Best Friend to Many

Nina, I’m not sure if you know this, but when I first learned you were leaving Manila, I was devastated. It was Isa who told me, over the phone. I refused to believe it, sure that she was mistaken. Once I knew it was true, I ran to my room and wept. I’d just returned from a year in the States, and while I was away, you were the one I had confided to the most. When I returned, I was looking forward to picking up where we left off and making the most of our Senior year together. But then it was your turn to leave, and I was crushed. You were the first friend I’d ever felt like that about.

Soon I realized I was far from alone. It seemed that nearly everyone around you felt they were losing their best friend. Even back then, you had the gift of drawing people to you, and letting them feel valued. Although I don’t think I cried again after that first time, I saw several others do so.

It’s proof of how much you meant to us that even though you only spent a couple of months in La Salle that last school year, we still included you in the yearbook. We wanted to feel like you were still here, that you graduated with us.

And in a way, you were still around. You didn’t lose touch like most people who left; you made sure the ties were never severed. These days, it’s easy to take that for granted, but this was a decade before we had internet! You wrote letters telling us all about your life there. You never forgot birthdays. You continued to bring everyone together each time you came back. And once the internet age arrived, the bonds just became stronger.

Nina, thank you for making the effort to stay in touch through the years, and making sure that, however busy your visit here was, we’d spend enough time together. Even when you were going through a difficult time because your dad was sick, still you made time. Not to diminish the great value I place on everyone else who was there, but of all the people invited to my 40th birthday party last year, you were the guest whose presence I was most touched by…because, given the circumstances, I never expected you to make it! Thank you for never allowing our relationship to fade to a shallow acquaintance – something to maintain just for old times’ sake but which has no real relevance to the present. Thank you for teaching us that genuine friendship can survive decades and distance.

I look forward to having over forty more years to laugh, talk, argue, dance, gossip, party, eat, and travel together!