Ever since I was young, I always wanted to be a nun because during my generation’s time, that was the fad.

Afeisty woman who did not mince her words is how most people remember the late Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, whose death anniversary was yesterday. Hers was a legendary life that had manifested as early as her childhood and teenage years.

As a little girl in Iloilo she promised herself she would read the encyclopedia from end to beginning, and that’s exactly what she did. In the University of the Philippines (UP), the fraternity men had wooed her, being one of those with the sexiest legs. Of course, she was equally respected and admired for her brains, no wonder they called her Supergirl.

I had the privilege of interviewing Sen. Miriam in her family home in La Vista where she generously gave us more than a sampling of her wit and wisdom. Her gift was in her ability to mix the intellectual with the outlandish. Surprisingly, even her jokes which she intended to be syrupy clicked, while she could turn something corny and trite fresh and cool.

Here are a few Miriam gems, mostly focused on her childhood and college years, and the things that a young woman did:

“Ever since I was young, I always wanted to be a nun because during my generation’s time, that was the fad. But I realized eventually that I couldn’t afford that particular ambition. I was the eldest of seven children. Older siblings had to help support the younger siblings. And so I said to myself I can only love a certain number of people. The rest is beyond me (laughs). I just can’t possibly love everything else because I still have to study a lot.”

“When I went to the Unites States Information Services (USIS) Library, I said to myself, this must be the sum of all knowledge at least within Iloilo City where I lived. So, what I did was to read all the books starting clockwise. I didn’t go around choosing books. I just started reading on this side until I finished the whole library. They had a sign that said Children’s Books or American Literature, but I didn’t go by those. I just did it clockwise (laughs).”

“Men are a distraction. I don’t need them in my life. Like I didn’t need a man to defend me because my father had taught me martial arts, I could handle a gun, I could drive myself. We were always taught to be independent and I did not want the idea of tailoring my personality to suit somebody else. I thought that would be an infinite amount of trouble. So I said, well, I can be as friendly as I am. I will treat everybody as a brother but I will never marry anybody.

“My tendency is always to be brotherly to somebody but I never had crushes on boys like my classmates. I really thought they were inanimate creatures, why would you spend your time there? I never had crushes on anybody or anything.

“So, for me, young men were just pieces of furniture, you know. They were sitting there in class with me, and I was never conscious that they were males. Or that there were attractions to them (laughs).”

“I noticed that everyone went out on a Friday. So I asked my roommate and best friend, Zenaida Labrador, “Where do these guys go?” And she would say, “They are going on dates.” So I said, “What do you guys do on a date? Do you engage in conversation, do you have sex?” And she said, “Well, mostly, you go for dinner. And that means that there is mutual interest.” “Really?” So, okay, the first time I was asked, I said yes immediately. From that time on, I became an addicted date practitioner. If you asked me for a date, I would say yes immediately. I was an active student leader so these were from all the different student organizations. “You want to go out to dinner?” someone would ask, and I would say yes. Let’s just say I was very easy. And when I went out on a date on a Friday, I was so exhausted after the working week, studying all the time, reciting, and so on, so I was really just half asleep while talking with my date. I also made clear I had to be home at exactly the time I wanted to be. Like I would go on a date at seven, I had to be back by nine or else I would throw a tantrum.”