“Reunion: On Seeing Them Again 10 Years After”

Reunion. A time to celebrate success and happiness. This is exactly what happened to our high school reunion which happened Saturday, December 4, 2010 at the Sagatech Resort in Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City. God must have heard my prayers for it never rained the whole day, so that those who brought their kids with them enjoyed spending their time with us without having to worry for the kids and without having to leave early (They did but it was already late! hehe).

Reunions always make me feel nostalgic. When two of our high school classmates and friends, Aking and Jennifer, came home from Taiwan and Singapore, the idea of getting together suddenly flickered. And to have it materialized, we had to do a massive campaign to get the presence of those whose commitment to reunions is not as strong as ours. Before Aking arrived from Taiwan, we chatted and agreed that once he got home, we would work on gathering our batch to a reunion. As always Bingbong, Bingkat, and Dongbads were always there to back up the idea. I was completely surprised because Jennifer was also suddenly home! In short, the ReUNION-Eager-Group became bigger! Things became a lot easy.

Riding on motorcycles, we toured around Gango, Indahag, Pualas, Lomboy, and Kamakawan in search of our batch two weeks before the big day. The heavens suddenly opened up and it rained as if God was gracing our efforts, pouring in his love down to us. The schedule and venue were set. The foods were ready (Aking and Jen sponsored the lechon, I did for salad and spag, Dongbads for softdrinks and sinugba, Diana and Lenie for the rice, Jerry for the electricity, Rosalie helped me with the cottage). In short, everything was ready. I couldn’t help but be excited for the big day!

I arrived at the venue two hours ahead of them (I was expected to make some arrangements). When they finally came, I was overjoyed to see them: Rosalie with her two kids, Genisa with her one-month-old babay and her hubby Zaldy, Jerry brought with him his gf, Mylene, Chickboy with his wife and son, Rodel Tantay was there too who latter brought his wife and daughter and son, Melanie, Diana-the-preggy with her husband and daughter, Jennifer, Aking, Jerome Salisi, Crisanto with his wife and daughter, Pablo, Badong, then Bingbong and Bingkat with their eldest and my godson Gyle, then Jued and his partner, and Ma’am Jovelyn Delosa, also ma’am Jing, our fave teacher!

After dinner, we had games. It was the highlight of the evening for everyone really had fun. I first facilitated the “Who’s Who?” game which let my batch remember high school personalities like “the jumping-jack king Felizardo,” “best in Carpentry Elmirante,” “the shortest Joy, ” “Mr Come back to me Mevin Santander,” “the General Dennis Abellanosa,” and a host of other funny memories that until now make me laugh. Then came the “Touch, Slide, and Catch” game, “I think, You guess” game. Ma’am Jing also joined and facilitated a game on numbers (you’re supposed say “boom” not the number when it is divisible by 3 or ends with 3). Crisanto kept on complaining, “Ok ra ang number ma’am ayaw lang nang mag divide!” (hahaha!) After a while the big circle was reduced to two and I emerged as the winner! (of course, dapat lang! hahaha) Then another game was sponsored by Rodel Tantay, the “Animal-sound” game. We were laughing our heart out when the horses’ group bumped with the cats’ (Crisanto’s group) for we were blindfolded!

Then came swimming, singing, and drinking. We were literally swimming in happiness, singing our joy as we drunk in our wonderful memories together. Ma’am Jing was right when she said that what matters most is not our degrees, status, or money. What matters is if we are happy wherever and whoever we are now ten years from high school. And yes, I must agree. That night, I did not only see joy. I witnessed genuine happiness, one that comes from the heart, not forced nor faked.