TATAY CALOY AND NANAY CEL
I can never thank enough these two wonderful people who lovingly accepted me in their home whenever I visit my friend Tess in Cebu. They were simply generous, kind, and thoughtful. The first time I went there, I arrived very late at night coz I took the last flight from Manila, having a spur of the moment urge to escape the hustle and the bustle of writing my thesis. I wasn’t even seated yet when Tatay offered me an ice-cold beer and ordered pizza delivery. I had so much fun in Cebu that it became my home away from home everytime I wanted to disappear from the phase of the earth. Tatay Caloy and Nanay Cely showered me with so much affection making me feel like one of their daughters (Tess was their only daughter).
I remembered one time when we were about to watch a David Carradine movie, I saw Nanay putting assorted foodstuff inside a native basket. I commented “Nay, parang picnic ang punta natin—hindi sinehan”. She was laughing while explaining to me that Tatay will just sleep inside the theatre if he’s not munching on something so we had to bring the basket full of goodies. It’s interesting to note that Tatay still slept halfway through the movie hahahah . . .
Well, I have inherited Nanay’s family ritual up to this day but I replaced the native basket with a really large bag. Whenever my kids and I watch movies, we would bring 2 packs of ACT II popcorn, 4 packs of Lay’s sour & cream potato chips with dip, juice for them in a cooler bag and diet Coke for me in my Coleman filled with ice.
