Posts in category: Life

“Our memories, they have to be passed down by those who knew us in life – in the stories they tell about us.”

-Hector from the movie, Coco.

I recently lost a friend and the loss deeply affected many of us who knew him. I should have written about him when he was still alive. He would have read what I thought of him. Honestly, I never realized the many roles Erwin played in my life until I browsed his profile on Facebook and clicked those three tiny dots that led me to that “see friendship” option. All the memories flooded in and I need to keep them alive somehow so let me share my memories of Erwin through the years in this blog post.

1. Erwin was a childhood friend. Although I am very close to Ernelyn, his wife, Erwin was my friend long before I became friends with Ernelyn. We were classmates in kindergarten and from Grade 4 to Grade 6.

2. Erwin was my partner in one beauty pageant. I do not remember what happened in the selection process but Erwin and I became the unlikely representatives of our section to a Mr. and Ms. Science contest. I would like to believe we were natural at strutting the runway for we ended up among the pairs to represent the grade level after an elimination process. Unbelievable! Ha! Palakpakan naman diyan na hindi kami na-eliminate! I do not have a picture as proof but just believe me that it really happened. (So now we know where Josh got his pageant genes from. Hehehe!)

3. Erwin was my ally in the morning class (buntagon) vs afternoon class (haponon) rivalry. In many get-togethers, my friends and I often talked about our school years since most of us came from the same grade school. Our batch was the only batch with two graduations- one for the morning class and one for the afternoon class. Erwin and I belonged to the morning class. Many of my friends who were often present in gatherings belonged to the afternoon class. Whenever I was outnumbered by them, I would call on Erwin to my side. (Absent man gud Wela pirmi bah. Hahaha)

4. Erwin was a fellow September baby. Mitzi, Erwin and I often took pictures together whenever one of us celebrated a birthday.

5. Erwin was my secret access to Ernelyn’s yummy leche flan. This was our interaction when I missed one of his birthdays.

6. Erwin was a cool travel buddy. I went with Erns and him to Lanuza. Twice. And on both occasions, I threw up 5 times along the way. I never heard him complain or even tease me for squatting down the curb each time looking like I was trying to empty my guts out. Poise be damned, I looked worse than those people who had way too much to drink yet I never heard him mention my sorry state as a joke. I would have if tables were turned. This goes to show that he was really a nice person.

7. Erwin was one of my go-to drivers. If I went to parties or watched movies late at night, I knew I would not have to worry how to get home whenever Erwin and Ernelyn were around. I did not even have to ask. Erwin and Erns would drive me home in a heartbeat.

8. Erwin was supposed to be a godfather to my imaginary future wedding. I think I have declared this several times that it already became annoying. He tried to take matters into his own hands. There was one time when one of our friend’s mother mentioned that they had one of their bachelor’s pads rented to a foreigner, he asked if the foreigner was single because he wanted to introduce him to me. Ha! He was a better wingman than Erns. (And the answer to the question? No, the foreigner was married.)

9. Erwin was a devoted husband. He was always quiet. He never complained. He never fought with Erns. (Oh well, nobody ever dared to fight Erns anyway. Hi, Erns!) He always let her win any argument. He was a smart, smart man. Happy wife, happy life! He always went with Erns in many of our gatherings. He did not even mind all the girl talk even if he was the only guy around.

10. Erwin was a loving father. He constantly reminded Erns what the kids wanted and needed. I remember that in several times that they drove me home, they would drop by a bakery or convenience store for the food that the kids wanted them to bring home .

Thank you, Erwin, for the friendship. You are sorely missed.

I am lucky to have friends who had my back and Wela was one of them. It is only fitting to write about her today, her special day. So let me tell you how awesome Wela is.

1. She is one of my longtime friends. Our friendship spanned 32 years and counting. We first became friends when we were seatmates in grade 4. Both our mothers accompanied us on our first day of school and sat us together after telling us that we are cousins.

This is her grade 4 ID picture which I kept. I did not even have a copy of my own ID picture but I have hers with dedication from her.

2. She taught me how to draw Garfield and we would create different cartoons featuring Garfield.  I need a lot practice now. Hahaha!

3. She is a true friend through and through. Even though I betrayed her, she saved me from embarassment. And that mistake was forever in my conscience. Yes, 32 years of forever apologizing to her. So here’s the story: We had a classmate who kept on teasing us. I can no longer remember what it was about. It was recess and we were hanging out at the terrace of our classroom. When recess was about to be over, I went inside and Wela followed leaving our classmate behind, oblivious that the class was about to start. I had the brilliant idea of closing the door with him locked out in the terrace (which should not be a huge deal because he could always knock and ask to be opened. Duh! There were at least 30 other classmates inside who could hear him.) So I told Wela to lock the door. The classmate started crying. The teacher heard the crying and asked me, “Katrina, what is that all about?” I answered, “Ma’am, it was Wela.” (I feel like Judas Iscariot betraying Jesus.) Wela then answered, “Sorry, Ma’am.” And she then opened the door. My heart sank and I carried the guilt all these years. Wela acted like it never happened- that I did not betray her. I do not know what nice things I did to her all those times that she still kept me as her friend.

4. She was my high school penpal along with our friend, Shirly. I studied in a different school in high school. I would always look forward to reading her letters whenever my mama visited me in my school. I lost all her letters when mama did some spring cleaning while I was away for college. I remember her drawing of her cheerleading uniform in one of her letters.

5. She was my college dorm mate. I was glad we went to the same university. We really did not hang out a lot because she spent her weekends with her relatives in Bulacan while I stayed in the dorm but it was comforting for me knowing that I have my childhood friend just two rooms away from me.

I am the one wearing striped shorts; Wela in blue shorts.

6. Wela was my officemate. For more than a year, we worked in the same company. We were both busy with our respective jobs. We may not look like close friends at work but unbeknownst to many, Wela was my voice of reason. She would get emails from me whenever I am upset at something work-related. She would share her thoughts on the matter and made me feel better. Wela made work meetings a lot better just because she was there. ( I hated meetings because I had processes I had to run on my computer that I need to monitor.)

I was sad when she left for another job because her leaving felt like losing an ally. When she broke the sad news that she was resigning, she also told me she found love. She made me forget the bad news by bringing happy news.

This is Wela and Kit on their wedding day.

7. Wela was there during my saddest birthday and made it a little better. It was 2009. My father was bedridden for a month already. He just suffered his worst side effects from oral chemo. Celebrating my birthday was the last thing on my mind. Wela came in the afternoon and brought me flowers and brownies. Even for a few minutes, I was happy to celebrate my birthday.

8. Wela is a great poet. I am lucky and blessed to receive two poems from her. You can read her poems about me in this post and this post. These poems are few of my treasured possessions that no one can take away.

Wela and I on my 40th birthday.

9. Wela is a great mother to Lui and wife to Kit. She makes sure she spends time with them that we already understand whenever she misses many of our get-together with friends.

10. Wela makes sure to drive me home whenever we spend time together. Even if it is difficult to navigate the narrow road to my house, she drives me home anyway. Thank you, Wela!

I am really blessed to have a friend in Wela. I love you, Wela. Happy, happy birthday! Thank you for your friendship! Mwah!

Note: I swiped some of the photos from her Facebook account.