Friends for life

Time was when the guys portrayed here lived without a care in the world. They were my fourth year high school students at mountain view college academy. All of them were classmates through the previous years while i just came in the last and final high school year. 

Yeah, we had schoolwork to be done, appointments to meet, parents and teachers to please, but all these were kept out of sight while what mattered was friendship to the fullest.

40 years later fate brought us back in a reunion of epic proportions considering distance, tight work schedules and health conditions.

L-R: Fred Rabanal, Juanilla Alfonso, Felrod Olarte, Eve Saguan, Jo Reme Roca, Melchizedek Ligan, me, Samuel Salarda. this photo was taken at the Max's Restaurant at Glendale LA.

Franklin Salvan (orange shirt) - the guy with the most

colorful life story. he missed the main part of the reunion

but caught up the next day from Canada. We had to drive to

his daughter's house along I-10 to see him. the last time i saw him was 40 years ago.

other friends who were not from our batch but were also in mvc at that time are Cheryl Rodrigo (blue dress), Marilyn Gonzales (leopard design) and ate Beth (seated).

this lady just lost a husband and she was still reeling from the concerns brought about by the tragic turn of events. this didnt keep her from driving a long way to see me and we had coffee at starbucks redlands. thanks Ching for the effort to reconnect and for graciously forgiving my naughty past.

Baby Jo as she is better known has never changed (physique not included of course lol). we had a good time trying to wake up the lethargic memories. she and another classmate were the 'untouchables' in those days... well, that's what i thought back then.

Pidot! yeah... still the same humble, no-probs guy even if he's already a millionaire by american standards. he hooked this huge salmon and hauled it to LA all the way from Oregon so that we could have a feast.

Ardina - Pidot's beautiful and very gracious wife concocted the best baked salmon dish and some ilocano veggies and we had a feast in the kitchen of Marilyn. it was also good to see Cito (blue shirt) again.

Juanilla a.k.a. Bobong... the other 'untouchable' in those innocent days. it's amazing how she has remained the happy and bubbly girl through all these years. that's the exact give-all smile on her face 40 years back.

hmmm... she's better known among our elementary friends as my childhood sweetheart. everyone used to tease us and even if we didnt have it formally on paper - lol, we were made to believe that indeed we were sweethearts. Macie took the pains to find me at the Hilton in Las Vegas. her very friendly husband took this pic.

this foursome were the core persons in the broader group of friends and stuck together for the entire year of school and for another year in college. we had no other choice, because we were the true virgins... and that's because Aling had Boy, Anthony had Nining, Macie had Cito, Althea had Erolin, etc etc. this bed scene was taken at Marilyn's mansion at Glendora were we stayed for a night.

it was really good to see you guys. from the bottom of my atherosclerotic heart i profusely pour out my thanks for the time, the gifts and the love.

When friendship calls it doesn't matter how far away you are. 

I love these guys!