Our Friendship & Voltes 5

We celebrated a dear friend's Viber birthday party recently. Though situated in different time zones, it was a huge success. No expenses but our true friendship and precious time (not to mention wifi)...and yet, it was grand. We cut and pasted our vintage-themed party dresses and shoes. We brought in food, drinks, wine, and dessert. In between pic postings were comments here and there, just like ordinary partying. We generously posted LOLs till we dropped. We all ended up burping fun. I went to bed with a smile on my face, a Louis Vitton bag party give-away, and a pure happiness in my heart.

We are all golden girls now—the five of us. (Maybe, you can already guess what has Voltes 5 got to do with us.) We were not as gifted for battle as Steve, Big Bert, Jamie, Mark, and Little John. We only know that we volt in whenever one of us is in “danger.” We define danger as simple as problems like challenging subjects, terror professors, long-overdue projects, insufficient allowance to get by, and, at times, lovelife. These were our Boazanian invaders. When we were attacked, we would volt in and act together as one.

Our friendship was founded in high school but it became more solid during our college days when we have nothing to be proud of except each other and the determination to succeed. We came from the same high school but pursued different disciplines for our tertiary education. Being students of a public school, we share the common denominator of being poor. This was the Prince Zardoz of our time, hindering our battle which we managed to overcome. Our economic stature did not diminish our being, though, because we were responsible, committed, determined, and God-fearing students who simply breathe clean fun and clean living. We were deprived of material things that students nowadays are enjoying like electronic gadgets and big allowances. We survived on banana cue, lumpiang toge, and sago by the roadside of our university. There were times when we walked home together because allowances were meager. We were just lucky because we were scholars who did not pay anything for schooling except for the 35-peso ID we have to wear to be granted entry to the campus.

Two of us pursued Mass Communications, another two were in Psychology, and the other went to Business Administration. Just like Voltes 5, we have different strengths. Though of different courses, we managed to hold on to each other through a common tambayan--a specific shed from the many sheds scattered around the campus.  We shared this shed with a bigger group who all came from the same high school where we graduated from. What separates us from the rest was our ability to be on each other’s rescue whenever “danger” is at hand. Sure, we had different schedules then, but there was always a time to be together in that shed, which stood as silent witness to all the ups and downs of our campus life.

In our later years in college, we did not have frequent get-togethers as we had in our earlier years. We had to attend to different OJTs and final projects as we did not have a thesis to defend. (I really don’t know why we weren’t required.) But mind you, those projects were very much like, if not equally draining, as a thesis defense. We had to spend a lot of sleep-overs and sleepless nights in a classmate’s house just to get over. Graduation was indeed a liberation—a liberation from the “Boazanian invasion”.

Eager as an eagle that just learned flight, we busily soared, pursuing our own careers. Didn’t I tell you that we were poor, responsible, and committed? Our newly earned diploma was the only known powerful weapon available to us to be able to make our own mark and become useful to our own struggling families. Our meet-ups became lesser as time went by. However, we managed to attend one another’s wedding and stood sponsors to each of our first-borns and to those that came after. One of us chose to remain single, though. There’s no trace of regrets that can be sighted as she is blissful with her career and immediate family.

It was only after several years when we came to our senses that we belonged to a group we called Voltes 5. This was after we have settled everything in our respective lives—stable relationships, smart grownup kids, modest homes, and life’s little pleasures. We were active netizens so we managed to keep in touch and nurture our closeness anew via the social networking sites. In this digital age, no more boundaries set us apart. In one click, we are in touch. Two of us settled in the US, one in Canada, and the other two remained in the Philippines. We are equally successful in our own rights. Though far from being among the wealthiest, we all live comfortably with our respective families and are able to afford the sweet things that life offers—travel, a taste of branded luxuries, well-meaning circle of friends and acquaintances, and best of all, peace of mind. One of us keeps saying: “I am proud of what we have become,” and we couldn’t disagree to her because all of us feel the same.

Our Boazanian invaders surely hammered us to resiliency and the Prince Zardoz that hindered our pursuits was indeed magnanimously conquered. However, life is a continuous struggle and this is what makes it worth living. We still have our share of life’s surprises: sometimes good, sometimes bad; but we continue to be the sounding board of each other in a much deeper and more meaningful way. Today, we remain on each other’s radar, always ready to shout: “Let’s volt in!”

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The author is a corporate officer in a leading academic publisher based in Makati. She is married to a Civil Engineer and takes delight in her three boys who are all achievers in school. An active netizen, she keeps her own blog and loves connecting with friends old and new. Family is her top priority. She finds time to do other things like needlework and other crafts, cooking, playing golf, and traveling.

Her friends are:

Oma del Carmen is a Psychology major who is now based in California with her husband for 26 years. A God’s gift, she calls him, he works for a multinational company in Silicon Valley. Oma was an HR practitioner, catechist, and an ardent volunteer for a nonprofit organization before she opted to become a full-time housewife. She loves the outdoors and does a lot of hiking, walking, and traveling which refresh her physically and emotionally.

Lau Abaygar is an MBA degree holder and is now based in Canada. She settled in Toronto for quite a time but now opted to stay in Mississauga for a quieter life. She stayed single and remains to be a blessing to her parents and siblings in the Philippines. Prior to her migration to Canada, she was an assistant manager in a government-owned corporation. She makes use of her financial background by being involved in a customs & brokerage firm.

Becky Mendoza is based in Los Angeles, California. A Mass Comm graduate, she finds herself good in business. Married to a former commercial model, now turned businessman, she is blessed with two lovely daughters who were both scholars in a state university in California. She travels a lot for business and pleasure.

Malou Jose is an HR executive in a Japanese pharmaceutical firm in Makati. Her husband is a competitive salesperson in the construction industry. Both are active church workers with a supportive community. A hands-on mom, she prides herself of her three beautiful children. Her eldest now works for a multinational pharmaceutical company while her two charming boys are both in high school in an exclusive school for boys.