Ten

My college kada recently celebrated our 10th year together. Even if it was supposed to be last year and we have such busy lives na it had to be moved to this year, no one complained. Excited pa nga kami! It was Paolo's idea that we dress up in our 90s clothes! Hahahahaha! So I had to rummage thru my closet & luckily found an oversized Regatta shirt, the one that even had a longer back! Medyo kupas pa nga ung collar, haha! The brand alone is a genuine 90s icon! Haha! I coupled it with loose khaki pants that I wore in my senior year & sandals (i tried to wear socks, but the sandals were thong style, haha!). I even wore my hair in GQ (the name of the hairstyle, bwahaha!) mode. Donning my backpack & my original DLSU ID, i troop (much to my shame) to Kitchen in GB3 where the rest of the gang, in 90s getup (!), was already roaring with laughter reminiscing about college days.


Jaws left her hair in curls & wore it in a low ponytail, complete with dark matte lipstick (haha!), Paolo & Cathy had their glasses on & were wearing authentic shirts from college (that now serves as their house clothes!).


There were photos (the hair! the hair!), pagers, CD players, tickets, old filos & notebooks scattered around the table. I also put together a collage of our photos from 1996-2006. I included receipts, graduation tickets, course cards, & post its.

The changes we went thru all these years, the only thing constant is the bond. Evolution. Things like from eating at SPS canteen to Trevi Cafe & Henry's to Kitchen & Max Brenner's. From Hard Rock & Mars to Temple & Mezze. From Punta Baluarte to Boracay.

From a big group of nine, we became 6. Gained 1 [Paolo]. And are now expanding due to the marriages that are happening (or have happened) in the kada. Liz is now in the US, happily married to Uhodari. Jamie is tying the knot in March, with Andro. Cathy just got engaged to Kenneth & is reserving the end of the year for the big shindig. Of course the rest of us have our own love lives to live (wink, wink!) and will look forward to the next decade of memories, photos & trips, including new additions to our kada.

They are my anchor when I get lost. My cheering squad in all my endeavors. Im lucky to have found friends in them. Funny how we are so different from each other and yet have found a uniform solace in the group. I love my core :)

Lao

two years ago, i wrote a testimonial to Lao:

"My bestest friend! We could waste the day doing anything! Play video games; watch TV, movies, dvd; go malling; comic book hunting; karaoke; etc! Play volleyball on the village streets till nightfall, then back to SEGA or PS, haha! Whine about how miserably boring our life was till we went into ITP. Then whine some more bout the mundane things bout life, haha. In fairness, we don't whine anymore, haha! We laugh our asses off on the most littlest of things (mispronounciations, teacher impersonations, high school radio report blunders, gay lingo misuse, G & Seb's endless bickering, whose line scenes, etc.). We can survive on a Jollibee diet, believe me! This guy knows me inside & out. Like how i ALWAYS forget his birthday year after year after year, and he never gets mad (kasi i make him libre to amend for my negligence, haha!). He's one of the few friends i'm confident will be there, always, come what may. This testimonial ain't even enough! I will have to make another one soon!"

I never got around to making a sequel to it. Lao and I were content without professing how happy our friendship was. He was one of those people who I can never lie to. He will always be there for me no matter what. And I for him. So it was one of the most painful things for me to do when I had to say goodbye to him last year. I believe that he has fulfilled God's plan for him. And he has to go ahead of us.
I was at a point in my life where I lost my emotions. I lost them to circumstances that tested my faith, my integrity, my belief & my values. I fell into the darkness last year. And Lao was there to help me back up. Thing was, I was never the same after. I was void of all emotion. In a twist of fate, his death brought back all my emotions by trigerring one of them -- sadness. I felt such a huge loss when I learned of his death. Even his departure had a purpose to me. And I thank him yet again for helping me.

Sorry Lao if it took me awhile to write about this. I had to mourn. I know I will never find another best friend like you Lao. Fly high & rest in peace! I'll miss you!

Profound

"every artist dips his brush into his own soul and paints his own nature in his pictures"

This year, i see myself regaining my soul from the pits of sadness, letdown & frustration. I shall find the new balance of life that this year brings, using its new energy for my rebirth. I will be happy. I will be successful. I will be content.