In those days when we were younger and didn’t know any better, we thought it was some tough luck that befell our batch when our high school Cabuyao Institute closed in 1987 just when classes had started. To compound the problem, we were already in our senior year. It was already July and we were forced to transfer to other schools because our teachers just wouldn’t leave the picket line in front of the school unless the management gave in to their wage hike demand. There was a standoff. Then it led to the closure of the 37-year-old school. Our batch was part of the collateral damage.
Just when we were delusional about the proverbial high school life, the rug was pulled under our feet and we found ourselves scampering for a school that would still accommodate us. Luckily, there were different schools that still accepted us. But what saddened our young hearts was that we were not given the opportunity to properly say goodbye to our classmates and batch mates in school.
We were supposed to be Batch ‘88 of Cabuyao Institute but that seemed to remain a dream. Until very recently.
Because we so wanted to still be called alumni of the school, some enterprising members of our batch, led by Erick Alger, Albert Tenorio and Mario Javier, formed a group on Facebook initially called “CI Batch ‘88 Sana†early last year. Their preliminary efforts to gather every member of the batch were religiously supported by our other intrepid batch mates like Mario Capalad, Bon Bonilla, Julieta Misa-Fontanilla, Maricon Barinuevo-Rodriguez, Cecilia Acosta, Mary Grace Cruz, Monicel Crescini, Alyn Bella, Rebecca Cartaño and Marika Elaine Garcia. Together, they formed a formidable executive committee that saw to it that our get-together would push through.
After we pooled our resources — including the contributions of our many generous classmates abroad — we found again the road to rekindling our friendship as we made merry and danced to the music of the ‘80s, as energetically played by a Cabuyao-based band called Turnip Cake.
Our reunion was so organized that, during the 11 months of preparation, some of us even managed to attend to our batch mates whose houses and livelihood were destroyed by the monsoon rains in August. It’s heartwarming to note, too, that in the morning of our reunion, our batch first heard a thanksgiving Mass. And the surprise appearance of our beloved former teachers like Mrs. Mary Jarilla (Integrated Science), Ms. Luisa Montojo (Accounting), Mrs. Nancy Gotiongco-Ignacio (Chemistry) and Ms. Josie Remoquillo (Practical Arts) made our reunion extra memorable and meaningful. CI Batch ‘88 and our teachers let bygones be bygones.
Attending school reunions energizes the soul. It is like embracing the basics of finding joy, embracing common values, respecting differences, celebrating life. Taking time to reunite with former schoolmates is like going back to school once more. Instead of books, we find ourselves sharing our experiences in life where each one of us learns a thing or two. Instead of pens, we put across our message of affection using the ink of our mind. Instead of school bags, we contain our appreciation of each other using a container called the heart.
The best part about of our CI Batch ’88 reunion is that we discovered all the more who we are and what we are. The boundaries between where we are and what we have are blurred for they don’t matter in the field of sincere friendship. Despite the odds of being separated from each other for almost 25 years due to circumstances beyond the control of our then very young minds, we found each other again. This is the friendship we lost in 1987. And this is the same friendship we found again before 2012 ended.
We waited this long to celebrate it. And yes, it was all worth the long wait.
(For your new beginnings, e-mail me at bumbaki@yahoo.com.
You may want to follow me on Twitter @bum_tenorio.
Have a blessed Sunday!)