Thank goodness Lola Teresa was a cougar even before it became a trend
THIS STORY BEGINS WITH AN ILLUSTRIOUS Teresa. A long time ago in a country not so far far away, my ancestor, Teresa de la Paz y de los Santos, was born in Mariquina in 1841. She married Severo Tuason in her early 20s, and I love the description of him as ?an affluent haciendero who was probably their landlord.?

The couple had seven children in 10 years, before Severo passed away, probably from exhaustion. Barely a year later, 32-year-old Teresa married Benito Legarda y Tuason and begot another slew of children. Benito was a distant cousin of Severo and 12 years younger than Teresa. Her mother-in-law Doña Cirila and brother-in-law Tomas Tuason stood as wedding sponsors.

Clearly, my Lola Teresa was a woman for the ages. From her 10 children sprang seven different lineages totaling over 800 descendants, and we all now call ourselves the Tuason-Legarda-Prieto-Valdes clan.

Thank goodness Lola Teresa was a cougar before it was trendy for older women to marry much younger men, or her descendants would all be Tuasons and none of the Legardas, Prietos or Valdeses would have existed.

Thank goodness, too, that one of her descendants, Jessie ?Pom-Pom? Thompson Huberty, decided to start organizing a grand family reunion on a quinquennial basis. Thus, all the primos have reconnected every five years. Last week, we celebrated the clan?s sixth grand reunion at the Colegio de San Agustin.

Golf tournament

The celebration takes us a whole week, starting with a golf tournament. This year, the sports chair was Tono Legarda, who placed third in the tournament. Primos Jojo Guingona and Mike Prieto won first and second respectively, not due to any difference in DNA but more from a better putt or two.

After the golf, what better way to keep the energy flowing than with a dinner-dance? Newlywed Cristina Tuason Gonzalez arranged the party in between planning her wedding and walking down the altar just weeks before the big reunion.

Dancing queen Chiqui Barretto Server made sure everyone had a D.I. to keep the dance floor boogie-ing and cha-cha-ing. It was so much fun as the swingers snaked a conga line around the Urdaneta Village Hall. Ever-helpful Gela Barretto Trilliana was in charge of registration and tickets, so it was truly a family affair.

The Valdes sisters of the Rita ?Chata? Legarda branch were all enjoying the evening keeping their dancing shoes on the dance floor. Of the eight sisters, Lory-Vi Valdes and Rosemarie Valdes Villareal have been active in organizing many of the past reunions. Lory-Vi is also the ?official? photo coordinator, in charge of getting the different families and generations organized for the quinquennial family photo. With almost 800 members to coordinate, it?s the toughest job of all!

Maybe the most hard-working descendant of all, Lory-Vi is also the editor of ?Primos Unidos,? the fourth volume of Teresa de la Paz?s family history. The latest book is packed with beautiful photos and stories about the many generations. It?s a great keeper and a wonderful way to get to know the relatives, new additions and in-laws between reunions.

Foodie genes

The sixth grand reunion started with Sunday Mass. By the time the Mass was over, the enormous gym was filled with close to 700 descendants. We must have foodie genes, as so many family-owned food stalls were stationed in the gym, including Shakey?s, Dunkin Donuts, Via Mare, KFC and Chef Ed, to name a few. There was also a booth for Gawad Kalinga to collect contributions for the CSA-KG housing project of CSA rector, Fr. Rodriguez.

The photo session took the whole morning and continued over lunch, with so many different groupings to take and re-take. Ever-patient photographer Jojo Guingona is an expert at waiting until everyone is seated properly before firing off the first flash. Photo coordinator Lory-Vi shouted herself hoarse: ?If you can?t see Jojo, you are not in the photo!?

Every reunion features competitive basketball, volleyball and football games. But the highlight is the tug-of-war, always billed as Tuasons vs. the world. For the first time in history, the world of the Legardas, Prietos and Valdeses outpulled the Tuasons. The Tuasons attributed their loss to the slimming down of the celebrated anchor, lovable chef Ed Quimson.

No family reunion is complete without a program. This year, the theme was Bridging Generations, with a side tribute to Michael Jackson. I was asked to head up the program, so I tried to get as many members involved in the show by making the dances easy to learn. We hired choreographers and relied on the many homegrown talents in the family.

People to thank

As in any grand event, there are really so many to thank. Sisters Cristina Smith and Tattu Moricca got the clan its own Facebook site, and the dance steps were captured on video and uploaded on YouTube. As part of the committee, Angela del Rosario, Bianca Prieto Santos and Jane Prieto kept everyone informed about rehearsals.

Overall reunion heads Pilar Prieto Lorenzo and Suzette Legarda Montinola did an exceptional job producing the sixth Teresa de la Paz reunion. Without their time and patience, this would not have been a success. All the clan members are already looking forward to 2015.

In the interim, all of Teresa de la Paz?s descendants continue to excel in various fields. Cousin Marco Tuason will be playing in the seventh Enrique Zobel Memorial Polo Cup at Manila Polo Club. The event immortalizes the passion for polo that the family shares with the Zobels?probably because it is just like golf, involving a small ball and stick, except played while riding a horse.

This year, PGA Cars and the Zobel family co-present the Zobel Cup. There will be a week-long exhibit of Porsche and Audi brands starting tomorrow at the Polo Club, so if anyone wants to test-drive a Porsche, drive on down.

Among the PGA marques on display are the Audi Q5, A5, A6 and TT Coupe, and the Porsche Panamera, Boxster, 911 and Carrera. Call May Zamora of PGA Cars at 727-0381 for info. Better still, honor your lolos and lolas by buying an Audi or a Porsche and giving them the ride of their lives.

E-mail the author at seaprincess@inquirer.com.ph.