Junior Moment

I just had a junior moment.

Huh? How can that be possible when you're a senior, Mom! My sons are most likely saying in their minds.

Before I speak of that embarrassing episode, let me just say that I've been having senior moments for as long as I can remember. A senior moment is defined as, “A momentary lapse in memory, particularly one experienced by a senior citizen.”

Half truth. Senior moments are not the sole domain of older people; my young sons forget their cellphones, shades, people's names, and other details as often as I do.

Anyway, my late aunt used to say that my mind as a child had always been a nomad—it traveled far and wide. She said I liked to imagine and constantly asked, “What if?” Therefore, I was not always in the here and now.

That was the reason I refused to be taught how to drive. I wanted my mind to be free—not held captive by traffic signs, directions, and other vehicles (and  these days, motorcycles) on the road.

Things haven't changed. Things of the here and now often skip my mind. 

But a junior moment? 

This one's defined as, “A momentary lapse into immaturity; nervousness or folly caused by youth or inexperience.”

I am way past the youth phase but not the inexperience stage. 

I was recently invited to a storytelling session of a government agency under the Office of the President. As soon as I got there, they gave me the name of the person who was to read my book, “No Lipstick for Mother.” 

The storyteller arrived and I wondered why everyone was shrieking and wanting to have a photo with him. When he was finally seated beside me, he said, “I hope I do justice to your book.”

“Oh, you will,” I said, still clueless on who he was.
He showed me the tattoo around his wrist. "I had it done in honor of my dad," he said.

I asked him where his dad was from.

"Pangasinan," he replied. He was a very articulate young man, polite to the core. He also mentioned he was in show business.

Showbiz! Should I know you? I looked closely at him and yes, he looked familiar. I don't watch too much TV, you see, and since I left advertising, I found it unnecessary to still be updated on entertainers.   

You could say I am still immature and inexperienced in the realm of showbiz. In my nervousness and folly, I had to ask the lady sitting next to me to write down the storyteller's name.  “Ah, so! Foolish me!"  

When I told Tony about it, he droned, “Well, I bet he didn't know you either." Touche. 

For my regular senior moments—and for my occasional junior moments—I badly need grace.

My junior moment caused me to go into a google moment: Jeffrey "Epi" Quizon is one of Dolphy's sons, and probably the one who resembles the late comedian the most. He is a celebrity in his own right—acting, directing, emceeing and actively helping the government in its efforts to achieve peace. 

Peace, Epi.