Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Ties rekindled: January 12, 2015

Tonight, I saw friendship in a different light. And I like what I saw.

Carrie, or Caridad as I would often call her, was a UP (University of the Philippines) chum. Prim and proper -- until she reaches the (in)famous Speech Nook at the AS (Arts and Sciences) Bldg. in Diliman where Speech Association members hang out and were often shushed by professors coming down the stairs, neat, not a strand of her pageboy out of place even after that long bus ride from Pasay to Diliman. She was almost like a sister actually, from 40 years back! And I don't mind giving a broad hint of our ages. Those years glowingly withstood the test as tonight showed.

Tonight, with another Nook habitue Deo, we had fun recalling names and faces and characters and incidents over Japanese food at SumoSam. The overnight rehearsals of "The Queen and The Rebels, the out-of-town stints of Tisoy, the "love" triangles (real and imagined and staged), trips to Baguio and Navotas and Philcoa, etc. Then there was the catching up...
  
With Carrie at an UPSA party in Paranaque in 1966 
and with Deo somewhere in BelAir in 1968

























What I still can't get over is the fact that it was as if we've always been in touch. The truth of the matter is, I "bumped" into Carrie on FB sometime in September last year. It was one of my "empty" hours which I decided to  spend searching for some long-lost friends on FB. I chanced upon someone I thought could be her and sent a private message. My PM having entered into her "Others" folder, she only replied about a month later.

And that set the ball rolling. Then things just flew like clockwork. She said she was coming in January 2015 and we readily found a slot when we could get together.

And so, tonight happened. A short but sweet reunion of old friends from way back. Deo and I have been in touch and would meet for breakfast from time to time. But Carrie was "lost" for so long! Or so I thought. Because she never was as tonight proved. She was just away. That's all.

How wonderful friendship can be. It can soothe a tired soul, energize it with just a quick glance into memories of times past, and even rev it up to want to see other friends from way back.

Alas, we were too busy with the chit-chat, we did not even remember to have the usual selfies. But I for one, have the heartwarming image in my mind and heart, which are after all the best places for such.

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