a post-birthday post for charm

another birthday, another moment that i did not get to celebrate with them.

"Kol us dai", a haughty command sent thru text message by the birthday girl. that wasn't enough and three missed calls registered on my phone which i had inadvertently left on the dining table while i did some work at the office downstairs.

of course, i wasn't scared, but i hurriedly made the call realizing it was over two hours since the first demand. better safe than sorry. i could imagine charm's bunganga flapping nonstop if i didn't make that call. i could also imagine her flushed face when she answered with a barely intelligible, giggly, shrilly hello. hmmm, i could smell the rum coke from here. inggit ako.

"Dai, happy birthday!!!"
"Dai, ikaw lang absent diri!"

but of course. as usual.

i realized that, except for one birthday of charm's (19th niya 'ata yun!), i've never really been physically present to celebrate with them. i cannot recall being there for any of juna's, much less ALL the kids'. it's been pretty much phone calls and very belated gifts (yes, i know may utang pa ako! 'wag na humirit!)

but my heart still swells when i realize how our friendship survived the great distance with just blue moon reunions and the big moment phone calls.

i get a little mushy when i hear a small voice at the end of the line and realize that i'm actually having a conversation with daniel or seth. they're no longer the babies their moms brag about, but they're becoming little men in the same place where their moms and i first met.

but enough sentimental drama. i could hear jun-jun in the background asking about the boylet (haha!) and juna laughing out loud. suddenly it was like my last night in dumaguete again two years ago. charm with cheeks so red and the rest of us teasing her about...that guy with the pawnshop and the jewelry we'd all get to have if they end up together. hehehe. (heck, it could still happen!)

things are still the same. we are still the same. different people maybe from who we were fifteen years ago, but the same friendship.

so, mga dai, the next time you're holding yet another tumbler of rum, know that i am also drunkenly toasting our friendship and uproariously laughing my head off with you.

postscript:

• jun, i'm trading in the boylet for a newer model, but check to see if there'a a buy-one-take-one deal because i also want charm to have one. LOL
• juna, i'm wishing real hard that sometime soon we'll be AT the same place AT the same time. phone calls just aren't enough.
• charm, dai, what can i say? you demand, i answer. better late than never. i miss you and wish you THE absolute happiness that you definitely deserve. love you!
• SMART...check your september 3 sales and make sure everything's in order. HAHAHAHA!!!