Allure

Holiday Hangover

NEW BEGINNINGS - The Philippine Star

January 11, 2015 | 12:00am

Old friends are like the Big Bang. They gather together and explode — with love and laughter.

Just like the Big Bang that gave birth to the universe, my college friends at the UPLB Com Arts Society and I gave birth to our own universe in the university. We met more than 20 years ago and became the stars and comets in our own galaxy. Unlike the cosmological Big Bang, however, time and space did not create a continental drift among us even after college. We were always connected by a common thread — friendship. Yes, sincere friendship is our sole Pangaea, the supercontinent where we accepted each other’s existence, warts and all. Even if many of us had not physically seen each other for about 23 years, our bond remained elastic and solid.

The holidays that past brought us back together — in two separate occasions. And in our get-togethers, camaraderie took center stage. The career men and women in us were disregarded as we ventured into two different nights of pure, unadulterated bantering and merrymaking. More than the food, laughter was served piping hot on the table of our gatherings. Sure there was an overload of carbs but there was also an overload of joy.

In our get-togethers, jokes of the past were rehashed, reheated and relived. We remembered old punch lines. And we rolled as we recalled our juvenile fun, follies and frivolities.

We may not see each other every day but we know each one of us is an extension of the other. One’s life or laughter is the power bank of the other who seems to run out of battery. One’s humor is the cove of courage where another friend derives his or her strength. We are each other’s fire under our respective seat — we keep each other warm and hinged in the thread of old friendship.

Friendship is nurtured by time. In UP Los Baños, in the late ‘80s, at the organization called Com Arts Soc, we called each other “brods” and “sisses.” In effect, we were related, not by blood but by affinity to be together, by our commitment to be there for each other. We were far from our real homes — we came from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao — but in each other we found a family.

I am very proud to say they that my friends from college are some of the beautiful souls I have known. For instance, Allan Victorino, early on, taught me to read the newspaper diligently and listen to news on AM radio.

Jay Capiral (who came with his partner Teddy Pariñas) taught the promdi in me in the late ‘80s the ins and outs of EDSA and how not to get lost in Manila. He taught me how to commute and what bus or jeep to take from one destination to another. “And if you get lost, ask. Or enjoy the situation. Don’t panic for you will still reach your destination,” he told me. In some detours of my life, Jay was always there. He knows that the path to our friendship is always devoid of traffic.

Dayday Cabrera is simply love, the kind that always connects and understands. Everybody finds a home in her heart. And my visit to Los Baños is not complete if I don’t see her.

My Theater Arts professor Dr. Joji Roquia, who also joined in our get-together, instilled in my mind that excellence, just like mediocrity, is a choice. Joji, a former adviser of the Com Arts Soc, is the person who honed the thespian in me. The university’s Old Chem Building, in whose auditorium I first performed in college, had been replaced by a new building after it was gutted by fire in 1990 but I could still hear Joji’s lilting voice as he directed me on my theatrical debut performance titled Oblik, written by his equally talented brother Paul Roquia. I could still hear George Winston playing in Joji’s JVC cassette tape.

Mackay Quadra, my inspiring instructor in Scriptwriting and a sis in Com Arts Soc, is one proof of how a teacher can be an ally of a student in building a beautiful friendship that results in ultimate learning.

Jello Salazar and Phil Aganinta are two jolly souls whose humor and warmth are premium in the core of our friendship. Dyno Atienza, Dennis Bernardo and Aeus Arcilla merge their wacky characters with soulful insights.

RS Francisco impressed upon me that friendship is always a celebration, whether friends are near or far. Even when he transferred to Diliman and became the big star of the famed M Butterfly, he would regularly visit Jay and me in our dorm — knocking at our door in the middle of the night just to catch up and eat roast beef sandwich at Little Folks.

Joey Alegre, Lani Cobacha-Andrada, Doris Flores-Mallari (who came with her hubby Aldrin), Jennibelle Reyes-Ella (with husband Vic), Arlene Obnamia-Cruz and Tess Dia-Melo (with her husband Irwin) are sweet yet strong women whose friendship remains a citadel to those who need some comforting. Their kind heart makes them more beautiful.

Couple Mulong and Janice Palis (who came with their beautiful daughter Chynna), my batch mates at the UPLB Com Arts Soc, prove to me to this day that we have a history of loving friendship that cannot be tested by time and distance.

Attending get-togethers is like embracing the basics of finding joy, embracing common values, respecting differences, celebrating life.?Taking time to reunite with longtime friends is like going back to UPLB once more. Instead of books, we find ourselves sharing our experiences in life where each one of us learns a thing or two. Our lives, then and now, are the drawing board where we listed our ambitions and where we still write our dreams. Real friends dream together — to this day.

The friendship we have fostered through time — from UP Los Baños to where we all are now — is the kind that we will keep for life. Sure, many of us did not see each other for more than 20 years. But one thing is for sure: we did not grow apart.