Reunions

All good things must come to an end…and so are the bad ones. Yeah, I know it’s a mortal sin for bloggers not to update their blogs… well at least I’m back and hopefully I can make up for all the lost days and catch up with everything that had happened.

The past month (since I last updated this blog) was actually a time of reunions. It has been three years since I last attended the annual convention of the College Editors Guild. Fortunately, I was invited as one of the resource speakers in this year’s Congress in Albay and got reunited with old (literally, hehe) friends during my days as a campus journalist. Mayon is still breathtaking (and so was Parh, hahaha, ang diyosa ng Mindanao).

The last time I was there was in November for a meeting. That was the time when I met Cris. He was the one who fetched us, but it was rather a brief encounter. I no longer saw him when I came back last May. Cris Hugo, the coordinator of the League of Filipino Students in the region, was shot dead last March 19. He is the 33^rd activist killed this year under the Arroyo administration.

It has also been years since I last saw my elementary classmates (I haven’t seen some of them for a decade). We recently had a reunion and the stories were simply endless. I was actually mean to some of my classmates and teachers (particularly Mrs. Corpuz, our Science teacher) then, thanks to Crisanto Cada (my mentor, hehehe). I was tactless and often got myself reprimanded by our adviser or scolded by the tita or mother of some of my classmates (mga sumbungero kasi). I think I actually developed my determined, aggressive and sometimes stubborn mind-set during these formative years. Supposedly, we have swimming get-together last weekend, but I guess everyone was busy or we all forgot.

The last one was a date with my ex, Diana. Finally, after several futile attempts, we had a decent, personal conversation last week. It has been four years since we broke up and we really did not have the chance to talk about it. We became friends again a year after the split up but we were just ‘civil’ then. We only got to see each other during our high school barkada reunions. We never had the opportunity to spend time together and settle things (without the group). I actually miss her company, our seemingly endless conversations, and of course her letters. I don’t have a partner right now, but I think the prospect of us being together again is bleak.

Sigh…how time passes by so swiftly. I’m turning 23 this year. I’ve changed and so did my friends. But they are still the same persons I knew 5 or 10 years ago…a little different, but still the same.