Kung tatanungin ako ng Diyos

Kung tatanungin ako ng Diyos kung gaano kita minahal, ang isasagot ko, 10 beses na higit pa sa nararapat. Minahal kita hindi dahil pakiramdam ko lang tama, pero dahil ginusto ko yung naramdaman ko at walang kung ano pa man.

Minsan mo na akong tinanong kung pinagsisisihan kong nakilala kita. Sinabi ko hindi. Ngayon na nga siguro ang araw na kinatatakutan ko. Dahil kapag tinanong mo ulit sa akin yan, alam kong oo na ang isasagot ko. Sa lahat kasi ng nangyari sa buhay ko, ikaw lang ang gusto kong burahin. Wala ng iba.

Alam kong tama na tong ginagawa ko ngayon. Tama ng mawala ka sa buhay ko. Dahil alam kong wala ng pag-asa yang sinasabi mong pagkakaibigan natin. Tanga lang ako na minsan kong inisip na yun ang pinanghahawakan ko pero hindi pala. Dahil pinili mo pa rin akong saktan kahit alam mong dapat naging isa kang kaibigan.

Nung mga panahong ikaw at ikaw lang ang kailangan ko, hindi man lang kita mahanap. At kahit alam kong alam mo yon, pinili mong tiisin ako. Ngayon hindi na ko umaasang nandyan ka pa, dahil simula palang nang-iwan ka na.

Itinapon ko na rin ang lahat ng kasinungalingang sinabi mo na ang masakit ay pinaniwalaan ko. Nang sinabi mong importante ako sa yo at hindi mo kayang wala ako, kagaguhan lang yon. Siguro napilitan ka lang sabihin yon, o di kaya, sinadya mo para paasahin ako. Ngayon, lahat ng binitawan mong salita, wala ng halaga. Simple lang ang rason: dahil wala ka ring kwenta.

Wala na rin akong pakialam kung nagustuhan mo man ako o hindi. Ang importante, nagbigay ako ng buong buo at ni minsan ay hindi humingi ng kahit anong kapalit. Kahit papano, naturuan mo akong maging matatag. Natuto na rin akong tumigil sa paghahabol at pag-iyak sa taong manhid na tulad mo.

Siguro nga nasira mo na ang lahat sa akin. Ang paninindigan ko, tapang at paniniwala ko, pati ang katauhan ko, pero kaya kong ibangon ang sarili ko at mabuhay ng wala ka. Ako pa rin to. Oras at araw lang ang nagbago.

Ngayon na ang huling beses na sasabihin ko ito sa yo. Ngayon na ang huling pagkakataon na iisipin kita. Lahat ng bagay na dumaan, burado na. Pati buhay ko, bago na. Ngayon na ang huling oras na mamahalin kita. Ngayon na ang tamang oras para sa lahat, para malaman mo kung gaano mo ako sinaktan. Tapos na yon lahat ngayon. Ito na ang huling araw ng paghihirap...

Tama na, tapos na.

Pero sa huling araw na ito, isa lang ang sigurado ako.

Hindi ito ang huling araw na sinabi ko lahat to.

Defining Friendship's Moments

I used to be afraid of so many things... that I'd never grow up, that I'd be trapped in the same place for all eternity, that my dreams would forever be shy of my reach.

It's true what they say. Time plays tricks on you. One day you're dreaming, the next your dream has become your reality.

And now that this scared little boy no longer follows me wherever I go, I miss him.
I do.

'Cause there are things I wanna tell him --- to relax, to lighten up, that it is all going to be ok. I want him to know that meeting people who like you, who understand you, who actually accept you for who you are, will become an increasingly rare occurrence.

Lisa, Liila, Anna, Despi, Pinky, Pam, IA, Marica, Sherryl Lou, Ardie, Debbie, El, Sean, Vincent, Uly, my loving brother Mark and my countless faceless blog readers... These people who contributed to who I am, they are with me wherever I go, and as history gets rewritten in small ways with each passing day, my love for them only grows. Because the truth is... it was the best of times.

Mistakes were made, hearts were broken, harsh lessons learned, but all of that has receded into fond memory now.

How does it happen?

Why are we so quick to forget the bad and romanticize the good?

Maybe it's because we need to believe that the time we spent together actually meant something, that we were there for each other in a time in our lives that defined us all, a time in our lives that we will never forget.

I can't swear this is exactly how it happened.

But this is how it felt.

Did you ever?

Did you ever meet someone and have them totally change your life?

That every thought you ever had about life and yourself was changed... the way you look at life and people and even breathe.

It's like all that time you were hiding inside yourself till that person came into your life and suddenly everything was different.

But even though they changed the way you looked and felt about things, they made you perhaps a little more cynical and untrusting of the world.

And somehow it has to be learned that it's possible to trust again.

And not everyone is going to stare you in the face and lie to you. But it's learning that, that's the hard part.

It's not going to happen in a day... a week, or a month, but pretty soon you'll begin to realize that not everyone is going to hurt you.

And that's when you're happy.