Graduation, they say, is not “Goodbye” – only “See you later.” – Bienvenido F. Nebres, S.J. (2006)

Graduation, they say, is not “Goodbye” – only “See you later.”

And so we promise to get together with our college friends as often as we can. But “as often as we can” slows down to “every now and then” and even “not at all” as the months pass and as we get wrapped up in work and occupied with other concerns.

It will get harder and harder to find common free time for the old barkada to meet and catch up and just hang out. A special visit to the Ateneo to touch base and reconnect with something familiar will only make us feel strange. Then we will realize that Ateneo has changed because we have changed. We are not students anymore. There is no going back to the “good old days.”

After (Niña Ann G. Suba)

Read this,
if you must know
how things have been
since he left.For six weeks,
I did not make my bed.
Then, the sheets
began to smell.

To someone who has never been caught (Edgar Calabia Samar)

This is my memory of shadows:
like some forgotten regions
of our souls, they ran after us
or left us behind
in our childhood games
of hide-and-seek
where you always disappeared
behind the same non-flowering bushes
that will remain nameless for us.

Going to the Dentist (Niña Suba)

I almost didn’t go
because you called that morning
to tell me that you were boarding
the next plane to Boston and
you were sorry for everything
and you would understand
if I found it hard to forgive;

On things that I miss…

Chicken a la Kiev + Iced Tea at UP Chocolate Kiss, quiet bus rides on the 153 from Jalan Bukit Merah to my Bukit Timah apartment, Ken Afford Stuffed Porkchop and Iced Tea, legit Kopi-O from hawker centers, the sound of rain on the roof of my house, the walk from Cervini to Lucas Infirmary taking that narrow path, sleeping in the shuttle, driving to Makati or Marikina very early in the morning to avoid traffic, driving on Sundays, driving per se, not doing laundry and not worrying about what to eat, Kinokuniya, quiet weekend walks from TEC to Greenbelt, wasting away at Powerbooks, Barcino Sangria, M Cafe Sangria, Singapore Sling, Cold Storage, Ikea Singapore meals, walks with Maki to froyo, movies after work.

Singapore and Manila.

Maligayang Kaarawan, Padre Roque Ferriols SJ! (Agosto 16, 2011)

Pagod na si Padre kanina pagdating ko ng 8:30 pm galing trabaho. Sabi niya marami daw siyang bisita kanina kaya masaya raw sya kahit nakakapagod. At di raw sya nakatulog nang maayos kagabi dahil excited daw sya na birthday nya kinabukasan at malamang marami syang bisita. Kaya excited daw talaga sya. Hahaha. Di ko na nabasa nang isa-isa ang greetings ng mga tao sa group natin dahil naisip ko na di na ako dapat magtagal para makatulog na si Padre. Sabi ko na lang na maraming nag-greet sa kanya sa FB at babasahin ko na lang sa susunod. Naintriga sya sa FB. Kelangan raw ba niya ng password. Sabi ko nasa internet yun at ipapakita ko next time. Nahihiwagaan daw siya na nalampasan niya ang edad ng Papang. Sabi ko may 17 years pa sya kasi umabot ang Mamang niya ng 104. Sabi ni Padre, Diyos lang ang nakakaalam.

(Fuente: http://www.facebook.com/junefe; http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/28854072849/)

On Roque J. Ferriols SJ (throughout my lifetime God is looking for me)

Roque J. Ferriols entered the Society of Jesus with Federico Escaler, Jesus Diaz and Catalino G. Arevalo on 30 May 1941. Towards the end of their Thanksgiving Mass for the 70th Anniversary of their “Entrance Day” (30 May 2011) into the Society of Jesus, Fr. Roque gave this short message….

I wish to thank you all who have come here to join in our thanksgiving, in spite of the bad weather. When we joined the Society on May 30 1941, the weather was also bad.

Awit kay Ana

AWIT KAY ANA
by Eduardo Calasanz

Walang ginagawa ang mga bituin
Kundi pagmasdan ang mga mangingibig.

Isang gabi, kapag ikaw ay umiibig,
Tumingala ka sa mga bituin.
Malasin mo ang kanilang ningning,
Ligaya mo’y sinasalamin.

Mabait ang mga bituin.
Sa mga mangingibig
Isa lamang ang hiling:
Umibig, umibig, umibig
Nang may magawa ang mga bituin.

Walang ginagawa ang mga bituin
Kundi pagmasdan ang mga mangingibig.

Isang gabi, kung masawi ka sa pag-ibig
Tumingala kang muli sa mga bituin;
Pati liwanag, nagiging dilim
At tamis ng puso’y dahan-dahang umaasim.

Malupit ang mga bituin.
Sa mga bigo sa pag-ibig
Labis ang hinihiling:
Umibig, umibig, umibig pa rin
Nang may magawa ang mga bituin.