To a high school batchmate contemplating something

Life was hard when we were in high school, but we survived!

It was Martial Law and we were torn between the excitement of attending parties

and the fear of being  caught outside the house after curfew and being detained in the stockade, 

but we partied anyway.

We were always under the watchful eyes of the Brothers and Sisters,

not to mention our parents,

but we had our romantic moments anyway.

Our lives were simpler then.

Sharing a few sticks of banana and kamote cues and a bottle of softdrink,

 sweating it out in the basketball courts while imitating Atoy Co and Sonny Jaworski,

pretending to ignore each other during Sunday Mass or while passing each other’s group at the Plaza.

We were teenagers, we had fun and we survived!

In college, life was just as hard, but we survived!

Living away from our parents for the first time or living with them still,

trying to make our meager allowance last,

dealing with classmates more wise than our naïve selves,

studying for our major subjects in our attempt to land a passing grade,

staying in boarding houses without the inconvenience of our homes

or listening to the seemingly never-ending sermons of our parents,

puzzling over the activism around us and

trying out new things that made us curious.

We were in our late teens, we made some mistakes, but we survived!

Finding our place in the sun after college was also hard, but we survived!

Reviewing hard for our board exams,

sweating forehead and palms during job interviews,

falling hard in love with someone or hardly falling in love,

visualizing what our future would be – our dream house, dream car, dream man/woman,

getting a pat in the back from our boss or a memo instead,

getting a promotion or a new job prospect or losing a job,

going abroad, going to work in another city/island,

 getting married, having kids, sending them to school,

worrying about crime and the peace & order condition,

trying to make ends meet,

 fighting with the spouse, reconciling or separating aftwerwards,

getting frustrated when things/events didn’t go the way we wanted them to,

failing to do the things we always wanted to do and have

or those that we used to do and have,

stressing over the difficult people we meet at work and elsewhere,

checking in the mirror for errant gray hairs or receding hairline or worse, wrinkles,

feeling vulnerable in the body aches and pains of our approaching mortality,

getting excited over our grandchildren,

We are middle-aged, we have a few regrets, but we survived!

You are not alone, Kabatch!

Many of us are still poor, struggling to make a living,

Many of us are unhappy with our lives and loves,

Many of us are looking older than our real age,

But we continue to strive,

We continue to live and love,

We continue to survive!

We are here to share your fears, joys,

We are here to listen,

We are here for you because we truly care.

Let us reach out to one another.

We will survive these problems,

We are bigger than our problems!

Our remaining time on earth is short,

Let us make it worthwhile,

Let us continue sharing with one another, praying for each other,

Good or bad, we will survive whatever life throws at us!

With the grace of God and the guidance of our Mama Mary,

We will survive!

We are Notre Dameans and we will survive!