New Year, Old Friends

I was made to face a table lined with well missed native food: sisig, fried molo, adobong kangkong laced with pork lechon, silvanas, and lychee shake (was it Lychee...I think).  I also got a panoramic view of Tiyo's restaurant thanks to the brilliance of the late Steve Jobs (iPhone rocks!). The ladies are in the house and the roll call yielded absentees. It's 12:40 am from my side of the world and I'm having a lunch date with my high school friends. 

High school graduation 1994

What they looked like more than 20 years ago remains vivid in memory.  The once geniuses, artists, comics, and girl next door faces are now entrepreneurs,  overseas professionals, wives, and mothers.  I could still spot some of the childish mannerisms interrupt their now womanly dispositions which for me are no flaws at all but remnants of a past we all want to cling on for the rest of our lives. 

High school days were indeed "high" days.  It was a time of self discovery, building friendships, dreaming, failing, and anticipation of a future that seems conquerable in a minute.  The people and events that made us laugh before still makes us laugh now.  The only thing is we sound like our moms now and  have completely lost our ability to giggle. 

Two decades after, we have metamorphosed into adults each of whom defines and views life in different ways. We have been separated by the choices we made but today we visit a common ground where the exchanges of journeys made were all worth the time and attention.   I never saw an underachiever among us.  No one deserved to be quantified according to how much she earns or receives.  Everyone remembers how we all had humble beginnings but have taken the challenge to step up one day at a time.  

I learned and laughed a lot with you, ladies.  It was a privilege sharing that hearty meal with everyone.  By the way, tell JM (that awesome waiter) he made one of the shots I love most. The new year feels so "new" with old friends. I'll see you all soon and on that day make sure I get a seat!

"Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves."  Romans 12:10

Mutating after 22 years.

HAVE YOU SEEN ME?

I was ensnared by my own words.  Trying to "power talk" a close friend to pursue what she loved doing most, she agrees with me on one condition - I must do the same by pursuing my writing flair. This could mean:

    A. "Blackmail?"

    B. "Where into this together. If the boat sinks, you go with me."

  C.  "Instead of rotting over Facebook, smell like your sauteed dish,              or earn a PhD on diaper dynamics...better write!

               D. "Let's do something for the human race.

            E.  Stay alive!

She wouldn't be my friend of 24 years if there were missing choices from the above.

As far as I remember, I stopped writing during that period when I had my first child.  Being a parent is overwhelming no matter how much you prepare for it.  When I attempted to live the life ahead of me, I  lost that "expressive" part of me. I identify myself now with those missing people you see on the "HAVE YOU SEEN ME" ads on milk cartons.  Lucky for those who were found but for those who remain missing and lost, it is a struggle for the hopeful.

I miss writing. Although at this point, having 4 kids to attend to day after day, expressing myself again through written words would fall last on the list. If there was anything I've exercised for all these stay-at-home mom years, it's my mouth! The idea of  pen and paper, and even a laptop keyboard's clicking made me feel alive again.  I should do this.  Let me do it again.  Maybe I can do this. It's like relearning to ride your bike; you take balance, make the first push on the pedal, second foot follows through, and then you take on a wobbly ride.   

A mom will speak her views in the most natural way she can through these blogs.  Her everyday musings, triumphs and stories may be mundane but it is an effort to appreciate life and glorify her Creator. She is blessed for the gift given her and this time it is not to be kept but shared.   

My missing self has been found thanks to a friend who still holds clear memories of who I am and where I am good at.   Ecclesiastes 4:10 says:

"If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!" 

         A friend found me.