The Seasons of My Life by Celia Arreza Espiritu

Ten years ago, when we celebrated our Ruby anniversary, many of us expressed the hope of reaching our Golden Jubilee. Ten years seemed like a long time to wait then. But now that it has come, it surprises us and we can say “parang kahapon lamang”. The years went by so quickly.

The family has grown. Out of five children, three have gotten married. Our eldest Cheli is married to Art Tabuena and have two children Alex, 10 yrs old and Anton 7 yrs old. She is 1st VP of Security Bank and he is Finance Manager of International Container Terminal Services Inc. Ricky is a Wholesale Channel Head for Funds Business of IGN and is married to Rowena de la Paz. They have two daughters, Bianchi and Sophia ages 10 and 8 yrs old. Kitty is a fulltime housewife and mother to Alba, 18 months old. She is married to Rico Ricafort, a Pastor at Every Nation Ministries. Tinni is currently the Marketing Manager of Panoly Resort Hotel Boracay. Raffy, the youngest, and the one that took after me in terms of talent and inclination lives in Vancouver, BC and is a video producer and writer.
My schoolgirl ambition of continuing on to postgraduate studies and following in the footsteps of our beloved Tita Helen has long been burned out of me. Married a few years after graduating from an AB degree majoring in Communication Arts, I worked briefly as a copywriter for J Walter Thompson. It was during this time that I I got married to Roby Espiritu and the children came soon after. I quit my advertising stint because the schedule was not suitable to my complex roles of wife and mother and accepted a position as a Kindergarten teacher at the International School Manila where I taught for 8 years. It was so complimentary to that particular season in my life that I started my own preschool in our backyard in BF Paranaque. Our children grew up in that school and learned their basic rudiments of reading and writing and getting along with other children. Adjusting to the big school and the bigger world became easy for them as a result and I was proud to be a part of that. I had found my niche at last.
The eight years I spent at the PWU, graduating as high school valedictorian, being Editor in chief of the Philwomenian , Student Cabinet President , Secretary of the National Union of Students and the College Editors Guild, Bayanihan dancer of the national troupe, and one of 8 participants from Asia of the US Dept of State Experiment in International Living all seem to be a blur now but the lessons learned, the values imparted and the experience of the world opening up to me were invaluable and will forever remain in me – making me a better person and citizen.
Since our Ruby anniversary, my husband long- retired from Asian Development Bank as a Manager , and I have enjoyed the benefits of retirement, travelling to new places and playing golf as recreation with me as a very willing partner. But one thing I haven’t retired from is the renewing of ties with old friends and classmates, being active in the church community and organizations and keeping in touch with our dear Alma Mater - keeping its ideals and spirit alive and looking forward to the next decade of its Centenary. God willing, we, classmates of High School Class 1960 shall all be around to celebrate PWU’s 100th Founding Year and our Diamond Jubilee. Till then, God bless us all.