Tiyoy's Tales: THE DAY LOLO AWAN ALMOST DIED

  Circa summer of 1951, I was 8-yrs old and Awan was 3 yrs old. I had my barkada already, cousins and neighbors of the same age group. My barkada occasionally went to take a swim in the river, behind the munisipyo. There was this Bao-Bao area where the sand excavation was very deep and it was perfect for swimming. The Panay Railways extracted sand by way of digging river banks using a Turtle-Shaped contraption using a large pulley to deposit sand across the river. At age 3, Awan was my ward and he wanted to be with me always. Even my barkada liked him. One time we went to swim in that river. I made Awan sit by the river bank and admonished him not to move until I was done with my swimming. Little did I know, he followed me in the deeper part of the excavation. There was a big commotion and i saw an adult carrying in his arms a seemingly lifeless little boy. IT WAS AWAN! His tummy was bloated, eyes were open and large, and he was simply out of this world. I forgot the name of the man who saved him but he knew his 1st-aid procedures in reviving a drowning victim. In no time at all, Awan spewed a lot of water and he began crying. (THE LORD WAS VERY KIND TO THE FAMILY. HE ALLOWED AWAN TO LIVE ON AND SHARED A LIFE WITH US ALL). Now came the good part, The Time of Reckoning with Papa. We came home, I carried Awan on my back because i did not want him to walk. He was still weak. Passi was very small. Before we even arrived in our house, Papa already knew what happened. He had in his hands different instruments of torture for an 8 yr old kid who knew nothing better. (May banislak, paha, tsinelas etc etc). I was beaten black and blue, hahaha. Since then, Awan was not allowed to go out with me. But kids are always kids. A few years after that near fatal incident, Awan again joined my escapades. I had a friend whose younger brother was of the same age as Awan. (I remember the younger brother's name as Etik somebody). Whenever we met in the streets, we made our younger brothers fight one-on-one. No gloves, just plain fists. That was where Awan developed his bravery, guts and daring. He does not run away from insurmountable odds. When he was with Nene Alice in Zamboanga, 7 - muslim teens ganged-up on him and beat him up. He went home with a face like pulp-bits but he did not run away. When he joined the Marines in the 70s, he participated in a lot of combat-operations where he manifested his fighting prowess. He left the military service early because he loved his family more than he loved the military. That is where he is situated right now, A VERY GOOD HUSBAND AND FATHER.