to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy… and to laugh along the way
Just some episodes in my life that have contributed to who I am today
Before the Academy, my life was a jumble of momentary thrills, lacking any definite path, lacking a purpose in life. The Academy nurtured something deeper: a profound sense of discipline and a maturity that I hadn’t known I possessed. It was as if a door had cracked open, and light began to spill in, revealing a landscape of golden possibilities I had never dreamed of. I walked in a boy looking for an exit; I walked out a man who had found a calling.
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.
The pull toward the wild isn’t new to me. Rather, it feels more like a homecoming. I’ve always been an outdoor man. It is a desire I rediscovered during my days as a young lieutenant. Patrolling the mountains with the elite Scout Rangers wasn’t just a duty; it was where I felt most alive.
Now that I have officially breached the gates of seventy, I’ve discovered there are actually some magnificent perks to being a septuagenarian. For starters, I just received a birthday cake from my favorite city, Taguig. And some cash to boot. They give us free entrance to the moviehouse on Tuesdays too. There is also the truly noble-intentioned “Senior Discount,” which I wield like a trump card.
Manoy Cesar taught me what it means to carry myself with dignity; he challenged me to pursue excellence for its own sake. And most of all, he inspired me to believe in myself.
Life doesn’t need to be complicated to be fulfilling; it just needs a dash of adventure, a bit of competition, and a creative mind to capture it all. My playing days may be over. As my Papa used to say: I used to be an all-around athlete, but now the only athlete left in me is my athlete’s foot! But the passion for the game – and the stories behind it – will remain as strong as ever.
Color My World 