Ateneo De Naga high school 1980

Those who do not remember history are bound to live through it again.

Friday, April 24, 2009

The King Turns 59.


All of us fondly remembers the ‘King’ of the OPSA—Mr. Rustico “King” Pasilaban. During our high school years, I am sure we have had the misfortune of being given a demerit or suspension by Sir King. As adults, we now know that sir King was just doing his job as an assistant prefect of discipline of Ateneo De Naga.

Last Easter Sunday, King was told to go with some relatives to attend a children’s birthday party at Crown Hotel. When King arrived at crown hotel, he had the surprise of his life when he discovered that the party was actually for him. The surprise party was attended by more than 140 relatives and friends of sir King. During the party, a band played. The drummer and lead guitarist of the band were children of sir King. . Sir King’s eldest son, who works as a nurse in Southern California, sponsored the party.

Sir King is entering a new phase in his life. His five children are so proud to have him as their father. All his family and friends continue to pray for King’s triumph over his battle with lung cancer. As members of AdeN batch 1980, let us all pray for sir King’s eventual recovery.

Long live the “King”.


By the way, did you guys know that King Pasilaban belongs to AdeN high school batch 1967?

Friday, April 17, 2009

Roadside Decisions

I am almost certain that all of us have witnessed a road accident or disaster during our lifetime. We might not have witnessed the unfortunate incident the moment it occurred but we came to the scene a few seconds or minutes after it happened.

I had witnessed several road accidents during the course of my life and each time it happened, I noticed that there are three types of people that are always present. The first type is the curious people who would just look on but would not get involve in the rescue and care of the victims. They are commonly called “Osyoseros” because they view accidents as exciting events and an opportunity to have a story to tell to his/her friends. The second type are those who would help but would limit their efforts basing on their comfort level and safety. After they witnessed the blood and gore on the accident scene, they are gross out and would immediately withdraw. The third type are the heroic ones who would put themselves in harms way to extract the injured person or people inside the car with care before the whole vehicle is consumed by flames.

The reason why I choose this topic today is because I would like to tell you about an incident that happened at the desert of Nevada about two years ago. Jo Azcarraga, Toton Roque and I were in a car heading to Los Angeles with Jo behind the wheel of the car. Jo had a heavy right foot and so we flew about 80 to 90 miles an hour on the freeway heading south towards Los Angeles. The U.S. Federal Aviation administration should issue Jo Azcarraga a pilots’ license because his car always lifts off the ground whenever he drives.

I was seated on the front passenger side next to pilot Captain Azcarraga while Toton made himself comfortable on the back seat and stretched his legs. Ahead of our car were two semi-trailer trucks (18-wheelers). Behind the two semis were a light colored car and a black car (possibly a BMW or Lexus) that just overtook us. I had my eyes on the overpass that we were about to go under when I heard Jo blurted “Uy!”. In a split of a second, I snapped my focus on the road in front of us and I saw a maroon colored Ford SUV explorer jumped out from the left shoulder of the road pushing dirt and dust up in the air. The two semis slightly veered to the right and both the light color and black cars swerved to avoid the Ford explorer that cut across our lanes in a 45 degree angle. The explorer then drove up to an embankment and did a two-thirds roll to its right finally resting on its left side. The engine ignited briefly but the flame immediately stopped.

I asked Jo to pull over immediately. When our car stopped, I jumped out of the car holding my camera and I ran to where the explorer was. As I was approaching the explorer, there were four guys who were frantically trying to save the people inside the car. They pulled out the driver of the car and he had wounds on his left shoulder. One of the guys who was wearing a dark blue polo-shirt with a white name patch decided to run back to his vehicle and drove away because his wife, who was inside his vehicle, shouted at him telling him not to get involve in the rescue.

My heart stopped for a second when they pulled out a 1-year old boy who was crying. A light smoke was coming out from inside the car and there was this brave guy wearing a yellow shirt who was desperately trying to save two other occupants who were still inside the car. I continued to snap pictures. I heard the yellow-shirted guy shout in a pleading way, “Help me, please!” He was asking me to help him but I was too engrossed in taking pictures. Then I saw the bloody head of a man that had a large deep scrape and short pieces of flesh still hanging from the wound. An injured hand of an old woman also appeared on the rear window. I immediately dropped my camera and went to the rear of the car. The smell of burning rubber and plastic was strong and I helped the old woman out of the car through the rear hatch window that was smashed by another guy to let the smoke out of the vehicle.

I surveyed the scene and concluded that the car was traveling north bound on a 2-way lane located some 30 meters to our left. The driver could have fallen asleep behind the wheel or just lost control of his vehicle and so it went to the open dirt area separating the north and south bound lanes and ended up cutting across the south bound traffic.

Recently, I viewed the pictures that I took of that accident and asked myself the embarrassing question of why I was more interested in taking pictures of the accident instead of helping the victims inside the smoking car? When I asked Jo Azcarraga to pull over on that dusty freeway, I am ashamed to admit that the purpose why I ran towards the Ford explorer was because I wanted to capture a horrific moment with my camera. It did not immediately occur to me that there were four injured human beings inside that vehicle and one of them is a small child. The brave man who urgently asked me to help him save the old man and woman inside the car valued the lives of those people. What did I value? I valued a foolish opportunity to capture the moment on film! What was I thinking!? If I was in a tragedy, would I appreciate people with cameras snapping away around me capturing the seemingly “Kodak moment”? My actions on that nameless spot in the middle of the Nevada desert was totally unacceptable and did not reflect how an Atenean should respond during a crisis. Kung yaon duman si Fr. Juan bonafe SJ, tibaad sinermonan na ako kaidto.

A year and a half after the incident in the Nevada desert, I was driving my children home late one afternoon. We were east bound on a major side street and I saw a Toyota van that was on the west bound traffic that just stopped on a red light. Behind the Toyota van was a guy riding a shiny Harley Davidson motorcycle and following the Harley bike was a Nissan SUV. The female driver of the Nissan was blinded by the sunrays from the setting sun and so she did not see that both vehicles ahead of her had already stopped. She hit the Harley, who fell on its side, then she ran over the bike then hit the Toyota Van. When I saw the accident, I pulled over and ran across the road to the scene of the accident. When I got there, I saw the Harley bike resting on its left side and the rider was still on it. The left front wheel of the Nissan was on top of the Harley bike pinning the right foot of the rider. The rider’s left leg was also pinned underneath the bike. I removed the visor of the rider’s helmet and saw the eyes of the rider were staring straight ahead and not blinking. This could only mean that the rider is in shock. The fuel line of the Nissan suddenly burst and half a gallon of fuel immediately poured underneath the vehicle.

A crowd started to gather around the accident. Fearing that the leaking fuel could ignite at any moment, I ran on the side of the Nissan and tried to lift the vehicle but it was too heavy. I saw a couple of people trying to pull the Harley rider off of the vehicle but I shouted at them not to pull the injured rider because his foot is still pinned underneath the wheel of the Nissan. I asked the bystanders nearby to help me lift the Nissan off of the Harley. Several guys volunteered and we all lifted the Nissan. I went back to the fallen rider and asked him if he is ok. He whispered that he can’t breathe. I took off his tie and unbutton the collar of his shirt. He then said that he cannot feel his right leg. I stopped for two seconds and looked at his right leg and knew that something is terribly wrong with it because we just lifted the front left wheel of the Nissan SUV from it.

Do you know what I found quite strange while I was down on the ground helping the fallen biker? There were a number of people who came behind me and told me to stop helping the injured biker because my involvement to the care of this biker can lead me to become legally liable to his injuries. I don’t know why I did not simply walk away. For a brief moment of about three seconds I remembered what I did in the desert of Nevada a year and a half earlier where I did not help in rescuing the injured members of that family inside their burning SUV.

I continue to wonder how I would react in the future when I witness another road disaster. Would I hesitate and look around to find out if there are others who are willing to do the deed of helping the injured? Would my mind freeze my fears to the possibility that I could get injured while helping another person? What decision would I make? I can only pray to my Creator to give me the courage to do the right thing on the very moment when another human being is faced with danger and I happen to be within helping distance.

Hoping to make the right decision.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

AdeN high school 1980 family outing April 4, 2009 by Chods L.













The attendance at the AdeN High School 1980 family outing at Pena Francia Resort reached about 20 or 21 members. I was so happy that there were newcomers who attended and one of them is Dacky boy. Dac had been missing our gatherings for decades now. Our respective families had a good bonding too.



As to the next quarter's activity, the members of LG-18 will sponsor that quarter's activities. Dac offered the penthhouse of his newly opened Sampaguita Hotel located along the Bicol river for free. Basta daa magbayad kung siisay man ma shorttime afterwards.

We plan to have a twist in the next gathering: A free seminar with professional speakers who will talk about financial planning and retirement (I will be the one who will handle this topic). Jun Imperial will talk about the art of duping a bank for a loan. Dr. Amoranto will handle the delicate topic about how to cope with erectile dysfunction. A more serious topic such as disaster preparedness will be handled by Blenn. LG-18 will also provide batch t-shirts for every participant who will attend. I was given the task of raising 5,000 pesos from our class for this activity that is scheduled to be held on the first week of June.






During the batch family outing at Pena Francia resort, everybody had lots of fun. There were lots of Food and drinks. The main dish on the table was the good-for-the-health litson. The grinning face of the litson pig gave Abonal the idea of forming a funeral assistance fund so that we can use it to cover funeral expenses of members who are unable to afford a decent burial. He suggested that 100 peso be collected every month from each batchmate (and higher from those who would want to give more or "harbor" a batchmate who shall be having a hard time to raise the 1200 annual contribution). This suggestion elicited a heated debate among the members. The issue was settled when Mr. Abonal finally pledged 20,000 pesos as a starting fund. I hope Abonal still remembers his pledge after he becomes sober. Anyway, si Larks ay segurista--Pigsurat niya tulos si tuga na veinte mil ni Abonal.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Farewell Edwin Luntok


March 31, 2009

Dear Edwin:

Peace be with you, my friend. Many years had passed since I last saw you. Our lives have taken us to far away places and placed us in situations so foreign to us that it changed our lives in more ways than one. Though our lives are a little bit more complex now, I still look back to the years when we were still young boys and were not perplexed by the intricacy of adult life.

The memory of how we first met seemed to be beyond recall because several decades had already passed. Memory sediments had built up in my mind over the years which sometimes hinder me from extracting the details of the past.

Do you remember when we were still in grade school at Naga Parochial school? My brothers and I would frequent your house because both of us reside in Liboton Street in Naga City. Remember the bicycle craze back in the mid 1970’s? There was a popular cycling store at Igualdad Street near Dr. Guballa’s medical clinic and we would drop by there often to check the latest models of bicycles. Our choice of color then was red because it signified speed and energy. Both of us pestered our parents to buy us our own bikes because we had gotten tired of renting cheap bikes from one of the bad boys in our neighborhood who constantly charged us exorbitant per hour rates. We even devised strategies on how to convince our parents to purchase bikes for us.

After two weeks of pestering our folks, they finally agreed to buy us bikes. Our new bikes gave us the opportunity to explore places within pedaling distance. During weekends, we went to places like the city hall, Jacob street extension, Nordia sports complex, Magsaysay avenue, Diversion road, , Lomeda subdivision and San Felipe. I believe we even attempted to ride our bikes all the way to Pena Francia Resort one time but I can no longer recall if we ever made it there. The only thing I could remember on that trip was the time when a couple of dogs chased us. You and your brother Rodrigo jumped off your bikes and used them to shield yourselves from the attacking dogs and waited for the owner of the dogs to call off his ugly mongrels.

Your family had a sari-sari store in front of your house and I remember going there whenever your mother would bring out freshly baked “Maligaya bread”. Did you know that your father was the very first person who extended credit to me? I receive my weekly allowance from my mother every Monday mornings and majority of the time I would spend it all by Thursday. One Saturday afternoon while I was hanging out at your store, your father brought a bag of warm maligaya bread. He asked me if I want to buy some and I told your father that I already spent the last centavo of my allowance. He then told me that I looked hungry and offered to place my name in his “Utang list” and made me promise to pay him back when I get my allowance. The first credit purchase I did in my life was two slices of warm maligaya bread and a bottle of ice cold Royal-Tru orange soda. My credit rating at your store was always good because I consistently paid my balance in full before it reached 4 pesos.

Your father worked for the Philippine Red Cross office in Naga and I remember having this fear of going with you to his office because I was afraid that they might siphon a bottle of blood from my veins. On the few occasions that I did go with you to the Red Cross in Panganiban Avenue, I adamantly refused to go inside the office and stood outside near the road. One time you pointed to one of the close doors at the Red Cross office and told me that the room is designated for vampires who frequent the office to get their weekly blood rations. Seryosohon ka pati kaidtong sinabi mo idto sakuya.

After Naga Parochial school, we found ourselves wearing the Ateneo De Naga’s blue and white uniform. During our freshmen year, my brother Alvin and I were assigned to section LG-6 while you were placed at LG-4. During recess, both of us liked placing bets on a game of marbles and you have this fancy trick of back-spinning a marble.

You were also good in the game of “Sipa”. I remember you would sometimes show off your power kicks by kicking the “Sipa tingga ball” to the roof of the printing press room located at the end of Burns hall. Whenever your tingga sipa hits the roof of the printing room, it would make a loud thud and the school personnel inside the room would ran out fuming mad searching for any culprit. You were fast in your feet in running away that is why you never got caught.

After high school, I was told that you studied college at U.N.C and later on transferred to CSI (now USI) and obtained a degree in Social work. It was during your college years in USI that you met your lovely wife, Charmaine, and both of you eventually danced to the same tune all the way to the altar.

We had very little contact during our college years. I was not able to hear a lot about how you were doing because both of us took different career paths and developed new circle of friends. Last February 13, 2008, during my brief visit to the Philippines, I decided to find out how you were doing. My brother, Alvin, told me that your brother Rodrigo has a student shuttle business in Naga and he parks his mini-bus daily in front of the Cathedral church. Just before lunch that day, I went to the cathedral church and found Rodrigo waiting for his student clients. Rodrigo told me that you reside in Manila and he gave me your cell phone number. Since I did not have any paper and pen with me during that time, I just saved your cell phone number in the memory chip of my cell phone. That morning I sent you a text message informing you of my desire to re-establish communication.

The following day I decided to hang out at the Avenue Square and drink a couple of beers. The rain that evening kind of ruined the festive atmosphere and everybody just tried their best to celebrate the day of the hearts. I think it was around 9PM when my cell phone rang and when I picked it up, I heard you say, “Ivan, si Edwin ini! Kumusta ka na padi?” I remember apologizing to you because alcohol was impeding my ability to maintain a normal conversation. The nearby music was also blaring too loud that it was drowning some of the things that you were saying to me. You told me that you reside in Singalong, Manila and you operate a laundry business called “Labandera”. Before we ended our conversation, I made a promise to visit you in Manila the following week on my way back to California. It is only now that I regret ending that conversation due to the rain, noise and my intoxication. I should have stayed with you on that phone.

There were a few times during the period from March 2008 until last month that I would wonder how you were doing. I was not sure if you have a personal email and so I was not able to communicate with you. Last March 28th at 7:33am, I received an e-mail from Teody Laquindanum saying that you passed away recently at San Juan De Dios Hospital. I was in disbelief by what the email message said. I called San Juan De Dios hospital in Pasay City and the admission clerk told me that a patient by the name of Edwin Luntok passed away last March 26th at 12:45 PM.

From my metal filing cabinet, I pulled out the old cell phone which I used when I went to the Philippines last February 2008. The adaptor was still attached and so I decided to plug it in to find out if the battery in it would still take a charge. After a few minutes of being plugged, it came alive and from its speed dial memory I was able to retrieve your old cell phone number. I immediately called the cell phone and, to my surprise, your wife Charmaine answered.

I felt then that no amount of words of mine can relieve even an ounce of pain from your grieving spouse. I tried my best to console Charmaine and I told her about our carefree times during our elementary and high school years. Charmaine had so much wonderful memories about you that dates back to the time when both of you were still college students at USI. She told me that the day you graduated from Universidad De Santa Isabel, all the nuns there rejoiced and were quite relieved.

Charmaine remembers you very well as a very loving husband and a dedicated father to your three children. You showed fortitude in the midst of unfavorable conditions in life. You were hopeful on anything and everything for your family’s sake. You encouraged your better half to reach high career goals and believed in her abilities as an educator.

During your last days, you were supposed to attend a school ceremony where your son was scheduled to receive a first honor award for academic excellence. You were not feeling very well during that time. While Charmaine was busy attending to your son’s upcoming ceremony, the mighty hand of God came silently into your house and took your soul to heaven. You suffered very little and left this world quietly.

An empty chair now stands beside your family’s dining table. A new empty spot just appeared in our mighty batch. I am reminded of a poem for the departed. May it remind us that life is but a passing moment. A moment when our lives should be lived following the motto “Primum Regnum Dei”.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there, I did not die.

Edwin, you will never be alone again.

From your brothers in Ateneo high school batch 1980

Farewell Braggy


February 9, 2009

I can never get used to receiving news that a childhood friend/acquaintance has passed on to the next life. Every time this happens, a sense of gloom engulfs me and makes me reassess myself to find out if I am really ready for the dawn of my impending death.

Please forgive me if I may sound like a person who is confronted with the reality that life can end at any moment. All of us have a death date that only God knows. It will come like a theft in the night and sweep the life out of us. We should ask ourselves if we are really ready to meet our Creator.

Many of us have known our batch mate, Porfirio “Braggy” Bragais, ever since our kindergarten days back in 1969. Braggy was my classmate when I was a first grader in Naga Parochial School in 1970 under Mrs. C. Estrada’s class. Mrs. Estrada’s mean character earned her the reputation as “Lapnit lady” for she likes to whack her students whenever she is in a bad mood. Braggy’s table was next to mine during that time and he was very protective of his table because it was next to the window. During hot afternoons, he enjoyed a cool breeze of fresh air while the rest of us sweat like pigs in a pen.

During the late years of elementary, I remember a time when Parochial school would organize a boy scout camping at the school grounds. The tents would be set up on the school ground but nobody used them because whenever it rains, water drips through the tent’s canvas. During that time, there were a lot of students who were stealing boy scouts paraphernalia. Whenever a boy scout would loose one of his paraphernalia, he would try to take revenge by stealing the same item from other boy scouts. The most common item that was being stolen then was the boy scout cap. I noticed that everybody seemed to be guarding their boy scout caps except for Braggy. I would see Braggy leave his cap hanging at the window and would return an hour later to find his cap untouched. Nobody bothered to steal Braggy’s cap because the circumference of his cap was about 2-3 inches larger than any other boy scout’s head in Parochial.

My classmates would sometimes tease Braggy, in a friendly way, because of the size of his head. The Bragais family had been known to own the Bragais studio which was one of the known photo studios in Naga city during the 1960’s thru 1980’s. One day I overheard one of my classmates teased Braggy telling him, “Padi, pag nagpa-picture ka sa studio nindo, dapat garo dakulang lens ang gamiton ninda para magkasya ang payo mo sa litrato”. Braggy countered the teasing comment by telling my classmate in a threatening manner, “Ano kaya kung ipasak ko ang payo mo sa lente kang camera mi!” With Braggy’s large stature, my classmate did not dare fire back another smart aleck remark.

During high school, I remember Braggy joined the OCS (Officer’s Candidate School) of the CAT. He became a staff officer (S3) under corps commander Nestor Monte Jr. Almost everybody in our batch had a prankster mentality and we would spend our free time poking fun on each other’s mistakes and personal behavior. Braggy did not escape this batch’s cruel roguish. Whenever Braggy gives a command, like “TIKAS NAAAA!!!!”, he would have his own version of the command and would instead shout, “TIKAS DOOOOO!!!!”. The whole batch would have a hard time holding down our laughter after hearing the command. After awhile, nakarisa na si Braggy sa purugol na ngarakngakan before and after his command and so he changed his command to, “TIKAS UUUUPPPP!!!!” With Braggy’s new version of the command, everybody’s eyebrows hit the ceiling and my batch mates started asking, “Tano up? Duda garo ako sa command na yan ta may pinatitindog si Braggy. Ano naman kaya ang nasa isip kani ni Braggy ta up ang gusto niya? Pagmati ko censored ang command na yan!”

After graduating high school, I was surprised to see Braggy along with Nestor Monte going through a ridged officer’s training course for the CMT (Citizen’s Military Training) during the summer of 1980. I noticed that both of them each carried a heavy military backpack everywhere they went during the training. Braggy showed his toughness by enduring the grueling military training plus the initiations that tested his endurance. When I enrolled on the CMT course on June 1980, Braggy was in the enlistment room along with some other new officers. He showed me the proper way to salute and also instructed me what I need to say to the officer at the enlistment desk so that I could be given permission to enter the room. Braggy told me, “Ivan, dapat straight yang kamulmog mo (kamot) bago ka mag saludo, ha! Para makasigurado kang istrit ang kamot mo, ilapat mo na muna ang kamot mo sa lanob kang pintuan!. I dutifully obeyed his instructions and my enrollment was completed in no time.

During my CMT training on my freshman year in college, Nestor Monte and Braggy took turns handling our platoon. Braggy’s favorite modes of punishment whenever we mess up during formation were push-ups and squats with our World War II era M-1 Springfield rifles resting on our extended arms. By the end of the school year, nagdarakula na si mga braso mi sa kadakulan ning mga pushups at squats na pinagibo samuya ni Braggy.

I remember one time while our troops were at the assembly hall, Braggy caught me messing around with my rifle and I accidentally pointed it to him. He was furious but gave me a wicked smile and said, “Ivan, papipiliun ta ka sa duwang punishment: Kaunon mo ining siling ini (showing me a small siling labuyo) or mag full-cut pushup ka ning 100 na beses na mayong daya o pahingalo”. I immediately selected the second option of doing 100 pushups. When I commenced doing my pushups, Nestor Monte looked on and counted the number of pushups I was doing. I was only able to reach 42 before my arms gave up on me. Unsuccessful in doing my 100 pushups, I was forced to eat the Labuyo pepper. Fortunately, there was a faucet nearby and so I dashed to it to cool my burning tongue.

I cannot remember if it was during my freshman or sophomore years when I walked passed Naga Cathedral and saw Braggy all dressed up in his military uniform. Braggy’s father and other wedding sponsors were also dressed up with the same military attire. Braggy happily told me that he is marrying his sweetheart. I shook his hand and wished him luck.

Braggy became my classmate in a science class in college. Our classroom then was located at the middle of the second floor of the wooden right-wing building of Ateneo. The window of that classroom was large and since it was designed during the 1940’s, it did not have any screens. Our teacher then was this nice ancient looking old lady and one evening while she was doing her lecture, a bat flew into the room and started flying around the classroom. Our teacher got frightened and she ordered the men in the room to get rid of the bat. We tried to shoo the bat towards the window but the thing was just.…. well….. “blind as a bat” that it can’t seemed to see the open window. Our teacher then became impatient and asked the guys to do something drastic to get rid of the nocturnal pest because it was disrupting her lecture. It was then that Braggy took matters into his own hands. He rolled his notebook and stood on top of his chair. When the bat flew towards him, Braggy did a home-run swing and hit the bat knocking it off in mid-air.

After college, I did not see much of Braggy. During my occasional visit to the Philippines, I heard that Braggy joined the Philippine law enforcement agency and was assigned at the town of San Fernando. When I went to the Philippines back in February 2007, I bumped into Braggy while I was crossing a busy street. Braggy was riding his motorcycle and when he saw me, he stopped and asked me, “Ivan, yaon ka palan digdi. Ano man lang ang pasalubong mo sakuya?”. I told him that I have a scheduled meeting with our batch mates that evening at a drinking place along Magsaysay avenue called “San Diego”. I told Braggie that I will buy him a beer or two if he shows up. He briefly looked down on the ground as if he was trying to figure out his response to my offer. When I asked him again if he will show up, he said, “Sige padi, maduman ako”. When Braggy said that, he did not sound as if he meant what he just said. During the meeting at San Diego, I asked my batch mates if they have seen Braggy. Several of them told me, “Ay dai idto mabutwa si Braggy sa irinuman tang ini ta bawal na sa iya ang alcohol. May hilang siya sa puso”.

During my visit to the Philippines last February 2008, I spotted Braggy crossing Elias Angeles Street. I was on the other side of the street walking towards Colegio. I decided to walk behind several parked vans to hide from Braggy because I did not have any pasalubongs for him. I now regret not approaching Braggy to share a few stories and jokes because that brief moment turned out to be the very last time I saw Braggy alive.

With the departure of Braggy, I decided to embark on a task of accomplishing the order that Braggy gave to me 28 years ago—to do 100 military pushups. So far, I could do 65 but I am not going to stop until I reach 100 on one set. This one’s for you, Braggy!

Missing another departed batch mate.

Ivan