More than 30 Years

I was educated by the Jesuits in the Philippines. I spent my elementary and high school years at the Ateneo de Manila University. It is the premier educational institution in the Philippines, as far as I am concerned. Pardon my bias, but it is true. I am damn proud about it. And so are the thousands of others who have graced its hallowed walls.

I am from the high school Class of 1983, and we're a pretty tight bunch (now, I'm dating myself). We have a sprinkling of alumni here in the Bay Area, but we all live separate lives and hardly connect. So whenever an alumnus from out of state or out of the country visits, we pull all stops and take the opportunity to meet, reunite, and reminisce the good old days. And that was what we did when Chris flew into town from Virginia on business.

Chris informed us of his trip more than a month prior so we could seek out as many alumni that we know of and plan a reunion of sorts. We managed to get confirmations from everyone who we were able to contact, but despite the weeks in advance notice, things came up at the last minute and a few were unable to make it. In total, we had 8, and missed 4-5 others. It was a pretty good turn out considering it was a Thursday.

This mini reunion was held yesterday at Tribu Grill in Union City, a local Filipino restaurant, owned by a fellow Atenean from the Class of 1984. Typical of any such gathering, food kept flowing. We teased about the food we've been ordering since they were mostly dishes that would make you die early (joke), because they were high in fat, rich in cholesterol, and bathe in grease. Truly artery-clogging. They're always good with ice cold beer.

Throughout the night, we had lots of good laughs, as we brought back memories from our high school days. There were a few guys that I have not seen for more than 30 years. Do you believe that? 30 years !!! And all this time, we've lived within 15-20 miles of each other. It's amazing how we were able to remember the section (we had about 9-10 classes of 40+ students per grade, which we called "sections", and each section had a name) we were in during prep (or kindergarten) and first grade (some 42 years back!!!), including the names of our teachers. We talked about some of the most stupid things we've done as high school kids, and remembered those in our class who have passed.

We were noisy that night. For once, I wasn't conscious enough to consider the other diners around us. I typically am because I just don't want to inconvenience others. But I hope they understood. It was rare that you're able to gather a bunch of men, most of whom had not seen each other for over 30 years. Time went by so quickly. The next thing we knew it was past 9pm, and we were being handed the check. A sign telling us it was time to leave.

As much as we wanted to continue the conversation at a Starbuck's next door, most decided to call it a night. It was a Thursday after all, and the next day was another work day. But we just couldn't say goodbye fast enough. For another 20 minutes or so, we huddled at the parking lot for some more chit-chat. It was past 10pm when we finally said adieu.

It was a fun night. I'm glad to see everyone. I wished the others could have made it. I hope we don't wait another 30 years before we see each other again.

One Big Fight !!!

Note:  Author would like to acknowledge Mr. John Formoso for the use of the photograph on this post.