The Writers' Circle

His name is Ron. At five foot eleven, he towers over most Filipino-Canadians. He has thirty three-inch waist and cholesterol of 3.0. His 170-pound physique has made the local girls swoon when he did chores in the front yard or ran his regular five kilometers around the oval track without a shirt. At twenty-two, his tan skin gives him more the appearance of a dude surfer than a lawyer, yet he commands respect before he opens his mouth. An associate once joked that when Ron came to his house, even the fish stopped swimming. He excels in sports, especially in the martial arts. He had received his first dan black belt from the International Tae Kwon Do Federation three years earlier and since then, Ron has been teaching local kids free on a part-time basis. Although his troublesome nature during his grade school days has made a 180-degree turnaround in high school, he has been known to disobey orders on occasion, which would not sit well with his associates as a covert agent of Interpol, assigned to battle worldwide crime of drug infestations.
Ron's dream of becoming a secret agent had begun in grade school when he saw an early James Bond film. Since then, he has been practicing his Bond imitation in front of the bathroom mirror.

            However, some of Ron's boyhood acquaintances might not have liked him and thought he had a holier-than-thou attitude. He sometimes came across as arrogant, like many Filipino-Canadians but the majority of those who knew him thought he was fine.

            Despite his reputation for insolence, Ron understood that he grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, spoiled by his parents Bernard & Kim but such things never remained in his head for long. In most cases, even his enemies had to admit that Ron identified more with his less-well-off friends than with his spoiled rich amigos. However, those who knew him had said his arrogance and his willful disrespect for those he had disliked might one day be his downfall. Others had hinted that his bullying attitude and hot-tempered, rebel character might someday wreak havoc on undertakings he would be assigned to. Despite his shortcomings, he was fiercely loyal and conscientious to a fault.

            Ron turns to music to relax when his life was bogged down. Surprisingly, he loves the mellow sound of the Beatles and the trumpet-laden Chicago Transit Authority. At the beginning of high school, he started to learn the guitar - a classical Takamine his mom gave him for his birthday. During one summer break, he studied the chords for Andre Segovia's "Romance". A classical piece he had hoped would impress his girlfriend.

            Unlike most of his buddies, Ron rarely stayed up past eleven and rarely touched alcohol-except for a bottle of beer at a relative's birthday bash. His full mane of wavy hair was cropped just below the ears and parted in the middle. Thick ebony eyebrows and dark piercing eyes made some people uneasy when caught in their gaze. He has strong square chin with biceps and sinews that showed he pumped iron.

            Opinions aside, Ron's greatest asset is his unequalled photographic memory. He has an uncanny ability to remember even the slightest detail of most things he read or seen and he would not forget a face easily. Often, Ron would terrorize any 'black jack' dealer dumb enough to deal him cards. He knew he could make a living at any casino by counting cards.

            Ron, however, was very qualified as an Interpol covert operative despite his young age and the bureau let it pass. As a lawyer with a remarkable eidetic memory, the Interpol was hard-pressed not to hire him.
 
THAT, might be someday. 
 
Yesterday, December 4, 2009, Bernard Ronin "Baby Ron" Brillantes II was born at the Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, at 12:39 A.M. 
At 7 lbs 5 ounces, he towers most of the babies. His ten pink fingers and ten pink toes have been the kissing target of sister Tiamo, 10, and being shaken like a rattle every chance grandmother Sony gets. Grampa Alex (Grampa Pogi) beamed with pride telling everyone who cares to listen that the little one looks like him. The other Grampa disagrees in his favor, of course. However, Ron frowns when told he's good-looking like Grampa Alex or as boisterous as his other grampa. Ron's Montreal grandparents Gerard and Nana, and Uncle Frank (who loves to tell everyone he's the godfather) were just jumping with "joie de vivre". Uncle Alex Jr., the Rock Star of Faith of a Martyr band, and his kids, Wesley, Aaron & Megan were just ecstatic and couldn't wait to squeeze their new baby cousin.  Parents Geraldine 'Kim' Van der Ferron and Bernard Sr. were simply all smiles and tired for lack of sleep. Mother and son are doing well.