Give the Day a Chance to Start

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Thanks, Papa.

My highschool sistahs and I were reunited last night. From the left, that's Carmel, Jamie, Michelle, me, Hannah, Lou, Miday, and Ica.

I must have the best father in the whole world. Yesterday, I'd planned on missing out on dinner with my sistahs for a number of lame reasons. Reason number one being that nobody would be home to cook dinner for my family if I were to leave. Reason number two was, of course, the same old transportation problem that comes with having to live so far away from my friends and not being allowed to use public transpo (today is only my second day of serious driving lessons so I can't exactly drive myself around yet). Reason number three was connected with the previous one in that I wanted to continue with my driving lessons instead of going to Makati to hang out with friends I hadn't seen in quite a while (talk about a lame excuse, huh?!?). I thought to myself, "There'll be a next time anyway. I have important things to do right now."

So, when I told my dad about it, he was quite confused at my decision. He said that I should never miss out on any opportunity to get together with my friends if I could help it, and since he offered to take me all the way to Makati, my already-lame excuses got even more pathetic than they already were. Besides, I guess I was just flattering myself too much to think that my family would starve to death without me slaving away in the kitchen to cook dinner for them. So, off I went, thanks to Papa, who talked some sense into me.

Thank God I didn't miss this one because we were all able to make it--and that doesn't happen very often, I might add! Two of the guys in our batch also joined us. It was such a blessing to be reunited with them all, and though I know this will sound too cliche, I must say that as much as we've all changed and grown these past few years, we're all pretty much the same crazy bunch we were way back in highschool. A few noteworthy changes, though... Michelle was fully clad in a very chic looking business get-up since she'd come straight from her first day of work. Jamie, too, will soon join the nation's workforce. Some (I won't mention names) were already in the habit of huffing and puffing, if you know what I mean. Two (again... no names!) are in very serious relationships. And me? Well, that's a whole different story, but I've done my fair share of growing. Let's leave it at that.

When I got home, I thanked Papa for convincing me to go to this dinner, which of course led to the customary father-daughter talk about life. Papa said, and I couldn't agree more, that in this life, what will truly count in the long run is not how successful or powerful we get. Rather, it's the people whose lives we touch that will truly matter. Like I always say, "People will not remember you for what you did, but they will surely remember you for how you make them feel." That's why we should take care of our relationships and make them our most valuable investment. I already know these things, but I do need to be reminded every once in a while.

Who'd have thought that a night out with friends would teach me so much?