Footnotes
Sonia B. SyGaco

I pack my things two weeks earlier, waiting in anticipation for the big event. Wrap in this world of work, all I can feel is the neck gripping pressure. This daily lifestyle has made me into a square or something that I do not like to describe.

To reach home and meet my high school classmates that I have not seen for twenty years give a sense of mystery. I wonder if that quiet boy at the back of the class can attend this homecoming reunion or how my classmates look like. Well, I have been updated with these blog sites and social networks but perfection comes when you see them personally.

Or let me change my character. I just live here in Dumaguete, or in a nearby place… I can be a housewife, a master of the house, a worker, an entrepreneur, a male, a female or someone in sensible shoes. There is so much familiarity here and as a tourist guide, I can bring you anywhere you like to pleasure.

I am young again like I was twenty years ago. There is difficulty identifying them. They are not slender as they have been. They claim they are on a ‘diet’ but never mind the extra pounds they have gained. One thing nice about them is that their childish attitudes are still there. Who among them give a boisterous laugh? The drinking pals who speak sudden English or throw themselves on the dance floor…I am also curious if those “beso-beso” from high school sweethearts will emit an electric spark. Or you can call it ”nothing ra” because it has been downsized to low voltage. We also admire those who climb the corporate ladders. We try to define success but it is something abstract to measure because “success’ is somewhat priceless. If you are happy then you have succeeded your goal in life. It seems I am becoming like a priest and a philosopher.

So what’s up? You let your eyes feast on all their faces, their happy faces. Pictorials here and there…Same faces in different places. You see, this night after night gathering is spoiling the silence in me. I cannot concentrate on what I am doing, it becomes infectious. So much intensity and inspiration from the stories they share. I often contemplate that if I am given the opportunity to relive my past, what should it be? Well, this very small part of my teen-age life is what makes me now. And it is a denial if I will not try to go back in time and remember who I was. Those memories when we had all the freedom to do things without fear. First kiss, our first dance or when our crushes sat beside us …emotions recollected in tranquility.

So we pledge ourselves that wherever we maybe, we always journey back to our high school life and speak it with undying love.