As I become older and hopefully wiser (it's a long winding road), I get to be selective of people that I let in my real life. I remain glued to my old friends way back in my hometown (especially Claire, Ate Tonette and Tammy), to my cousins who I grew up with in PH ( hello my beautiful cousins), to three persons I encountered in my university days and in the present , to my Behs of NorFo. I only have a handful of people that I can consider friends. Friendship has a profound meaning to me. Once I read on a book, you can only say an individual is a friend if you shared tears together, and I totally concur to that. If it is all about fun, so -called success and happiness that you have with someone or a group, better think twice before categorically calling them as friends.
On the aforementioned list of friends in my university days is a guy named Harry. We developed a closer bond when both of us started working as clinical instructors in our alma mater back in PH. Harry is way much younger than me ( six- year gap) yet he is way more mature than me in many aspects. He is my security blanket and soft cushion in hard and difficult times. He is also on top of my mind when something oh -so -wonderful is materializing in my life and I call him right away.
We ceased explaining to people our kind of friendship. Maybe it is not easy to grasp for others who see us and I get it, coz not everybody gets the chance to have this oh-so unique one. We travel and fly together, drink and get wild together, eat and explore places together and tried many adventures (the most unforgettable is helmet diving in Boracay) in the past... in the most platonic kind of way. Take it or leave it, we don't care.
Recently, we met at McCarran Airport in Nevada to spend time together after almost two years of not seeing each other in person.He flew from North, the more chic and expensive part of CA.:) We were supposed to watch Ate Celine's show but my "voice soulmate" was sick. Soon as I saw him with his checked-in luggage (hahaha)and carry-on laftuf , I hugged him tight and I felt at home again. We just explored The Strip, its booze and gastronomic sights and what it has to offer for us. The most fun part? We people -watched and created our silly and crazy scripts of these strangers.:)
The BEST thing about Harry?? He simply and sincerely listens to my pleas, woes, stories, dreams, sobs and tears. He rarely gives advice. Truth of the matter is when we pour our heart out to others, we do not actually need them to tell us what we are supposed to do or how to act in certain circumstances. We just want them to listen and hear our thoughts and understand our undeclared emotions. Coz deep down inside us, we already know what we are supposed to do. I told Harry about this over glasses of mojito at Resorts World poolside, I wanted him to know how much I value his time and when he lends me his ears to hear of all of my drama and heartaches, corny and out of the blue tales with non-judgmental manner and apt silence. I tell him we have mastered enough the art of therapeutic communication which we learned and taught in Maladaptive Nursing we apply it in our lives.:)
 |
| Meet The Maker for me and Scottish Kiss for him. |
 |
| Looking forward to more travels and memories with you. |
 |
| Goal met tayo for you to swim. Di nga lang tayo umitim. |
Boracay is our most-favorite island, it is our idea of paradise and play with its pristine sand while we bask under the sea wishing to have charcoaled- skin, especially him. He empties a bottle of suntan spray to achieve that .We went to this place a few times together and they are in my heart-sketched memories. The all- you-can eat oysters, Happy Hour mojitos and Red Horse, staring at the blue skies, walking at the seashore and conversations about anything and chizmiz on everyone made our days fun and sunny. For the meantime, we will do with Las Vegas pools. LOL!!!
 |
Yayyyy to share with you the magic of Hell's Kitchen!!!
|
How glad and grateful I am to be with him physically for a few days, I look at him and flashback of random events come to mind. Like how we both patiently waited for our visas to migrate here and fulfill our American dreams, when we were objectively deciding if we will give a pass/ failed remark to our student nurses, all the Powerpoint lectures he prepared for our classroom discussions and even for my Masters requirements, when he left Philippines to start a new beginning here in US, when I lost Mamang, his parents' demise, our escapades in the past. Our friendship has come a long way, I see him now and as has always been, I am way too proud of all his achievements in life both personally and professionally. He remains to be the humble Chz who lets his success be his loudest noise. We are still the same us, we know what the other hates and who the other person likes. I can go nonstop describing our extraordinary friendship so I will highlight the most mesmerizing and special ones here.
 |
| Cheers to a lifetime of friendship. |
Cheers to our crazy, real and one-of a kind bond.
 |
| We get along so well, coz he hates gambling too.I spent 20$, he spent zero!:) |
 |
| Remember the puzzling pool photos??? LOL!! |
Thank you to Harry for being my forever- best friend . With him, I can just be the naked, raw, unfiltered me. He accepts and loves the twisted, histrionic, crazy real me with no ifs and buts, now looking at it, he is my shrink!!!I can bare my heart, mind and soul to him without the fear of being abandoned , judged and betrayed. It warms my heart too when he lets me peek the inner side of him and his future dreams and wishes.The fragile , soft and tender him and all the other pages of his current life that is not shared in public.
Happy happy birthday to Harry!!! He is one of my greatest and priceless blessings in life, one that is meant to be a keeper forever. He is a ride or die, come hell or high water, four-season kind of person. Yes he is more than a friend. He is a brother, mentor, comforter, soothing balm, and an inspiration to me. I pray for beautiful blessings to continuously pour in his life. May God grant his heart's wishes now and always. Many more candles to blow. When I come and visit you, I will make us 100 liters of mimosa!! Lol!!!
Postscript:
My lips are sealed. But if and when you walk down the aisle anywhere in the globe, make sure Ate Chie is part of the entourage.Lol!!!
