one goodbye, one hello

as i said goodbye to a seven-year old relationship, i reopened my doors to old friends. two days ago, i met clarence again at his sister’s beautiful wedding in posh ayala alabang’s st. james the great chapel. it was a heartwarming reunion as we have never seen each other in a long time already. sure, we have been each other’s regular telephone callers, but seeing each other was entirely different from listening to each other’s voice.

i was actually late for the ceremony so i sat at the back. when i saw their family’s long-time helper, openg, i approached her while the newlyweds were having their pictures taken at the altar. then openg suddenly blurted, “hulaan mo kung sinong guwapo ang palapit.” (“guess, who’s this good-looking guy walking towards us.”) of course, it was clarence.

clarence and i actually go a long, long way back when we were just kindergarten pupils in the province. extremely attractive and intelligent, he was our school’s most qualified ambassador to manila’s san beda college where he spent his high school, college and law years.

today, clarence -- a certified playboy cum lawyer -- has been through life's highs and lows. i have witnessed his struggles as a young man trying to make a niche in this world because at some point in our life, we had been each other’s confidant.

in tokyo, he was my constant link to our province and to old friends back home. we would spend hours on the phone talking about practically everything under the sun. of course, there were times when circumstances would challenge the friendship but we generally sailed through our respective life happily and smoothly.

the beauty of saying goodbye is the prospect of saying hello again to new and old friends. clarence will always be special to me, just as aleli and connie -- my bestfriends -- are. in all honesty, i know that i am one of the very, very few people who can understand how he ticks. he welcomed me into his life and allowed me to take a peek into his mind and heart.

when his hand accidentally brushed mine, i felt some kind of familiarity…some sort of understanding that despite the years and the tears in between, we have remained truly good friends. it was a gesture that was borne out of being comfortable in each other’s presence.

in my super-symbolic life, i bequeathed to him part of my tokyo education by giving him the only sophia university teeshirt omiyage i ever bought – something which he really didn’t know. ultimately, it was a symbol of a reliable friendship that has survived the test of time.