ONCE upon a time there were four friends (let’s call them WXYZ) who met when they were enrolled in the same convent school. They were called “internas,” boarding in a school run by German and Belgian nuns. Their beds were set beside each other; two were from the Visayas one was from Bulacan.
Initially, there were these three who clung to each other and bonded. It was said the two Visayans started to learn Tagalog from the girl from Bulacan hence they spoke with a Bulakeño accent.
They liked to laugh together, tease and joke with each other. They would have serious discussions about their situation, living so far from home, which seemed serious at the time but they soon realized that being away was for the best.
Because it was their first time to be away from family, they were often homesick, but a kind pat or a hug would calm them. Soon, from their constant conversations, they began to know each other’s families and sometimes on weekends, they got to meet the relatives of each.
“One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and be understood.” — Seneca
The classroom seating arrangement was done alphabetically so another girl an “externa” who had a family name starting with ‘A’ became a seatmate and soon there were four (WXYZ)!
Unfortunately, after high school, they all went to different universities and colleges and that ended four years of intense bonding.
The four met again during their class’ Golden Jubilee celebration. It was a never-ending storytelling when they reconnected — a brief encounter unfortunately as one was based in the US, the other in Cebu; another was super busy with her restaurant and hotel business, and the other with her government job. When the girl from Iloilo celebrated her birthday, she invited the three and several other classmates to attend the Dinagyang festival. When the girl from Cebu celebrated her golden wedding anniversary, they all flew to Cebu for the grand celebration.
It was not always happy encounters as two of the girls had lost their husbands. At the wake of the husband of one, they all flew to Manila to be at her side. She was so devastated as it was a sudden death but the company of friends gave her a measure of love, tenderness and tranquility. When the doctor-husband of one girl passed on in the US, she decided to resettle in the Philippines and that made their friendship grow even stronger as they embarked on many trips to many places. In a span of 10 years, WXYZ traveled together to the Ilocos region, Baguio, Dumaguete and even to other Asian destinations like Taipei, Hanoi, Cambodia, and Japan.
The latest adventure was a four-day cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean liner Anthem of the Seas which brought them to Singapore, Penang and Phuket. They met up in Singapore, a good start to seeing the world which to them is too big to see in one lifetime.
Aboard the Anthem of the Seas, at a dining place called Silk, they chanced upon a gracious Filipino waiter who attended to all their needs. Days were spent lazing around but in the evenings there was always some music or entertainment treat. One such after-dinner show was a musical, “Spectra’s Cabaret,” which created a world seen through the lens of music and technology. They looked in on “Tap Factory,” a show that merged percussion, acrobatics, hip hop, music, urban tap dance and comedy. There were announcements about a “Dancing in the street welcome aboard Dance party” and Karaoke open bar, but they were satisfied with a snack of pizza and happily called it a day.
The second day of the cruise was a trip to Penang Island and its capital Georgetown, on the northwest coast of Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It became a standing joke that only three would join the “walking” tours while the others stayed put in the bus. But when it came to night or bazaar shopping, they all somehow had the energy to go from one store to another, or browse the numerous stalls.
The third day the ship docked in Phuket, Thailand. As usual, there was a little walking, visiting museums and tourist sites. The fourth day was just cruising, joining bingo games, going shopping on board the ship and lazing by the sun-decked pool.
Cruising is hardly new to them as they have all done this, done that to Okinawa, Japan. But it was the time sitting together over coffee, pizza, at lunch or dinner buffet that made it such a refreshing and enjoyable experience. They never seemed to run out of topics to discuss, arguing about this or that, even about the affairs of the government which at the end of each discussion seemed unresolved. It was the rekindling of ties at a time when knees may have weakened and the yen for adventure sadly diminished. They all thought of this: “Who knows when we might not be able to travel together again.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson was right when he said: “The glory of friendship is not the outstretched arm nor the kindly smile nor the joy of companionship but the spiritual inspiration that comes to one.”
All of us meet friends in childhood, in our teen-age life, in adulthood. I have fast friends whom I met at work, friends whom I met in Sunshine Place where I am starting to “relive” my life in my senior years; my neighbors are friends, my closest cousins and relative are my friends too. And I married the “bestest” friend I ever had as I mastered the art of keeping a relationship with the friend whom you live with.
I have always thought that friends are like gold and diamonds, very precious to me that I care for them to the best that I can.
In my Spiral of Life, I am so proud to say I have encountered friends who have loved me for myself and not for anything else.
