high speed, taking off the airport. Imagine that. Well, all of us do have idiosyncracies, right? I think that's it, the parrot in me.
I can also fully identify with the lead actor, being of a lowly profile in the story -- a janitor. I had literally experienced cleaning the Ladies Toilet of a Church Campsite during one of the Holy Week's Retreat we had at Jesus is Lord Fellowship in Norzagaray Bulacan, May 4-7, 1990. One of the Senior Pastors requested me & my fellow member, Ronnie Mora, to clean the ladies' toilet in preparation for the big activities ahead. This sounds to be an easy task -- a regular household chore for some of us. But you have to consider that more or less 500 attendees from literally all walks of life jam-packed into these toilets, with delegates coming from Luzon, Visayas, & parts of Mindanao. For the past 3 days & nights, you can just imagine the awful sight & smell and all the feminine litter that we removed without hand gloves & facial masks using only rural "walis tingting & pandakot".
I never knew that it was a preparation in disguise for a much important & memorable task ahead, because many years after that, when I got married in Sept. 1993, I was asked to repair the leaking flush & faucets of the toilet bowl of my father-in-law living in Batangas ancestral home. I fixed the parts & even cleaned the surfaces, but this time, I did it sentimentally, knowing that this toilet was used by the very woman I then fell in love with, Shirly, my wife. Oh, what a different sight & smell, this time, how lovely.
Finally, my eldest son & I really admired the naive face of the lead actress, that's exactly the range or level of beauty that commands respect & adulation -- without cosmetics, simple, natural beauty, and prudently dressed.
Ah, yes, perhaps, the ultimate reason I was drawn to this film was that the title sounded as my name, "Paul-ie". But you know what, when I was 11 or 12, I never liked my name. I admired my classmates' names such as Romeo, Roberto, Federico, and the likes. In fact, when I introduced myself for the very first time to a girl whom I met down the road, I said, "My name is Victor, what's yours?" Can you imagine that?
But, later on, especially, when I began reading, the Holy Bible, July 1982, I began to love my name, "Paul", for it's the name of one of the foremost Apostles of our LORD & SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST. Honor, glory, power, & dominion are His, forever & ever, Amen.
May GOD bless you more & keep your family safe all the years to come.
Sincerely yours,
Paul
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