BFFs

When I first met Marge I thought we wouldn't become friends. She had this city-girl vibe going on and to a probinsiyana like me, that was kinda intimidating. She grew up in Makati, while I grew up in San Pablo, which although a city, is still very provincial. Marge exuded confidence and seemed so sure about herself, while I was struggling, at that time, to fit in University and the big city.

Marge and I were blockmates so I sort of had to always be around her. I couldn't remember the exact circumstance when we became friends but I know it was a gradual process. We got to know each other very well that in our senior year, we decided to do our thesis together. As other groups tried to get over their differences and get the job done, we were breezing through the project.

One time, after an interview with then COMELEC chairman Alfredo Benipayo and commissioner Rex Bora, I cut class to watch The Planet of the Apes with Marge. During nights when I stayed over at their home in Fort Bonifacio, I would play (as in role-play) DJ at their library, amazed at the Windows Media Player on her dad's laptop. Visualizations were quite new at that time.

We had awesome teamwork, too. When we had to catch Benito Lim at the Asian Centre, Marge did the calling while I did the stalking. We got him and it was one of the happiest days of our college lives. Haha. We wouldn't have been able to submit our thesis on time without that crucial interview. We got 1.25 for all our efforts--or lack thereof. Hahaha, yabang.

I guess that was the turning point of our friendship. It was then that we knew we could rely on each other in good times and in bad. Now, we're just a few months shy of our 11th anniversary. I'm still at awe at how quickly a decade passed by.

Today, Marge turns a year older.  So much has changed in that girl who I thought was too scary to be my friend. At the same time though, so much in her has remained the same. She's still a most-trusted friend.

Happy birthday Marge. Thank you for being a constant in my life and for letting me be a constant in yours.