time well-spent

"A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be." – Douglas Pagels
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earlier, i met up with some of my college barkadas. after months of not being able to talk or to connect with them in any way, i was glad to see them again.

originally, only three of them planned of seeing each other. but, one barkada saw another barkada so she invited her. while i was invited by another barkada. so, it was five of us in a new and small pizza house somewhere downtown.

we used to be a big group. around ten plus the adopted barkada members. most are girls with only three guys in the group (which includes me =D).

but, after college, we lived different lives. some got relocated because of work. some met new people. and one specific barkada member just simply got lost of our radar. but, we have managed to meet each other at least once a year during our traditional barkada christmas get-together. we have always held our get-together at the same place for the past seven years. and the fun and laughters we share always stayed the same, just like in the college days.

the meet-up earlier was really fun though we never really got to talk that long. but the laughs were still as hearty as ever. we talked about the upcoming wedding of one barkada member who is working as a nurse in new zealand right now. she will have her wedding here in davao next year. the girls are excited to see the husband-to-be as, admittedly, he’s yummy and quite a catch. and that will be great opportunity for the whole barkada to see each other again.

of course, there’s always the usual sharing of updates of former classmates and how they have drastically changed since college. in short, chismiss. the highlight was our headstrong and very, let's just say, religious girl classmate who’s now a self-proclaimed kept-woman of a foreigner entrepreneur and showing off her body in a two-piece bathing suit while basking in the sands of bantayan island in cebu. if there was an award for the most changed person in our batch, then the trophy goes to her. but we reckon that she’s happy. so we think it’s cool.

we also talked about how the change in relationship status in facebook can cause so much frenzy among connections.

a barkada recalled funny anecdotes about how her siblings and father never managed to find out that she was pregnant when she got married.

we reminisced a couple of our college experiences, bloopers and crazy shenanigans.

Indeed, it was a very noisy meet-up. good thing we were the only ones in the place. we were hoping that the rest of the gang was there. but, there’s always a next time.

it is always good to connect again with the people that hold a very special place in your heart. the barkada went through a lot of experiences together. a lot of laughters, a couple of shared tears and even arguments. but, we’ve managed still to stick together no matter what. we have always been there for each other. i’m just glad to have met my barkada. all of them. despite and inspite of their flaws.

they were, are and will always be my barkada. my friends.

corny as it may sound :”>