Last December 30, we had our 15th year high school reunion. Antanda ko na pala. Buti na lang, 'di ko na kailangang i-spearhead 'yung for this year (pagbubuhat sa sariling bangko: I organized the first one, five years ago). Ang classmate ko nang si Niño Villamor ang nag-take charge. Napakataas ng sense of recollection ng taong 'yan. I admire people like him who are exerting effort just to catch up with old friends and familiar faces. Kung ang taong lumilingon sa pinaggalingan ay nakakarating sa pinaroroonan, baka andami na n'yang narating. True enough, he's now happily settled in Qatar with his wife Shiela and son Santino. Big time na, sabi nga.
At andami pang big time na dumating, each has his or her story to tell. Kukulangin ang isang araw just to see how things are and share a table with everybody. Our batch from Lopez National Comprehensive High School (it used to be "Lopez Nationalized High School" during our time and I wasn't sure what's with nationalizing a high school) has 400+ members, distributed to roughly 13 classes (I'm not sure now). Hey, public school ang aming high school. At nasa probinsya. Pero I don't mind. I'm proud of it, actually.
How to organize a reunion in the province? Simple lang. All those who are earning have to give their share. Sa mga wala at sa mga nagpapanggap na wala, they're not forced to pay up. We had meetings just to set a target budget then it's up to the president whatever means the fund has to be collected. Siyempre, expected na rin na malaki ang share ng sinumang nago-organize. This time, we roughly set a budget of P40k for 120 peeps (members and their family included). Sa dami namin sa batch, hindi lahat ay willing um-attend. Mostly, ang dahilan ay status sa buhay. Ang hirap mag-invite minsan kahit you have the resources and the energy. And thank God to those who can brave the social status wall. At the end of the day, pare-parehas din naman kayong iinom ng Fundador at magpapakalasing habang nagre-reminisce sa mga videoke songs n'ung 90's.
SOP na merong thanksgiving mass at 8am. Based on experience, kokonti lang talaga ang pumupunta rito. Considering na may kasabay kami sa mass (those who were having their first reunion after 10 years), halos quarter lang n'ung church ang napuno. Then motorcade will follow, that's from the church to our campus. Minsan, lahat naka-wheels or, at least, motor pero mas madalas na nilalakad lang namin 'to complete with a reunion shirt, a modest banner at, kung galante, with balloons pa.
'Pagdating sa campus, ayun, program na. Merong parang parade of sort na magpapakilala ka, introduce your family (my most dreaded part) then picture-taking. I was assigned to share a recollection but I did not prepare for it. Kung ano lang maalala ko, 'yun lang ang na-share ko (high school love teams are popular as ever). Around 4pm, wala na halos ginagawa except mag-videoke o sayawan habang nag-iinuman. That normally stretches until the evening.
Enjoy naman 'yung reunion namin. We punished our dear teachers by playing hip hip hooray a la "Wowowee". They seemed to enjoy it. It's good to see familiar faces na dati lang ay seatmate mo. On personal note, nakakatuwa to see them na successful na sa buhay. May sarili nang stable na trabaho, bahay, kotse, etc. Hopefully, they remain happy when I see them again after five years.
More memories kept here (my camera), here (Niño's) and here (my first Youtube upload).
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