Adele’s words came haunting me while we’re feasting the food prepared for Girl’s birthday: Let me photograph you in this light in case it is the last time that we might be exactly like we were before we realize. We were sad of getting old; it made us restless. It was just like the movie. It was just like a song.
When we were young.
And to double the injury, the kid singing that nostalgic and heartbreaking song used to be a grader we so loved to bully back then. Now she’s set for college. When we were young, huh?
We recently went to Baybay City to visit Badeth. It’s amazing how things eventually change in such a short span of time, right? Back then, we were traveling as friends; now, we’re traveling to visit a friend. Four years ago, we came to Baybay with wild dreams and grand travel plans. Now, our priorities changed, and those plans (vanished into thin air) were converted into something worth channeling our energies into. Ending our travel pact, was after all, for the better.
When Badeth flew to Malaysia, I felt lost. There goes someone who led me to the path of traveling then left me on my own on two diverging roads. When Wilma and Agustine got married, the roads became more difficult to trailblaze. At some point, I could feel Robert Frost’s frustrations.
But the world of travel and adventure is so massive, so dynamic, so interconnected. Instead of falling into the paths of pandemonium, I’ve met other people on the roads that led me to greater heights, unimaginable destinations, and deeper sense of wander.
When I look at it right now, such fork in the road was actually leading me to an important decision, a turning point for life to keep going. While the idea of ‘always traveling with friends’ seem ideal and lovely when you’re younger (back when we still have the luxury of dreaming of traveling to distant places) as you get older, you’ll learn to look into your logistics; and probability wise, it won’t work for most.
And it’s fine. Because no matter what angle you look at it, travel is always a leisure not everyone can afford. And for that, I’ll be forever grateful for these people for all the opportunities we had back then (and in the times to come). I couldn’t imagine any better picture of us in an alternative universe – a festive lunch at Pedros’ Café with Wilma and Agustine taking care of baby Amarise, Badeth preparing for a new school year in the public school, Debby exploring other pastures in Australia, and me getting married… in another life. HAHAHA.
So this my friends (and readers, as if) is what friendship looks like as you age. Each one of us may have moved to other physical and social geographies, but we know within us that our friendship will transcend through time and space.
Dakilanglaagan 