For Whom the Bell Tolls

When we were young, carefree and unattached (as Mother likes to put it, describing the time when we were all unmarried and living together under one roof), we would ring the bell which hung on my study room table.

The bell itself was essentially just a bell. OK, there was some slight sentimental value to the bell because it was the giveaway at our JS Prom when I was a junior. But that was many, many years and one boyfriend ago.

Going back to ringing the bell. The bell would be rung to gather family members around the altar located in the study room, above Mindy's table, so that we could pray the family rosary together.

As the years passed, sadly this tradition ceased to continue. Father and Mother continue to pray their rosary at night but possibly because Cebu Avenue is practically an empty nest, ringing the bell is no longer part of the routine. People are welcome to join the rosary if they are around but there is no audible call to the occasion.

At our place in Makati, we used to have a bell, too. However, the purpose of the bell was different and it almost always got its job done. The bell was used to get people, mainly the children, to come downstairs for meals or for vitamins. We figured it was better than shouting each child's name to call for eating time.

I liked that bell. I wish I had packed it in our shipping box. It definitely knew how to serve its purpose. Of course any old bell would do if you really thought about it and were not very picky. (And yes, the old fashioned way of going up the stairs and calling the person would also work.) But I suppose I like to keep little bits and pieces of our past life alive. So when I saw a small bell on sale, I picked it up and bought it.

It isn't as fancy as our old 'eating time' bell and cannot be hung like my HS memento. In fact it is just one of those bells that look like something you'd find in school or something the ice cream man (mamang sorbetero) would be using. But I'm pleased with it because it has a nice ring to it and it gets the job done.

The other day, as the rice got cooked and the food was being placed on the table, I told RD to ring the bell.

"Why, Mom," he asked, "we're all here."

"It's to let people know that they should go to the dinner table already. You know how SOME people are," I said purposely, looking at GI as I said it.

RD dutifully rang the bell and it took GI ages to leave his computer and join the rest at table.

See what I mean?