Our meeting at Lito’s ‘Halamanan’ three days before Christmas of 2002 was the first after an absence that spanned almost four decades. The greetings were restrained, almost cordial. No one knew here to start. Except for the thinning hair, Valentin still has that lean figure accentuated by a timid smile, quite disarming to give or tag offense. Seeing me with my yellow pad and ready pencil, he straightened up. We have moved to a different table aiming privacy in our talks, as if his “confession” will not find print in the souvenir program currently underway. His open candor and endearing religiosity, however, gave way to a free-wheeling revelations.
“Canadian citizen na ako. I took the oath three years after my arrival,” he mused. But the years preceeding his immigration interested me more. ” Aftergraduation natin sa high school, nag-enroll ako sa Tarlac School of Arts and Trade, Automotive Technology. After one year, nag-transfer ako sa Philippine College of Arts and Trade (PICAT) sa San Marcelino (Manila). Duon kumuha at nagtapos ako ng Auto Technology. From there, nagpunta ako sa FEATI for my Bachelor of Science in Industrial Education. Night classes lang dahil I was working sa araw as a mechanic kaya tumagal halos ng six years…” The narration was ‘taglish’, a bit commonplace, and I didn’t mind.
“Nagtrabaho ako sa Mantrade as Mechanic for five years. Sa Singalong ako nakatira nuon. I also taught Automotive Mechanics sa Samsom Tech for one year…” He was glancing at some classmates busily chatting on the other table. I know he was seeing-thru them “Nuong 1969, may nagbigay sa akin ng applicatin form for Canada, pero hindi ko inintindi. It was only in 1973 that I formallu filed it. Nabigla nga ako sa bilis ng processing, eh. Nuon ding taon na iyon, na-interview ako at lumipad ako sa Canada, June, 1974.
He remembered kindred friends, “Isang maleta at konting pera lang ang dala ko noon sa Canada. Binigyan ako ni Bong (Porciuncula) ng $ 200.00 at it helped a lot. Nakitira ako sa apartment ng isang kumpare ko with five children…” Pulling his chair a bit backwards, he continued:”For a year, I shifted jobs. Nagtrabaho ako sa Mantrade – Canada. Nagtrabaho din ako for a year sa Elgin Motors. Pero, when I received my mechanic’s licenses, applied and was taken-in sa Transit Commission. Semi-government agency iyon operating the biggest transportation system in Toronto. Nuong 1981, naemploy ako sa federal government, Department of National Defense. Ang item ko ay Vehicular heavy Duty Mechanic. Hanggang ngayon, 21 years na ako sa government service…”
A wide grin from Val visited my next question. His spirited narration, interspersed with godly praises, told me how a changed man he had become all these many years. “…na-meet ko sya sa isang meeting ng Seventh Day Adventists. New arrival sya nuon. Like me, tubo rin sya sa Camiling, Tarlac. Only 21. Ako naman ay 32 na. We both attended meetings and bible studies to learn more about the faith. Nagtapos iyon sa isang religious crusade which we both attended. At the end of the ceremonies, we were both baptized…” Val was, at this point, teasingly smiling, almost deliberately spacing his words, a bit sounding inaudible, keeping me in suspense. Yet, I heard it all to clear: “…attractive sya, light-complexioned …na-in-love ako kaya…yun na!” Why is it always too difficult for a man to admit the thing which, in truth, will make him the happiest? Is a man weak because he is vocal about his feelings? Or are love stories truly the preserved monopolies of women?
Valentin Carpio and Nieva Mariano tied the knots on June 11, 1974.
Two beautiful children came out of their happy marriage: Nathaniel, who was born on December 11, 1980, now a registered nurse, and Carmela Morena, whose birthdate falls on January 19, 1983, and currently taking up Nursing. Both are still single. Nieva works as a Senior Underwriter of Auto and Building insurance. Val had to admit, albeit wholeheartedly, that his new-found religioned opened the gate for him and his beloved Nieva. The Lord’s hand, no doubt, ushered them to the paradise they know now. I could sense inner joy and rejuvenating peace, as Val talked with a deft blend of non-judgmental honesty and gentle humor.
The interview is over, we parted wistfully wishing each other well. Val, evidently relieved of the ‘ordeal’ uttered readily in passing his fondest hope that all our classmates, in whatever situation they may be in, will always be close to the divine hand that cradles in love the imperfect world we all live in. I said ‘amen’ to that remembering how Val, even in high school, sounded no different, almost as pious and gentle-talking like his close friend, Bong, who entered the seminary.
So many of us served the mass then, our young hands clasped, as we recited or mimicked latin prayers which no one among us understood. Even now, portions of the ‘confiteor’ easily comes to mind, just as I could recite the “Pater Noster’ straight from memory, even sing it the way our beloved. Fr. Arthur Price, did. But faith is a journey in stages. The vehicle one uses is unimportant, almost as unessential as the speed that moves you forward. People change. Relationships crumble. But true faith is like a mirror that never changes. It can withstand time, weather, and progress. It’s up to us. Everyone who looks at it sees differently because, as we age, our journey sometimes takes unexpected turns – either for our ruin or our desired salvvation.
NOTE: “Faith is a Journey in Stages is part of the book “FOOTPRINTS, Class ’64” written by Atty. Amadeo R. Fulgado, published in 2005.
