It started when one night, Lady and Arem made a surprise visit at
home, rolled out their plan for a elementary school class reunion (because gosh,
it’s been a decade since), got my contact details and invited me to the first
meeting that will happen the coming Sunday at DPJ.
The First Sunday Meeting. Super friend/cousin
Sheena (also schoolmate in DPJ) was with me that first Sunday afternoon meeting.
Somehow, it was easier for me to show up there when I’m with someone I am
really comfortable with than if I go there all by myself. Cous was there with
me for about two hours only since she had to leave earlier for her church choir
engagement at 5pm. So by the time the meeting officially started (because we
still waited for others to come while Arem and Lady were more than willing to
fetch some former classmates from their houses), I was alone and somehow out of
my comfort zone. I guess that was what the difference of ten years makes– you
don’t know what people expect you to be, and same with yourself, you don’t know
how these people have changed after ten years that passed. Yes, seeing those
former grade school classmates (some I had a hard time remembering names or
surnames in particular), and just being in the school I spent 6 years of my
life in the past, was quite odd but nostalgic at the same time. Arem was the
one who facilitated the meeting and when time for election of officers
happened, I opted not to take the responsibility as the president. Our
elementary class valedictorian, Rondel was not present yet during the meeting
and I felt it was awkward for me to accept a responsibility the class top
1/leadership award recipient would normally assume. In the end, it was Michael
Copon, oops, Michael Hebreo rather, who was chosen as the president of the
over-all reunion committee. I think it was a good choice since Mike is not
really from the VI-Narra and because this is the reunion of the whole batch
’96-’97 of DPJES, ideas and suggestions for the reunion won’t be partial to the
first section. The result of the first meeting was good enough that we decided
to have our first bonding session right after at Mondora’s house in Little
Baguio. It was my first time to ride a motorcycle in Wawa (Arem and I hitched
at Michael’s motorcycle), my first conversation with some former classmates in
10 years that we never talk to each other. But it was not the first time I had
beer, got home a bit dizzy and never suspected that I drank.
The Second Sunday Meeting. I went to the meeting
without Sheena but I walked into Lady on my way to school so we went inside
together. Rondel, the class valedictorian was present now and some new faces
who were no-show the previous meeting. I saw Mar last week, and Louie was there
this time(both were my best friends in Grade 2). I find Louie after 10 years
still a nice person and he’s one of the few classmates there who gave me a
really good and sincere conversation. The meeting, like the first one, began so
late—but committees were made, tasks were delegated and arguments were settled
by the end of it. Arem, Karen and Mike dropped by the house around 8 pm to get
the solicitation letter I reprinted but to my surprise, they stayed longer than
I expected. I took out and showed them our class pictures to Karen’s delight
from nursery, kindergarten and elementary while Arem opened up about his
present LL dilemma. Looking at these three ‘friends’ sitting and chatting at
our sala, I knew my first impression about this reunion was all wrong. I was
actually having fun.
The Last Sunday Meeting. The final general
meeting for the reunion started late as usual but cousin Sheena was able to
join us this time. Well, she was obliged to really attend since she’s the
assigned treasurer and the final meeting was agreed as the collection day for
the 100 pesos food contribution. Finally, it was decided that the reunion will
happen on June 9-10 and not 10-11 as proposed change by Arem. As if the
committee was dissatisfied by the number of attendees in this meeting and the
possibility that it will be only three-fourths of those present would attend
the actual reunion, it was decided to do a house-to-house visit to former
classmates to spread information about this reunion and to collect more funds.
We did it seriously, from the familiar sidewalk of Wawa III to the untried
‘esquinitas’ of Boracay (outmost portion of Little Baguio), back to the
‘loobans’ of Wawa I and finally the almost entirety of ‘barangay’ Wawa II. It
was exciting to see your old classmates, some even offered something to eat and
drink, some we’ve meet along with their parents or their siblings only, and
some are almost unrecognizable on the first few minutes of looking at their
faces. After several hours of walking, about twenty houses visited, my foot
(and my new Topman flip flops) started to complain and I already was receiving
texts and calls from home (and my Ate Irma) asking me to go home. But it was
not until we reached our finish line (Lady’s mansion), some more discussions
and a serious phone call from my overprotective Mom, that I decided to leave. I
was too tired, stress and hungry when I reached home, and just like a Grade 1
student reprimanded by a teacher, I almost felt like crying and I think I did.
The Wednesday Night Meeting. Mike, Sheena and I had
a special meeting at Lady’s ‘mansion’ with her of course. It was sort of a
business meeting because I was on business attire straight from work and we
discussed and argued mostly on the total collected fund we gathered from solicitation
and individual contribution, and how are we going to spend it… for the reunion,
that is. Mike took charge of the dinner food preparation; Lady is responsible for
buying the snacks and the materials we needed, for cooking the rice; Sheena is
to handle the expenses; while I had this secret plan of giving out awards during
the program of the reunion to recognize the efforts and sacrifices of the
committee members – Mike, Lady and Sheena included.
