Tempus Fugit--that was what I had in mind when our High School batch ’80 and College batch ’84 held a virtual meeting on Aug 2, 2020, 9:00 PM EST to plan for our virtual reunion. Before the meeting, there were conversations and jokes that we continued were we had left off, only to realize that a wide span of time separated them.
It's the same feeling when I spend too much time on a certain hobby, not realizing the passage of time, all of a sudden stopping to take stock of the progress, and asking “Hey, where did it go?” Before we knew it, 44 years have passed since our entrance to IHMS, 40 years since our High School graduation, and 36 years since College graduation.
The Zoom meeting hosted by Ringkoy revealed that indeed we have aged--as some of us struggled with technology, another admitted that his memory is not as sharp as it used to be, and the rest tried not to show it. But our wrinkles, bald pate, flab and loose skin betrayed our age as we tried to recollect the last time we saw each other in person and wondered what happened in between.
I had met Juntabs in Toronto last year when he and Faith came for their family reunion. I had also met McAbs, Liklik and Soc several times in Manila before migrating to Canada in 2008. I had met Rene, Eric and ArnCes in 2005 during our last reunion. But for Baloy, Jecebu and Ringkoy, it was my first time to converse with them in a long while.
So much has happened. How are you? Where have you been all these years? – could not capture all the questions we would like answered. And no amount of time would suffice to recount the answers we would like to provide. But we will have 5 minutes on Aug 24 EST to do exactly just that.
Let us take this moment then, since we may not get another chance, like some of our classmates. In our last reunion on December 27-28, 2005, Alex said that he was so happy to meet us once more and that we shouldn’t wait another 25 years before scheduling another reunion. For most of us, it was our first time to meet Alex since high school. And sadly, also our last.
MarJals, too, in that same reunion couldn’t seem to contain his happiness while drinking the bahalina, laughing and joking and insisting that we should do it more often. It was my first time to meet MarJals since that summer afternoon at Rose Restaurant after our College graduation. I didn’t realize then that it would also be the last.
Iking came for the 2005 reunion, attended the mass, stayed quiet all throughout, then left early to attend to some business matters. He didn’t get to share what happened to him during those years after high school. Unfortunately for us, we will never get to know.
Marclare who was based in Edmonton, Canada and couldn’t attend the 2005 reunion. He looked forward to this year's reunion and purchased a round trip ticket in January. Covid however thwarted all his plans and he had to cancel his flights. He, too, will not be able to share with us the events of his life since High School, just like Cecil, Quiao, Samuel and Manolo who passed away several years before. But we will have 5 minutes on Aug 24 EST to remember each one of them.
This coming Aug 23/24, 2020 virtual reunion will provide us a rarely opportunity to bridge the lost time through our stories. Let’s grab this chance before time flies again. (--- nox arcamo)
