There was a moment in my life when I was so confused why I can’t stay away from my friends. I worked very far away from here, away from them. Then, I got lonely and scared that I was loosing intimacy with them. So I gave up my job and returned.
I made a journey to reach myself inside and discovered that in high school I met a lot of friends. As a very young boy at a fledging age my concept of friendship was only limited to having mates for childish video games, for movie watching, for conversations about crushes and love interests, and for many other juvenile activities. To me that time, the meaning of trust, honesty, reliance, love, and care which are some of the essentials to the foundation of friendship were bluntly defined.
Then college days happened. It was hard for me to get over with my high school friends because I thought it was the perfect relationship I have had with anybody or any group for that matter. I didn’t forget them but I just found new ones. As I met new acquaintances in the university, some things about me changed. I learned to like things I didn’t even care about back in high school. My new friends made me realize and helped me discover things about myself which made my life a lot better. These are the people I now call my dearest and closest friends.
My relationship with them is very kaleidoscopic. Our moments together are a mixture of laughter and tears, love and hatred, fun and boredom, disputes and reconciliation. Differences in personality, thoughts, views, upbringing, and attitude sometimes make us clash and fight over the simplest issues. It is with them, however, that I experienced the happiest moments of my life. It was them who gave me so much light and inspiration when life got gloomy. It was them who accepted me without conditions when others rejected. It was them who remembered me when everyone else forgot. It was them who in one way or another made my life bearable during moments of misery and desolation. Their existence in my life is both fascinating and repulsive.
Our friendship was and even until now never perfect and ideal. So I began to understand that there is no such thing as a perfect friendship and no explicit standards for real friendship. It is only a matter of learning how to intensify our appreciation for the friends we have, then, love and enjoy them for what they are. After all, friends are the best gifts anyone can have. Without a doubt, these friends are the best gifts I have ever received in my life. They may not qualify to the standards of “real friends” set by experts on relationships, they may not be perfect friends in any sense, but they are the best I have. This is probably the reason why I can never stay away from them and just like any other gifts I have received, I don’t intend to loose them.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
A Reverie of Lasting Friendship
Many people would probably agree to me that it is during college when someone finds the most ideal environment for friendship. Well, at least for me, it was during college when I found my closest and best friends today.
Back then, the names Franco, Joey, Marichu, Christian, Paul, Elmer, Redan, Jowalsh, Josephine, and Rey Al were merely students with a hi–hello relationship and by chance were able to meet and knew each other. Rey Al is my twin brother. At first, we started hanging out as drinking buddies for sprees and night outs. As days and weeks gone by, our relationship became intimate. We learned how to appreciate each other, enjoy each other, and became available for anyone who needs us and our help. The relationship was no longer for mere fun and excitement but also for support, reliance, care, trust, and love. We became so close. We became friends.
We had sad and happy moments. There were fights and squaring off. Despite our individual differences, we were and until this very day the best of friends. In our society, we are expected to wear our public faces and proper characters, but, with these friends, I can always be comfortable with who and what I really am. We are all safe with each other to show our real selves, no matter how idiosyncratic we are. As we get along, we found new friends and the coterie we started got larger. To name some, Jico, Mark and his girlfriend Shasha were added.
Years have already passed and we all have graduated from our chosen specializations. We have taken different paths. My brother Rey Al now works as a call center agent and happily dating a nice guy. Josephine is now a single mother and with contentment found her dream job of becoming a singer in Thailand. And, can you believe it, all of us are godparents to her son. Joey and Marichu are now engaged and both are working in separate offices. Elmer became an entrepreneur with a meat shop. Christian got married and recently flew off to Canada to be with his lovely wife that sweetens his life – Sugar. Paul is still continuing his studies and currently dating her girlfriend Pinky who in earlier years of our friendship also became one of our closest and important friends. Redan, after years of walking on a rough and rocky plain reached a fertile meadow with lush vegetation and found a lovely Rose he loves and treasures so much. As for Jowalsh and I, we are both still on the journey of finding that one person chosen by heaven and destined for us to love, care, and treasure for the rest of our lives. I presently work as a writer and Jowalsh as a call center agent.
Though, some of us are apart – Rey Al in Cebu City, Christian in Canada, Josephine in Thailand – but when we meet, we are still like little children having the best moments of their lives. The laughter, the fun, the excitement are still apparent. When we meet, we still loose ourselves in each other’s company comfortably without malice and prejudices.
What future awaits our friendship? No one knows. Nothing is certain. We can only promise to ourselves to remain the best of friends for as long as we all shall live.
Back then, the names Franco, Joey, Marichu, Christian, Paul, Elmer, Redan, Jowalsh, Josephine, and Rey Al were merely students with a hi–hello relationship and by chance were able to meet and knew each other. Rey Al is my twin brother. At first, we started hanging out as drinking buddies for sprees and night outs. As days and weeks gone by, our relationship became intimate. We learned how to appreciate each other, enjoy each other, and became available for anyone who needs us and our help. The relationship was no longer for mere fun and excitement but also for support, reliance, care, trust, and love. We became so close. We became friends.
We had sad and happy moments. There were fights and squaring off. Despite our individual differences, we were and until this very day the best of friends. In our society, we are expected to wear our public faces and proper characters, but, with these friends, I can always be comfortable with who and what I really am. We are all safe with each other to show our real selves, no matter how idiosyncratic we are. As we get along, we found new friends and the coterie we started got larger. To name some, Jico, Mark and his girlfriend Shasha were added.
Years have already passed and we all have graduated from our chosen specializations. We have taken different paths. My brother Rey Al now works as a call center agent and happily dating a nice guy. Josephine is now a single mother and with contentment found her dream job of becoming a singer in Thailand. And, can you believe it, all of us are godparents to her son. Joey and Marichu are now engaged and both are working in separate offices. Elmer became an entrepreneur with a meat shop. Christian got married and recently flew off to Canada to be with his lovely wife that sweetens his life – Sugar. Paul is still continuing his studies and currently dating her girlfriend Pinky who in earlier years of our friendship also became one of our closest and important friends. Redan, after years of walking on a rough and rocky plain reached a fertile meadow with lush vegetation and found a lovely Rose he loves and treasures so much. As for Jowalsh and I, we are both still on the journey of finding that one person chosen by heaven and destined for us to love, care, and treasure for the rest of our lives. I presently work as a writer and Jowalsh as a call center agent.
Though, some of us are apart – Rey Al in Cebu City, Christian in Canada, Josephine in Thailand – but when we meet, we are still like little children having the best moments of their lives. The laughter, the fun, the excitement are still apparent. When we meet, we still loose ourselves in each other’s company comfortably without malice and prejudices.
What future awaits our friendship? No one knows. Nothing is certain. We can only promise to ourselves to remain the best of friends for as long as we all shall live.
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