to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy… and to laugh along the way
The best lesson basketball has taught me? That life is meant to be lived, not just survived. Yes, there will be missed shots, bad passes, tough losses, and days when nothing seems to bounce your way. But there will also be joy and laughter in the locker room, friends who celebrate your smallest victories, and moments so satisfying you wish the clock would stop.
Fifty years have lapsed in a heartbeat, yet I can still smell the pine-scented air of the Academy, and feel the frantic thumping in my chest as we marched down those “51 steps.” We were just boys then – naive, unsure of ourselves, and miles away from the families who waved us goodbye at Camp Aguinaldo or elsewhere. We didn’t know that we would be stripped of our civilian antics and molded into the leaders we would later be. Today, the echoes of those barking orders still reverberate as cherished stories of old men, but the fire lit that fateful April Fools’ Day will never waver.
If I close my eyes, I can still hear the echo of those days – the creak of the tartanilya’s wheels, my mother’s whispered prayers tucked into the din of the church bells, even the frenzied sounds of children playing during recess. Those early memories provide moments of innocent laughter that fill my corner of the world with so much life. These moments of loving and learning settled deep into my young child’s heart.
I open my life book with a vow, not a vow of perfection, but of presence: to show up honestly, to listen deeply, to act with small kindnesses that hopefully will ripple outward, and to leave behind a trace of light for those who follow. If my life were a compass, may its needle remain steady in the winds of change, guiding future hands toward a brighter, more compassionate path.
I was a young Army captain then, newly married, and newly assigned to Manila – at the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Camp Aguinaldo, to be exact – after 7 years of risky field service in the hinterland areas mainly in war-torn Mindanao. Those 4 days of February would become heady days for me, my family, my relatives and friends, as we all gathered at EDSA – the epicenter of it all – in that busy portion of the highway between Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo.
As we welcome the new year, I pray that we learn to bring love into each other’s hearts. Let us practice empathy before judgment; let us be present rather than perfect; let us extend grace in moments of frustration; let us express gratitude for everyday acts of goodness; and uplift others with encouragement and genuine praise. Let us learn to listen more than we debate, let us strive to learn more than we assume, and let us endeavor to love more than we fear.
Color My World 