Memoirs Q12: How have friendships impacted your Life Journey?

I would have to say that friends are the support group one has in life. In my different times, I have had different groups of friends that made life feel much better. For starters, in Grade School, recess and lunch breaks were somethigns to look forward to because it allowed me to stay with friends and either discuss hobies and interests, or play games - Vampire tag was one of them. The whole quadrangle was our turf, as we were tasked to run away from the 'vampires', the 'it' person (or people) who needed to walk around with their shirt collars turned up, so we can see the vampires from afar - and run like hell. The game ends when the bell rings, and everyone goes back to class - albeit, sweaty from all the running we did.

As we got older, and got shuffled into different classes, we met other friends - High School combined the students of Taft with Greenhills - in Greenhills, so it was a new experience meeting others. By this time my main interests and hobies were comic books, and naturally, I gravitated to one or two freinds with the same interest. But through this I also met new friends - mostly from familial connections. It wasn't easy tranferring home and uprooting your life and friends, but that is what happened when we transferred from Life Homes, where I had a group fo friends, to Cubao - oh well, at least I still had my school friends - this time, the ones I met in College.

It was also by this time I got involved with Gaming... specifically, TSR's Marvel game, and through it, later on, Dungeons and Dragons. I helped form the loose gaming group called SAGA (Society of ANachronosts, Gamers and Adventurers) composed of gamers from La Salle, Ateneo and UP. This was our first chance of learning and sharing with each other - oh yeah, and we weren't just from those three schools either. Just majority of us came from there, but we had great friends who came from St. John's as well. We would meet and play in San Juan.

Some of these guys became close like brothers (and sisters), we invited each other to our weddings, celebrated familial milestones, some even became my kids; God Parents.

Funny thing is, some friends - due to life taking us in different ways, disappear, and reappear - others are, unfortunately, living abroad, and I wonder if we will ever see them again - unless they visit the Philippines or if I go to their place.

Now I meet new friends in Toastmasters - sharing the love for public speaking, leadership, learning, mentoring, and helping the organization - via District 75, enrich other's lives.

So how do Frienships impact my life? I would say that friends adds a lot of colors to an otherwise mundane existence. It is the stuff that brings memories that we go back to reminisce about things - be they funny, sad, inspiring... and I love each and every memory I have had with friends - and pplan to continue to do so. in years to come.