Thanks, Monica, we all feel 18 again!
There is always a reason to celebrate friendship.
Notwithstanding the momentary slight drizzle that night, the 18th birthday party of Monica Galang Gatmaitan, daughter of my college friends Arthur and Belay Gatmaitan, was a heartwarming hit. It was not only a knocked-out sensation among Monica’s grade school friends from Morning Star Montessori School in Los Baños, high school friends from La Salle-Canlubang and college classmates from Ateneo but also among the UPLB friends of her parents.
The breeze that night at Monica’s open-air party in Los Baños, Laguna was intoxicating. The resort venue, Maria’s Edge, was perched on the legendary Mount Makiling and looking over the fabled Laguna Lake. I was inclined to believe that the deities of both mountain and lake were present, too, as everyone celebrated with Monica.
Monica’s debut was a simple yet sincere celebration of friendship. She intimated to me that she only wanted her party to be one great night. “I wanted it to be a night that would blow me away because of happiness. A night that would make me feel special. I definitely got all that. And I’m thankful for it,” said Monica, a BS Management freshman at the Ateneo de Manila University.
Though I seldom see Monica, I am aware that she is an intelligent, level-headed, no-nonsense lady. Her heart is as beautiful as her face. She has always kept a grateful heart for her parents and her two younger brothers AJ and Justin. She has remained a loving apo to her grandparents, Bing Galang and Lolo Oscar and Lola Lilia Gatmaitan.
Despite their many hard-earned comforts in life, Monica has always been proud to say that her mother taught her to be simple, open and generous. From her father, Monica learned to always give everything her best shot. 
For Monica’s friends, it was a party where they shared their common joy — and yes, their warm wishes for the debutante. For Monica’s parents, the coming-out party of their daughter, in effect, also became their own blast as they rekindled friendships with the people they formed “alliance” with in college.
Everybody, from the young ones to the young once, took to the dance floor, sweating out the calories gained from the feast Monica’s family prepared for them. There was uncontrollable riot on the dance floor as Monica and her friends danced to Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen, What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction, Brokenhearted by Karmin, Starships by Nicki Minaj and Payphone by Maroon 5.
When the hits of the ‘80s were played, the scene was like the biblical parting of the sea as Monica’s friends settled on their chairs and her parents’ friends slugged it all out on the dance floor. Oh, the electrifying joy on our faces and the inertia in our moves were more than palpable when the DJs spun Rico Mambo by Breakfast Club, Boys Don’t Cry by The Cure, State of the Nation by Industry, Take on Me by A-ha, Footloose by Kenny Loggins, Karma Chameleon by Culture Club and My Sharona by The Knack.
To sum it all up, Monica’s birthday celebration was a big success because she received an overflow of love that night. Apart from that, it was a huge hit because it was where the great divide between generations was all sewn up. The younger set, in awe and wonder, witnessed how the generation before them sweated it out. While we, the “grown-ups,” watched them in delight. Thanks to them, we all felt 18 again.
Happy birthday, Monica!
(For your new beginnings, please e-mail me at bumbaki@yahoo.com or my.new.beginnings@gmail.com. You may want to follow me on Twitter @bum_tenorio. Have a blessed Sunday!)
