Today is the birthday of one of my oldest friends. I don’t mean by age, but by how long we’ve been friends; this is the 11th birthday he’ll be spending with me as his friend. While I had friends I knew way before him, not all of them are still friends with me after all these years. And this must be the most number of times I repeated a single word in a paragraph ever. *cringe*
I met Rey on the summer before we became High School seniors. We had both joined the Cadet Officer Qualifying Course, a month-long training for students who wanted to become CAT officers. Both of us had not planned on doing it. I had joined when my then bestfriend Imee suddenly wanted to sign up and she and Lyn and I were inseparable at that time, so we signed up with her. He had joined because he happened to be wearing a white t-shirt and jeans on the first day of the training and he was mistakenly thought to be part of it because that was the official attire. It turned out to be the most grueling 30 days of my life but I’ll blog about it separately because this blog is supposed to be about Rey.
CAT officers
By the end of that summer, I had gained some 20 new friends (we called each other mates) from other sections, but my trio became closest to Rey and B-Bert. Rey drove a stainless steel owner-type jeep and was our group’s official driver. He would drop us off at our jeep stops everyday. Sometimes, we would pick up his younger sister Candy at her school in Pilar College and while waiting for her to come out, we’d park beside Cawa-Cawa boulevard and eat boiled peanuts and green mangoes with shrimp paste while talking about all sorts of things under the sun. In the evenings, we would burn up our phone lines talking to each other again. My mom used to shake her head and wonder why we needed to talk on the phone when we had just spent the day together.
Right from the start, I should’ve known that Rey was the kind of friend who wouldn’t let you go that easily. He always made an effort for his friends. Like when prom rolled around, he gave each of the girls in our group a red rose. That night he was crowned prom king and even though a lot the juniors actually lined up to dance with him, he still found time to dance with each of his friends. When the night was over, even though it was already very late, he still went out of his way to drive me home because my mother had personally asked him to do her the favor of ensuring that her only daughter got home safely.
B-Bert, Imee, Lyn, me and Rey at the senior prom
Then a few days before graduation, I had one of my infamous hormonal fits of temper and blew my fuse at my friends for some little thing. Everyone else had given up on me except Rey who kept on talking to me even though I slammed the phone down on him or when I pointedly ignored him and acted as though there was nobody talking to me during graduation practice. I cooled down just in time for graduation day and gave them little notes printed on and cut out of bondpaper. While having our pictures taken, Rey was horrified when he realized that my note for him was no longer in his pocket. I told him to let it be, but he insisted on going back to the crowded gym to look for it. When he found it on the floor, he was very happy, and I was very touched.
high school graduation
After graduation his family migrated to Manila. Despite the distance, he kept in touch through rare emails that he would shoot off when he found internet connection, long distance phone calls to our landline using a phone card (this was back when we both did not have cellphones yet) and once, even a handmade card for my 18th birthday wherein he fashioned my eighteenth rose out of sampaguita blossoms that he stuck to the card.
We only met again when he was finally able to visit ZC after we had both graduated from College. Then when I stayed in Manila for my CPA review that same year, he visited me at my dorm. When I said I was planning to go back to ZC after that, he told me: “Once you’ve stayed in Manila, you will always want to come back.” I didn’t believe him then, but whaddya know, he was right. When I went back to Manila to work, he reminded me of those words. Sometimes I wonder, were those words some kind of spell that drew me back there?
with Rey and Jojo, my best high school phone pals, after college graduation
Since we were both busy, we didn’t meet too often when we were still in Manila, but he has been to my apartment and my office while I have met his family, celebrity girlfriend, and some of his fellow flight attendants. We even hung out in Ratsky Cebu when he was there on a layover flight while I was there auditing Waterfront Hotel.
Rey meets my housemates
Rey’s concept pic – he was the original concept king
I meet Rey’s colleague
Now he’s based in Dubai and I in Singapore, but to my surprise, the added time and distance has not severed our friendship. So thanks, Rey. I know we’ll be friends for life. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 🙂
