A high school mini reunion, August 6, 2016

“Melissa is already at the restaurant,” said the text that came from Jassana. “Hi, Jass. I’ll send Melissa a text to advise her that Mavic, Magene, and I are already on our way there,” I texted back. “There” meaning the Buon Appetito restaurant in Hayward that was Mavic and Magene’s late mother’s favorite restaurant.

Mavic and Magene are twin sisters. Like Melissa and Jassana, the twins were also my classmates at Saint Bridget’s High School in Quezon City, Philippines. Today, Saturday, August 6th, is the day we decided to meet for lunch after so many years of not seeing each other.

True enough, Melissa was already at the restaurant when we arrived.  A few minutes later, Jassana, in her maroon-colored shirt that said “Push Your Limits” came walking in.  We all exchanged hugs and shortly after, a waiter ushered us to our table. 

We all sat down as the waiter handed us the menu. Like many people who have not seen each other for a long time, we all started chatting instead of taking care of business first – ordering our food. The excitement of seeing each other again made us forget that we were all hungry. “I think it’s time we ordered our food, ” Melissa advised. We all nodded in agreement and started ordering. 

Melissa, a mother of four, works for an airline company and is based at the San Francisco Airport.  While waiting for our food, she entertained us with airport stories and all of her travel adventures. If you think I love traveling, wait till you hear about her travel stories! We also learned that her daughter Bella, a 7th grader, is very fond of going to the library and that her 7-year old son Logan, plays golf like a pro. Melissa has a dog she fondly calls “Peanut”. Believe it or not, Melissa also cares for 4 hens that reside in her backyard, and mind you, before she left her house to meet us at the restaurant, she told us that she needed to feed her hens first. Hens come first, right? I think that’s really cute.

Magene, one of the twins is a nurse, a doting mother of two, and an excellent baker – a talent which her daughter seems to have inherited.  Although a big fan of hotdogs with sautéed onions, she likes to cook healthy dishes. We defer to her, being a nurse and all, in matters pertaining to healthier food alternatives.

Now, let’s talk about Mavic, the other twin who is also a nurse. Mavic is the loving mother to 20-year old Kim, who is spending the summer here in the Bay Area while school is out. When summer ends, Kim will go back to Oregon where she attends college. Mavic, the caring mother that she is, will drive Kim back to Oregon. Oh, and did I mention that Mavic’s well-styled, short, salt & pepper hair gets complimented quite often? 

Finally, Jassana, the big Warriors fan. Jassana and I were not only classmates in high school but we also attended the same college. She obtained a degree in accounting but currently works as a trade regulator. She is happily married to a sweet man whom she always referred to as “Honey ko”, which when translated in English means, “My honey”. Sweet, eh? Jasanna, like Melissa has a dog she named “Tootsie”.

Jassana hates anything and everything that constitutes cruelty to animals, most especially to dogs. She and I like to talk about O.B. (Operation Beautification), hair oils and beauty soaps, and today, we talked about the wonderful effects of tomato soap and tried to convince the others. Yes, you read it correctly –  tomato soap, not tomato soup. 

This day was truly a good day, seeing the faces of friends you have spent years learning algebra, biology, geometry, trigonometry, and physics with. Our old blue and white school uniforms may not fit us anymore, and we may have aged a little, gained a little, but everything else stayed the same. We still share the same alma mater and remain the proud and grateful high school students of Saint Bridget High School, situated at the corner of Aurora Boulevard and Katipunan Avenue, yes, that one. 

“Blue and Gold we are calling for your love and loyalty…” 

I can still hear our school alma mater song playing in my head as if we were only singing it yesterday at our morning flag ceremony. ~~~