The Journey Continues…

I recently wrote a post about the power of the Friendster social networking site, it once again proved its power to me, this time on a sadder note.

I came home last Sunday at around 5PM, instantly, I opened my PC to check for emails & messages in my friendster account. I checked the messages in my friendster account, I thought maybe there’s an update on the planned class reunion, sadly there was none. But, another message caught my attention, from someone who’s not in my friends list, it said:

Message from M****

Hi, kaw ba si thoots ung best friend ni kuya rolly? ako si M**** ung pinsan n’ya.

I was trying to recall who she was, the last time I saw my “best friend” Rolly was more than 20 years ago and Rolly has cousins in thousands I guess, OK I’m exaggerating again, what I meant was he belongs to a large clan. So I tried to recall each and everyone of them until I recognized who she was. So I replied:

Yeah, ako nga. Musta? Nsa japan ka pa rin? Musta na si utol?

Rolly and I used to call each other “Utol”, as may have known, Utol is a pinoy slang for brother. Our friendship started when we were about 11, basketball was the common denominator between us, we were both frustrated basketball players. As kids, we share each others secrets and hunting pretty girls together.

Life was not all easy for us, we didn’t grow up in the best community one would dream about, Rolly has his daily duties to do before being permitted to play so as I and our other friends. Growing up in a fishing community made us earn money the hard way, while our other classmates were getting it from their parents, for us it meant hard labor.

Message from M****

yeah, d2 p din me japan, nkpgasawa ng hapon. d mo ba nbalitaan, nmatay na c kuya rolly nung 2006?

He’s too young to die, the last time I heard of him was he got married and raising 2 boys of his own, he was just 38. I inquired of the cause of his death, apparently, his liver failed which was caused by his excessive drinking.

Honestly, I never thought he’d be like that, I remember him telling me that he won’t be like his father, Kuya Erning (his father) would beat the whole family when he’s drunk.

It made me realize that life is too short for us to wish for more, too fragile for us to believe that we can handle it.

To my dear friend Rolly, I just hope you find peace in where you are right now. Di ko man nasabi ito noon, paalam Utol.