My Life Otherwise

3 min read

There was a time in my youth when my hopes for the future were uncomplicated. My world chiefly revolved around my hometown and the towns and cities in its vicinity. I never imagined leaving Marbel for good, much less leave the country altogether. Marbel did not become a city until the turn of the millenium so I figured I would at least go to the next big city for college. I had a perfectly crafted vision in my head of how I would go to the Ateneo de Davao to study accountancy because my grandparents always said accountants make good money and I was better in math than in the sciences anyway. My friends whose dreams more or less resembled mine would also go to Davao for college. We would rent an apartment together because we thought the fun shouldn’t have to end in high school. The idea made us gleam with excitement. Our first real taste of freedom and escape from the invisible leash our parents had us on. Though to be fair, we were always accorded some liberty on account of our being responsible star-section kids. I’d like to think we gave our (grand)parents a fairly easy time. Manila was out of the question. We didn’t have family there, it was too far and my retired grandparents couldn’t really afford it with their modest farming income. Of course, it would come to me later that it really does take a village to raise a child.

When I graduate from Ateneo with a bachelor’s degree, I would go back home to work in a bank. I would become a teller like my aunt used to be because I thought it was fascinating and glamourous. Counting all that money whilst glammed up was both chic and badass. And I always thought they ended work at three o’clock. What a gig. Besides, having all that insider information on people’s bank accounts would give me an idea who the eligible bachelors in town are. I wonder now if that’s how my aunt knew to snag her husband.

Some evenings after I’m done with my work at the bank, I would drop by KCC and walk around the department store to check out the latest fashion trends. I won’t be able to afford it because I promised to give half of my salary to my grandmother. Other evenings, I’d dine out with my friends to catch up on the latest town gossip or maybe go to the cinema to watch the just released Star Cinema film. On weekends, the family will come together at the farm to partake in my grandmother’s nilagang baka, or nilatan-an nga tiil sang baboy that she slow cooks on charcoal from early morning. On other weekends, I’d skip family lunches to go out of town with my friends. At 25, I’d marry my high school crush E because he would later come to realize that I am the love of his life. Maybe we’d have kids too because what else was there to do.

Such is my imagined life if I hadn’t left Marbel. But life doesn’t always turn out the way we imagine it, does it?

I didn’t live in an apartment with my friends in Davao but short of paying rent, I was almost a boarder at their Taft condos so the fun continued. I didn’t marry E and for the life of me I don’t know why I thought I would. I blame Precious Hearts! Some of my friends have left town, others remained. With all the technological revolution, we don’t even have to be in the same place or in the same timezone to catch up on the latest town gossip.

Many years from now, I imagine going back to Marbel to run a small business with my friends, perhaps a cafe or a boutique hotel. We might go out of town from time to time, perhaps for both business and pleasure. But life doesn’t always turn out the way we imagine it, does it?

Alors, on va voir.