the past few days

the past few days have been a bit tiring. we spent a good few nights attending tita rory's wake - paying our respects to her, being there for our good friend cindy and chatting up and seeing folks from way back college. i'd have to say that in the past two weeks, we (college friends) have been hanging out more than probably the past five years combined. maybe this is tita rory's gift to us also - to bring us closer together and tell us that here we have a lasting friendship. that we should treasure having stayed friends after college (that's more than 15 years going now) and that despite the rarity of our get-togethers, its still as if we only last hanged-out yesterday. you can tell by the sheer volume of people who attend tita rory's wake what a remarkable and loved woman she is. we will surely miss her but we all know she is happy where she is right now.

i am very proud of my friend cindy. she has been very strong - calm & collected, through most of the last days. sure there were times she cried but for the most part, i think she is comforted by knowing tita rory is with the Lord. its been a difficult two weeks and the probably the next few weeks wouldn't be easy either. but God is good, and i know that He will help her family deal with the absence of tita rory.

i attended tita rory's interment yesterday at manila memorial. a bunch of us were there and we realized that at our age, we're already past mid-life (looking at tita rory's age). the events of the past weeks in a way made me realize a lot of things - stuff that you wouldn't normally have in everyday conversations. one is that my resolve to try and stick it here in manila, career-wise, has never been more absolute. being with my family, my mom specially, during her remaining years is priceless. second is that, morbid as it may sound, me and my friends started talking about what we want when our own time comes. i realized i would opt to be cremated. whether i want my ashes to be spread out into the wind is another matter - may drama di ba? third, heids mentioned there's this book available (from my alma mater's bookstore) that you fill-up in preparation for when that fateful day comes. parang will if you must ... i call it "documented bilins." being a grown-up talaga sure ain't fun.

so there, live life to the fullest. no regrets.