hope springs eternal

i recently reconnected with old friends that i  didn't think i would be in touch with again after we have all moved to the next phase/s of our lives. good thing we figured that we may be separated by distance but not too far with the wonders of technology.

and so via email, we exchanged stories of how fate has treated us since decades ago when young age was still our good excuse for being carefree.

i learned that 3 are battling cancer. two have failed in marriage. one weeps at missing her career. another still longs to have a child. and the last is deep in debt.

i can go on with our list of frustrations, and clearly what i want to say is that each of us has struggles. each has pain to endure. each is lonely somehow. each cries every now and then.. to think that we envisioned such a jolly future for us way back then.

that was, however, just one part of our stories. the continuation is actually rather amusing : one is happily married albeit having a long distance affair with the husband. another is doing well with their food business so never mind the weight gain that came with the bucks. one is enjoying the frequent travels that work requires; hence glad to be free and single. another is earning big time and loving the city where she is now based. and there is the one that brags about becoming an expert in cooking that she can do it side by side with rachel ray. sweet.. 

suffice it to say, all have been surviving anyway – not much by choice, but by circumstance. you see, opportunities keep emerging; help keeps knocking; blessings keep coming. really, hope springs eternal for this group.

such is the make of a human heart, i guess – you tickle it and it giggles; you hurt it and it toughens. no matter what the weather is, it will keep on beating loud enough to remind us that we are okay. thus, all continue to afford a good laugh even at the lousiest joke.

i just remembered, there is one classic song that mirrors how we manage our battles:

“the blues they send to meet me won’t defeat me

It won’t be long till happiness steps up to meet me”

indeed, after the calm comes the storm; but after the storm, comes the sun. bright and shiny, you bet.

 so next time that ondoy pours at our lives, my girlfriends and i will simply sing altogether:

“i’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining

because i’m free, and nothin’s worrying me!”

a s l i f e g o e s o n..