Thursday, March 30, 2006
Nostalgia
By Vincent Alocada
I EASILY become nostalgic when I hear a particular song that gained the airwave supremacy during a particular period in the past. Even the mere mention of the titles of certain songs is enough to make me regress to personal history. "Black and White" by Michael Jackson. "Orinoco Flow" by Enya. "All for Love" and "I Wanna Sex You Up" by Color It Bad. What's the common denominator?
Well, they are those that filled the airwaves just weeks before CPUDHS batch '92 left the most reveled high school life.
Last March 22, with just five days before the 14th anniversary of the time we walked on the stage to get hold of our high school diploma, in a rare opportunity, eight individuals from the batch gathered in the Lapasaran residence in NHA Mandurriao. No, the small get-together was not meant to commemorate the day in advance, but to attend the farewell party of one of the most successful graduates of the batch, Ian Lapasaran, who has been working as a nurse in Chicago for six years now. The moment I saw Ian, I felt slim! Geez. The guy has really grown sideways and----so were the others.
Mingling with old time friends, it dawned on me how things have changed. Marlon de los Santos, one of my persistent bullies in elementary and high school, has undoubtedly become a tamed guy. He now works as a clinical instructor for West Negros College. The always energetic, talented and loud Jaime Rabulan, who is in town for a vacation as well, also works as a nurse in Chicago. The silent Dyn Carl San Luis is also a nurse and is set to leave for US two months from now. The cum laude of CPU nursing batch '96, Rommel Enar, is now a priest. Talk about shifting gears. The once argumentative but witty Joemil Donasco, a registered nurse as well, is now a doctor. And the host, Ian Lapasaran, (who claims to read my column in Chicago through the Internet) has not only changed on the physical, but on what's inside as well. I'm glad that he's finally back to his senses, to the kind of Ian that I once admired respected. In the case of the girls, Jojie Balume is now a lawyer while Marli Depakakibo, a medical technology, looked radiant. I wonder why.
Aside from feasting on foods and drinks, the others belted out their singing prowess with the aid of Magic Sing while some opted for more intimate personal talks. Destiny. That definitely was the theme of the night's discussion. In career, no matter how bent you are in trekking the career path not meant for you, all your efforts would just end in smoke. In love, no matter how big the road blocks are, no matter how excruciating the inflicted pain was, no matter how impossible things might have appeared, if two people are meant to spend the rest of their lives together, love vanishes everything that comes their way. Right...high-school friends? I wish I could talk more but I promised to keep mum on certain things. Otherwise, some people out there might go ballistic.
After 14 years, some from CPUDHS batch '92 display the subtle signs of aging. Some have bald spots, others have fine lines or both. We have taken different paths. We have drawn a bead on different goals. The degree of our closeness to each other or the quality of friendship may be different for each, but we do acknowledge the fact that once upon a time, our lives intertwined that somehow molded us to be the kind of individuals that we are now. /VA
(March 30, 2006 issue)
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