Reunited!

If there’s anything good that came out of my horrible vacation that just passed, it’s the fact that I got to be reunited with a few important people in my life: my college friends, members of my immediate family who came from the US, and my long-lost half-sister Jinky.

I don’t know what it is about reunions which give me the greatest joy. Aside from the obvious fact that you miss the persons concerned, there’s the excitement in starting again where you left off, the sharing of all the juiciest anecdotes you can remember, all the laughter and the food, plus physical observations you are otherwise not aware of. Common lines in these gatherings are: “whatever happened to… ??” and the dreaded “tumaba/pumayat ka ngayon ~ you gained/lost weight!!”

First, I got to see my elder sister who is based in the US with her Pinoy husband and three boys (!!) I last visited them in Missouri in 1999 when I didn’t have the twins yet and now her kids are fully grown. How time flies!! Then I finally got to meet my half-sister whom Papa was always talking about when he was still alive. After seeing her pictures in the past, I wondered about her and I am happy now that I met her, to know there is another member of the family to relate to. We have our own lives now and it is better to move on rather than be glued to the past, which is not always pleasant. Hopefully, half-sis and I will always be in touch.

Lastly, some of my college blockmates and I finally got together after 15 years. Geez, that is such a long time but having met them again, it’s nice to know that things hardly changed. Fortunately, my classmates remain simple and ‘grounded’ despite the fact that we’ve made a mark in our different careers. Benjo owns an events company, James is an advertising tophat, Ray is the right-hand man of Congressman X, Windsor writes for a Korean newspaper while some others are scattered all over Asia writing for various publications (hello! magparamdam naman kayo) Some remain single and it is only best friend Cecil and I who appeared to be rabidly maternal. And if anybody asked me what has been my greatest accomplishment all these years, probably my answer would be that am a blogger am a single mom to three kids which is like, the hardest profession in the world!

Class reunion

I wish I can remember something exciting about my college life but there’s hardly none. There was no boyfriend, drugs or alcohol; malls and the Internet were not yet in vogue then and so I went home straight after laboriously researching in the library. Worse, Mom just gave me enough for my transportation fare and meals in the canteen. Working early appeared to be the most sensible thing to do and the end result was that I was independent at an early age. I am most proud of the fact that I lived away from home and supported myself through college ~ there’s been no looking back since.

Reunion2

Anyhoo, our college reunion went well and we had a blast trying the song selections at Redbox. If not for its prime location in the heart of Greenbelt and the fact that Filipinos are suckers for karaoke, Redbox should be congratulated for having the blandest-tasting buffet this side of town. What more, they didn’t seem to be prepared for the long lines during the holidays and took a long time to refill the food. Please do better next time fellas, or better yet change the chef. Natch!