26 March 2007
FOREVER FRIENDS
"friends we will be now and forever …"
these are lyrics from an old sharon cuneta song and i could very well be singing it, too for i am blessed with forever friends.
friends who have been with me since childhood -- like bong, junie, gil, joyce, edna ... they were there through the proverbial thick and thin, through stirring relationships and heartbreaks, through lack and plenty, through time and space ...
friends with whom i can be the real me warts and all ... who know me inside out and even at my worst, i am loved ...
friends with whom i can have real conversations and communicate, not just talk.
i remember us as teenagers, walking down country road towards the beach, talking about anything and everything -- from the meaning of life (according to teenagers) to the wonders of the opposite sex ...
we've had more of such talks as we grew older. and while we've become a bit smarter over the years, our conversations remain candid and straight from the heart.
some of these childhood friends are now based abroad and one became a priest but we continue to keep in touch.
in college, after college and in pursuing a career, more friends were gained ... some fair-weather friends, some drinking buddies, some real pals.
friends from f. jacinto group -- notably tisoy boys bertie, jomag, junjun, and raffy and, of course nickie, and later on bob; then came doris, dory, lani, marla, marsha, mela, milen, nelson, roanne, weng, actually the list is endless because we were a "one big family" -- are drinking buddies and real pals all rolled into one. the tisoy boys, nickie and i and a bit later, milen, had a real solid friendship and it went on even outside the four walls of the FJ group ... we went on vacations together, we celebrated important events together, we were simply so close and like family that even our kids felt they were related to each other ...
i miss them terribly after we went our separate professional ways when FJ group went pffft ...
well, everything changes, they say, but i guess when it comes to friends, some things remain the same.
the beauty of it all is i've been meeting new friends these past years. and the bonus is they are all so young. they make me experience once more the interesting process of "getting to know you" and indulging in exciting things new friends share and discover.
all this tells me that "there are no perfect strangers, just perfect friends you have not met."
these strangers i'm talking about are my call center friends and my colleagues at MOD magazine. believe me, they're crazy like me ... maybe that's why we get along despite the age difference.
my call center friends are a carefree bunch of kids. they're very responsible though. some of them are helping out
with family expenses, some ardently preparing for an unknown future.
we've bonded over midnight coffee and sunrise beer and irate customers in between. and in such a short span of time, we've developed -- as call center lingo goes -- a diehard friendship and we continue to nurture it despite separation. in fact, just last night, we got together for melan's birthday.
my MOD buddies, on the other hand, cannot be described in one word like carefree ... for they are a lot of other things --
they could be outrageous but devoted to their craft. they're funny and warm and sincere and big- hearted. we joke a lot, we laugh a lot ... and according to the Koran, blessed is he who makes his companions laugh ... that makes us truly blessed.
and, oh yes, we eat a lot!
apart from my daughters, the MOD squad makes me feel young again and lets me be me -- boisterous, vivacious, always young at heart.
wow all those adjectives! (i wonder how our editor, Ms. Chay, will edit that) ...
they tease me no end and tell me i'm their favorite among the MOD writers (and i'm sure they say this to all the other writers just so we submit our articles early or at least beat the deadline) ... they have a song for me, they matchmake me with the old writers and photographers ... they drive me crazy even if i'm already one.
i'm not really sure if they love me already but i'm certain i found a friend in all of them. as that quote from robert louis stevenson goes -- "no man is useless while he has a friend."
FOREVER FRIENDS
"friends we will be now and forever …"
these are lyrics from an old sharon cuneta song and i could very well be singing it, too for i am blessed with forever friends.
friends who have been with me since childhood -- like bong, junie, gil, joyce, edna ... they were there through the proverbial thick and thin, through stirring relationships and heartbreaks, through lack and plenty, through time and space ...
friends with whom i can be the real me warts and all ... who know me inside out and even at my worst, i am loved ...
friends with whom i can have real conversations and communicate, not just talk.
i remember us as teenagers, walking down country road towards the beach, talking about anything and everything -- from the meaning of life (according to teenagers) to the wonders of the opposite sex ...
we've had more of such talks as we grew older. and while we've become a bit smarter over the years, our conversations remain candid and straight from the heart.
some of these childhood friends are now based abroad and one became a priest but we continue to keep in touch.
in college, after college and in pursuing a career, more friends were gained ... some fair-weather friends, some drinking buddies, some real pals.
friends from f. jacinto group -- notably tisoy boys bertie, jomag, junjun, and raffy and, of course nickie, and later on bob; then came doris, dory, lani, marla, marsha, mela, milen, nelson, roanne, weng, actually the list is endless because we were a "one big family" -- are drinking buddies and real pals all rolled into one. the tisoy boys, nickie and i and a bit later, milen, had a real solid friendship and it went on even outside the four walls of the FJ group ... we went on vacations together, we celebrated important events together, we were simply so close and like family that even our kids felt they were related to each other ...
i miss them terribly after we went our separate professional ways when FJ group went pffft ...
well, everything changes, they say, but i guess when it comes to friends, some things remain the same.
the beauty of it all is i've been meeting new friends these past years. and the bonus is they are all so young. they make me experience once more the interesting process of "getting to know you" and indulging in exciting things new friends share and discover.
all this tells me that "there are no perfect strangers, just perfect friends you have not met."
these strangers i'm talking about are my call center friends and my colleagues at MOD magazine. believe me, they're crazy like me ... maybe that's why we get along despite the age difference.
my call center friends are a carefree bunch of kids. they're very responsible though. some of them are helping out
with family expenses, some ardently preparing for an unknown future.
we've bonded over midnight coffee and sunrise beer and irate customers in between. and in such a short span of time, we've developed -- as call center lingo goes -- a diehard friendship and we continue to nurture it despite separation. in fact, just last night, we got together for melan's birthday.
my MOD buddies, on the other hand, cannot be described in one word like carefree ... for they are a lot of other things --
they could be outrageous but devoted to their craft. they're funny and warm and sincere and big- hearted. we joke a lot, we laugh a lot ... and according to the Koran, blessed is he who makes his companions laugh ... that makes us truly blessed.
and, oh yes, we eat a lot!
apart from my daughters, the MOD squad makes me feel young again and lets me be me -- boisterous, vivacious, always young at heart.
wow all those adjectives! (i wonder how our editor, Ms. Chay, will edit that) ...
they tease me no end and tell me i'm their favorite among the MOD writers (and i'm sure they say this to all the other writers just so we submit our articles early or at least beat the deadline) ... they have a song for me, they matchmake me with the old writers and photographers ... they drive me crazy even if i'm already one.
i'm not really sure if they love me already but i'm certain i found a friend in all of them. as that quote from robert louis stevenson goes -- "no man is useless while he has a friend."
"my MOD buddies, on the other hand, cannot be described in one word like carefree ... for they are a lot of other things --
ReplyDeletethey could be outrageous but devoted to their craft. they're funny and warm and sincere and big- hearted. we joke a lot, we laugh a lot ... and according to the Koran, blessed is he who makes his companions laugh ... that makes us truly blessed.
and, oh yes, we eat a lot!
apart from my daughters, the MOD squad makes me feel young again and lets me be me -- boisterous, vivacious, always young at heart."
****I am sincerely touched:-) I'm sure Thie and the rest of the gang will be, too:-) Well, I'm not sure lang if pati "sya" :-) We love you Ms. Lulu!!! You're definitely one cool and hot momma to be with☺