Reconnected

It's one of those little things that can trigger the mind to stroll down memory lane and find in some corners those kaleidoscopic friendship moments that have been buried for decades. This time, it was a face smiling at me and an unexpected message in FB that set my mind in motion toward the almost forgotten past.

Her name's Lory, the youngest of our group of five single "young ladies" back then. She was the intellectual (being a wide-reader), the financially well-off and scientifically inclined one. I remember well because we spent some time talking about things that cater to the intellect and astrophysical matters. She was one of those who truly appreciated one of my earliest essays published in a national magazine. She was working in Hongkong that time, and after reading the clipping that I sent her, she sent a recopy back to me - laminated(!). What a surprise!

We've been through a lot together. We've shared life's ups and downs. We traveled to places within our modest budget. We went to the mountainous area north of Baguio City to help with the spiritual harvest for three weeks;  to the coastal beaches in the province of Pangasinan and had fun and frolic on the white/golden sandy beaches that are common there;  to the Watchtower branch office in Manila for a voluntary service; and to many other nooks of the island of Luzon. Wherever we went, our laughters would reverberate in the highways and the four corners of the places we visited.

Just like the line of a song, "Some good things never last", so were those happy friendship days we have had. Changes in circumstances parted us and sent us to diverse paths that had no meeting points, except when we would take a moment to retrace our way back to where we all came from, which happened only once.

We moved on with our lives. Marriage and family kept three in our group preoccupied, while my sister and I remained single for a long time.  In my solitary journey, I found joy in the company of solitude and at the same time became a versatile person who embraced everybody's wholesome friendship, both young and old. Along the stream of time, I found a bosom friend and we became like binary stars orbiting around our common center of interests.

The years flew by, each of us absorbed in the kind of life we have chosen. I could not relate to their marriage life since marriage was an ucharted zone for me as a single woman.  Our connection was broken since we didn't hear from one another. O yes, we did, a few times, but those brief moments lacked the intensity of the friendship that used to string us together. We were reunited when I got married. That event in my life could be the catalyst for the revival of our friendship, but our rivers just kept flowing in diferent directions until we were out of one anothers' reach.

Then I settled down in this other hemisphere of the earth. The chances of being together again vanished into thin air, though I still kept thinking about them and wishing to hear from them. I know they get to see each other once in a while there, but the connection with me had been severed. 

By the close of my fourth-year settlement here, Lory and I finally crossed paths again, though not in person, but virtually in a cyberplace. She searched for me in FB, and found me. Then she wrote a short message to me. Those few words were enough to water a withered plant, which magically came to life and ready to yield fine blossoms.

I was so excited to "meet" her again, and I hope that this reconnection will not be cut off but will remain constant for the rest of our lives.