According to Jordan Cooper: “If you’re over 65 and can still remember these 12 life events, your mind is in remarkable shape.”
We have tackled #1 and #2 life events in previous posts. We are now in #3: A MAJOR MOVE
“Moves burn into memory because they force your brain to remap daily life. If you can remember the exact street, apartment number, first neighbor you met, and how the light fell in the kitchen at 5 p.m., your spatial and autobiographical systems are high-functioning teammates.”
I have moved countless times in my life. Some were major moves and a lot of minor ones in between.
For once and for all, I want to seal the exact number of times I moved in the past. Bear with me as I run through Memory Lane to feed my burning curiosity.
Here goes:
1. When I was 6, we transferred from Dizon Apartment to our very first home along Gen, Santos Drive, Marbel, South Cotabato. Bombit Gabaldon was the first neighbor I met—also my first Crush heheheh . . . Though we studied at different schools, we became close as playmates. Our house had lots of windows. At 5 PM, our kitchen was still well-lighted by the natural beams of sunlight.
2. During the summer of 1973, I transferred to Imang Bayang’s apartment at Leveriza St, Malate Manila. It was right in front of San Andres Market. Our neighbors there were members of the generational gang wars which were prevalent during those time. I thought Imang Bayang was joking when she warned me to watch out for stray arrows while walking along Leveriza St. for I could be in the middle of a messy gang war. When I saw the people around me suddenly got down to avoid being hit by stray arrows, I did realize gang wars were real so I hurriedly laid flat on the ground to protect myself!
3. When classes started, I resided in Holy Spirit Dorm at 790 San Sebastian St.with Neneng, Nimfa, Menchu, Leah, Haida and Ningning. It was just in front of University of the East where I studied 3rd yr and 4th yr High School.
4. After high school graduation, I brought my things back to Leveriza.
5. From Leveriza, I moved to UP Kalayaan Residence Hall in Diliman, Quezon City in 1975. We were the first residents of this Co-Ed Dorm for Freshmen. The first neighbor I met was Elsa. Though we were both from Marbel, our paths did not cross before because she studied in Notre Dame while I studied in public schools prior to UE HS. But we became so close that she is now my son’s godmother.
6. After my Freshman year, I brought my things back to Leveriza.
7. From Leveriza, I moved to 37-C Tomas Morato Avenue, Quezon City in 1976 with the de Jesus siblings. They were family friends from Marbel. Ate Baby and I shared the same room and the boys (Abet, Jojo and Peter) stayed in the other room. Sometimes, Kuya Ato visited when he had free time. Their other siblings Vic, Ondet and Detdet from UP LB usually spent weekends with us.
8. In 1977, Tatay and Nanay finally left Marbel to join their only daughter. From Tomas Morato, I excitedly moved to our new home in Philamlife Village. The first neighbors I met were mother and son Vicky and Ariel. Vicky was a Voice Teacher so every morning, her playing scales on the piano and vocalization with her son prompted my day instead of the rooster’s cock-a-doodle-doo at dawn.
9. Before settling in our new home, Nanay and I returned to Marbel to tie loose ends. Philamlife bought our property there so we had to clear the whole house. We had a Garage Sale of the things we wanted to dispose. Some were just given away. Those furnitures and other items we loved so much travelled with us on the same ship that we rode from GenSan to Manila. From Manila, we hired a Lipat Bahay Truck to bring them to Philamlife Village.
10. I was away from my parents for 4 years so even though it was time consuming, I commuted from Las Piñas City to UP Diliman Quezon City and back to be with them. During my final year however, my undergraduate thesis needed undivided attention so I decided to stay in Molave Hall, a dormitory inside UP Campus.
11. From Molave Hall, I immediately went back to Philamlife Village after my gruelling Thesis Defense.
12. After graduation, I took a looong vacation then joined the Soft Drinks Division of SMC in 1980 where I initially clocked from 7 AM to 7 PM. It was exhausting to commute after working for 12 hours so I moved to a Room for Rent near my office in Makati.
13. From Makati, I moved back to Philamlife Village when my new charismatic Boss designated an official driver for me. He actually talked to my father and asked his permission if I could regularly work overtime. He assured Tatay that a driver will always bring me home every night.
14. In 1983, I moved in with my 4 classmates in CRC (Center for Research and Communication) to an apartment in Bo.Kapitolyo, Pasig City. We were the first batch of female qualifiers for the Work and Study Scholarship Program in MS Industrial Economics.
15. When Vins, Tess and Grace returned to their homes, Gay and I rented a room near Pasig City Hall but only for a while. The owner’s ferocious dog bit me so we scouted around for a new place to stay.
16. After a few months, Gay and I transferred to a studio-type room in San Antonio Subd, very near CRC. Then she got married and left for the States so I was left alone.
17. In 1986, some friends and I put up a corporation and opened a restaurant in Ermita, Manila. That’s when I moved to an apartment at Vito Cruz St.
18. I moved back to Philamlife Village when we closed the restaurant. My childhood dream was to make clothes so I went to a Fashion School and started a garments shop in our garage.
19. From our garage in Philamlife Village, I transferred my sewing equipments to a commercial space fronting PLDT in Talon. That was 1989.
20. In 1990, we moved to a place with 2 bedrooms to house the stay-in sewers and staff. It was in front of Southland Homes.
21. In 1991, we moved to a house inside BF Resort Village.
22. In 1992, we moved to a house near Christ the King Church.
23. In 1993, we moved to San Isidro Subd. where I rented 2 apartments. One was for the Shop and the other one for the living quarters of sewers and staff.
24. When I got married in January 1997, my then husband took over the management of my garments business in August and we moved to a 3-storey building near CAA shortly after I gave birth to Gio.
25. In 1998, we transferred to a big residential house in Airmen’s Village and converted it into a factory with housing of stay-in sewers and staff.
26. In 1999, while pregnant with Eia, we transferred to an even bigger building along CAA Road. Back then, we had 45 workers.
27. Gio was in Nursery when we transferred residence to an apartment in Sta. Cecilia Village.
28. From Sta. Cecilia Village, we moved back to Philamlife Village but we transferred our things from the apartment to the Auto Repair Shop that we recently opened. Being a mechanic, it was my Ex-husband’s dream and my mother was generous enough to support him financially.
When my EX and I parted ways in 2002, I did not bring anything with me from the Garments Factory and neither from the Auto Repair shop.. I left everything behind without looking back. I regarded the material things I lost as the price I had to pay to regain my freedom.
So all in all, I moved 28 times since I was 6 years old. My parents told me that we changed residence twice before settling in Dizon Apartment. That means I moved 30 times from the time I was born to the time my heart died for my husband.
Thanks to Jordan Cooper’s article, my curiosity was ignited and my memory stretched. I now know the exact number of times I moved.
Do you?
To be continued . . .
