Victor graduated from high school the same year i graduated from college in the summer of 1969.
He wanted to take up BS in Forestry so Manit sent him to University of the Philippines Los Banos to enroll together with his friend and classmate, Dennis Ramirez.
It suddenly dawned on us that we have stayed in Malaybalay for too long.
Ten weary years has elapsed with none of us noticing it.
All we knew was that the three of us are professionals and Civil Service eligible.
we had achieved what we had come for.
Our dreams are realized though fraught with pain, challenges and sacrifices.
Just like the swallows of Capistrano, it was time for us to go back and take Manolo Fortich by storm.
Only Lydia was still in high school so she was transferred to Manolo Fortich National High School where she continued to make waves.
The Chairman of Bukidnon's 4-H Club, Mrs. Pizarro, came to see her and ask her to represent Bukidnon in a 4-H Club conference in Los Banos, Laguna.
So, she went back to Malaybalay for a two week training before leaving for Manila.
This time, Papa was still teaching in Ticala but was nearing his retirement age.
For once in his life, he got seriously ill and was taken to the Phillips Memorial Hospital where he was diagnosed with ulcer.
For several weeks he was confined to recuperate.
Upon his release, he imediately went back to Ticala, refusing to file a sick leave amidst our persuasion to let him rest.
When Vic was in UPLB, circa 1970, student activism was at its height and Manit, fearful of his safety, begged him to come home and transfer to CMU (Central Mindanao University) in Musuan with the same course.
Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, he dropped out and never finished his course.
Then i got my first teaching assignment in Sankanan and after a month was transfered in Lingion.
With my first salary, we bought a house and lot in Lingion where we lived for many happy years together as one big happy family.
Manit was teaching in the Cetral School of Manolo and Manong Boy was assigned in Sto. Nino.
Lydia stayed with Manit at her boarding house while the rest of us were in Lingion.
When graduation day came, Papa did not allow her to attend her commencement exercises due to her very low grades which made Papa as mad as a March hare.
She too never entered college nor graduated from any course.
Sawaga was even a better place to live in that Lingion.
It was a dismal place to live where the modern life is very slow to come.
At that time, there was no potable water system and no electricity.
It was akin to living during the Dark Ages.
Even with money in your pocket you still have nothing to buy unless you walk the few kilometers to town.
Transportation was very few and far between.
Our laundry would be done after a heavy rain and if not, we have to drag them in sacks to the Liboangan river which is quite some distance from our house.
Oft times, we would hire a laundry woman even if the job turned unsatisfactory.
If there is an available ride we would all go to Mangima river just to wash clothes and bathe.
It was here in Lingion that Papa retired from years of dedicated and selfless teaching.
His retirement pay was used to buy hectares of farmland, extended the house and built a sari-sari store for Mama.
In spite of this unaccommodating situation it was in this place that we have made some of our fondest memories.
It was here that some crucial decisions for better or for worse, were made. Decisions that eventually altered the course of our lives.
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