July 14, 2022
Friends are truly the most amazing gifts we receive in life. Without them, life would probably be so boring and not exciting. They seem like a rainbow that put colors into our lives, a sun that makes our day brighter, or extreme rides at an amusement park that makes our journey so thrilling. And not just that, they are also our real bullies, aren't they?
Real friends are our real bullies, that is true. Probably because we are comfortable with each other so we don't hesitate to throw negative things at each other. We are free to throw insulting jokes, funny greetings, and make annoying pranks. But of course, it feels so good when receiving heartwarming messages from them and great advice when we are down. They are like our second family.
Catching Up With Friends For Keeps
It's been a while since I catch up with my other friends. They were my former colleagues in my first workplace called the ACT department. I already forgot when was the last time I joined their conversation in our group chat because honestly, I am busier on different blogging platforms than interacting with them. So sometimes, they would call me a snob because I seldom visited our group chat.
Because of my 30 Days of Gratitude series, I realized that I became aloof to them. Those prompts about friends have led me to stay connected with them again. These people are for keeps. They've been beside me when I was in moving on stage after a painful breakup. So I shouldn't leave them behind.
I remembered how our friendship started, that was the day after our breakup with my ex. I went to the office with swollen eyes and feeling unwell. At lunch break, I went to the canteen and the only available spot was the chair next to Mitch and Rosita (Batch 3 in our office). I sat beside them and started munching my food slowly with my eyes staring blankly at my plate, and my food seemed difficult to swallow. All of a sudden, I talked and vented out my emotions. They, on the other hand, were confused about who I was talking to. But since they knew me as a pioneer in our office, they comforted me and gave me some advice. From that day onwards, I became comfortable hanging out with them.
That's how our friendship started. And because of them, I became friends with other colleagues from different batches in our office. Our circle of friends then became bigger and I easily moved on from that painful breakup.
Recently, I opted to interact with them again to know their whereabouts and life statuses. There were a lot of changes that happened in their lives these past few years that I didn't know, lol. I feel like I abandoned them for a long time ever since I started blogging, and I become outdated about their lives.
Princess, the prettiest, has been living in Canada for a few years now and working as a Caregiver. She even wants me to go back home since she will be vacationing this month and she is willing to buy the plane ticket for me.
The plane ticket is not the problem though but the time. My boss is always paying for my plane ticket, but I can only have a vacation, every after finishing a 2 years contract. She will be settling in the US afterward because her mother and relatives are there. And it would be impossible for us to meet again. Our next meeting would probably be when we are already aspiring seniors 😥.
I thought we are the only two from our group that are working abroad, I was surprised when I found out that the youngest, Riza, is already working in Dubai.
She's a home buddy, the youngest too in their family, and a person who doesn't want to be away from her parents. It hit me like a bolt from the blue because I never imagined her leaving her parents and working abroad since she's not a social person as well. But I guess it's her dream before that I didn't know, lol. I'm introverted too, but here I am, working abroad and trying to socialize with foreign people. Everything suddenly changes because of dreams anyway.
Meanwhile, Liselle, who suffered from Bell's Palsy, ended the online work she got from her former supervisor in Dubai. I didn't expect it to be that short though. It didn't even last for a half year.
And now she's planning to work back in the ACT since we still have a friend who is working there. I was surprised as well when I learned that the new supervisor is Rosita.
Among all the ladies in the photos, only Rosita was left while the rest opted to follow different paths. I know she deserves that promotion since she's been working there for more or less 13 years and I am happy for her. She's one of the top billers too, way back when I was still there, including Ena and Mitch.
Mel and Ena have their own families already and are busy with their everyday lives. J&G is missing from the group. All I know is G has been working in ACT Manila after Typhoon Yolanda and didn't come back to the Leyte site anymore due to the tragedy that happened to his family. Meanwhile, J pursued his teaching career, but we don't have any information about his whereabouts anymore since he opted to disconnect from us even on FB.
My Caregiver friends are the people I always chat with. Mitch and Jel's relationship is getting stronger. They seem like a real couple. I guess all they need is to tie a knot so they would stay forever, lol. But the same gender marriage isn't allowed in our country, lol.
And due to busyness recently, I didn't know that Mafe had already flown back to the US since her husband is there and covid cases have already subsided.
We didn't even see each other yet before she left and it is still uncertain when will she come back to the Philippines again 😢. I felt guilty about not knowing her flight details. I felt like not a real friend.
I spent most of my time slacking in the Cryptoverse and just ignoring the messenger's messages popping in my notif. So that day, I promised myself to stay connected with them all the time and interact with them so I wouldn't miss anything.
There's an adage that says to keep the old friends even if we make new ones because they are gold.
We might go on different paths and meet new people that eventually become our friends. But we shouldn't forget to look back and remember the people who once painted beautiful colors in our lives. Just keep collecting and never discard them. They are precious and gold.
Drafted this last month 😅
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I guess I need to check on my old friends too..being busy at work and also some grinding made me lose contact with them already