“Friendships chiseled so deeply in our mind” By Angel CasillanWe attend school reunions to have a good time. We get together with friends with whom we share a common college experience, sharing with one another the adventures or misadventures that brought us to where we are.
As human beings, we have a deep connection to one another by virtue of our common ancestry. We always find reasons to celebrate our commonality. Even our early ancestors would gather socially around a bonfire to talk about the things and occurrences around them. This became their cultural legacy to us, manifested by our penchant for fiestas, dances, and other get-togethers.
Last weekend, I attended a college reunion in Los Angeles. It was an opportunity for me to relive my undergraduate life with friends whom I have not seen in decades. Although time had transformed our faces and had dispersed us to so many different places, we did not lose the friendships formed during our college days, friendships that had been chiseled so deeply in the walls of our mind.[/i]
IMAGE CREDIT: MYSWEETPROMISES.COM BLOG BY BONET SMILE A Filipino memory of close friendships in college (representation only)
When the reunion ended and I parted with my friends, the feelings that I had during my college graduation started to haunt me and found expression in the following snatches of verse:
College ReunionWhen we have reunions to have fun and to celebrate,
We think about the years that got lost but didn’t forget.
We recall stories about the hard times and the good times,
And about so many other memories that linger in our mind.
The things we did we recall along with the tunes of the years,
Even the fun and laughter that comfort our imagined fears,
The challenges and barriers we persevered so hard to cross,
All rush back with the lyrics of the songs we loved to hear.
But if there are memories that would bind us forever,
It would be about the life in college that we had together.
Fondly now we remember the professors who’d skin us alive,
But from whom we learned to become resourceful to survive.
We have had failures then but they didn’t make us grieve,
Instead they gave us great strength and made us truly brave.
The knowledge they imparted and the education we gained,
Became our lifelong tools for acquiring fortune and fame.
Why do people love reunions and can hardly wait?
Because if they meet in heaven, it would be too late;
Reunions are for us whom life has dispersed far and wide,
Yet drawn back by memories of school as a lifelong bond.
