Song of Years

Wrote this a month after I came home to Pagadian from college. There were many realizations, and this was one. This is specially dedicated to my true friends- May, Sha, Carol, Steph, Jenie, Nino and Vincent.

I have been staring at the wall for a couple of minutes now and I can't seem to find or decide on what to write. I feel so many emotions in my heart and I think about a lot of things to make me undecided on a certain topic.It seem queer to finally understand and realize that a friend of yours for years now is really very different from you. And I have made that realization with my true friends.

When we were still in High School, life seemed to be very smooth and worries were nothing at all. Our friendship was as strong as steel and whenever one cries, the others empathize. We didn't have arguments because we were of the same mind. There were no misunderstandings because each one perfectly understands the other. All have the same, if similar likes and dislikes.

But how wrong I was to think that! It takes years, distance, experience, and environment to make you realize that you are completely different from your friends, no matter how true and tested they are.

During the Ice Age many animals died because of the cold. Seeing this situation, the porcupines decided to group together, so they wrapped up well and protected one another.


But they hurt one another with their thorns, and so then they decided to stay apart from one another.


They started to freeze to death again.


So they had to make a choice: either they vanished from the face of the earth or they accepted their neighbor’s thorns.


They wisely decided to stay together again. They learned to live with the small wounds that a very close relationship could cause, because the most important thing was the warmth given by the other.


And in the end they survived.






- Story from Paulo Coelho's blog
- Illustration from Conniemartin's Weblog

I find it very amusing that you are the most makulit friend I have ever had (well, except sha2 of course, she has always been makulit and always will be I guess). But I salute you Nin for always trying my patience and for always quarreling with me. Only you can do that.

Ever since high school, we have always quarreled. Remember that very big argument we got ourselves into back in 4th year? You really made me cry. You did not say sorry and when I did asked for your apology, you turned away from me. You made me so furious that I did not talk to you for a week and acted like you did not exist even though your seat was just in front of me.