Growing old

At least seven of us have been in the practice of law for 40 years, our assigned numbers in the roll of attorneys never failing to evoke whistles from younger colleagues

You know you’ve grown old, a friend once told me when we were much younger, when the interesting people that you meet are the children of your friends or the friends of your children.

He was wrong, of course. Nine of us gathered for dinner last Thursday and the company was interesting despite the fact that we were all, save one, 20 percenters, in reference to the discounts that we claim mostly at drugstore and airline counters.

At least seven of us have been in the practice of law for 40 years, our assigned numbers in the roll of attorneys never failing to evoke whistles from younger colleagues every time we won a raffle prize during our Integrated Bar national conventions. We think that they do it in appreciation, even envy, of our longevity. After all, old age is a gift that not everyone receives.

I am lawyer number 25674 in the Philippines. Those of the others in the room Thursday night are not far away from mine. We used to be members (at least four of us were founders) of the Young Lawyers Association of Cebu (YLAC). Now, we are just the old lawyers of Cebu. Go, figure what our acronym should be.

The get-together was Tony Oposa’s idea. Tony is the hotshot who is renowned internationally for his advocacy for the environment. It was he who sued the government in behalf of the unborn children and won. His work has earned not only plaudits but also threats to his life. It is believed that he was also targeted by the group that killed former Cebu City Bantay Dagat head Jojo dela Victoria on April 12, 2006 but the masterminds backed off because they feared the repercussions since Tony is married to a member of the powerful Remulla clan of Cavite.

Let’s get together while we still can recognize each other, Tony said. And so came Lando Lim, Maning Legaspi, Eugene Espedido, Jun Pepito, Ronnie Catipay, Lito Alvarez and Enteng Espina. Maning is a former Cebu City councilor who is enjoying his retirement. Eugene is a law professor and former Lapu-Lapu City councilor. He is the PDP-Laban candidate for congressman of LapuLapu. Lito is currently a member of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) board. Lando, Jun, Ronnie, Enteng and I are, like Tony, plain citizens.

Happily for us, the conversation never drifted into maintenance medications. We all have had medical issues but they were discussed only briefly, like asterisks in our pleadings. We had better and more interesting things to discuss.

Such as what if we are no longer able to recognize our wives when we wake up? Before that question was asked, it was assumed that the intelligence quotient in the room was on the high side but the presumption became doubtful (disputable?) towards the end. We were stumped and could not reach a consensus. Not that it is easy to achieve a convergence of opinions among lawyers.

I wanted to ask if it ever occurred to them that, at some future time, they might need a caregiver’s assistance to relieve themselves in the urinal. Will they consent to an invasion of their privacy? I refrained because I knew it would spark another spirited discussion and the night was getting late.

It was past our bedtimes when we called it a night. But I didn’t immediately sleep when I got home. I wanted to savor the moment because I was not sure if I would still have the same feeling of immense joy when I woke up. Such a silly thought, I discovered the morning after. I was happy and still am, which is why this piece was written.