The Morning After

Rita Saguin-Trinidad

Having moved to the U.S. in 1986, the last time I saw most of my high school classmates was Graduation Day, March 19, 1984. Twenty years later, almost to the day, I found myself embarking on an adventure of sorts manning the registration table at our 20th High School Reunion. Flanked by Trish (Tiongson) and Yvette (Bachmann), we had the daunting task of identifying and welcoming everyone.  My mind rife with thoughts such as, “Would I even recognize these people out of our school uniform - and after two decades?!  

The assignment, as it turned out, was a breeze or as we like to say in our 80’s jargon, “chicken”.  While there were a couple of faces that left us stumped (hey, some of us were late bloomers!), most of us, give or take a few inches or pounds, looked the same. The years have been kind to Batch ‘84.  Any awkwardness was quickly washed away by squeals of delight.  

Almost everyone I grew up with was there that evening. It was comforting to see that although some may have changed in appearance, the intrinsic personalities were still there.  You just had to look at one’s smile, gait, and body language to know that it was the same person.  Adorable Mia Marchadesch looks not a day older; Yvette and Kinu now both mothers (to such good-looking kids, I might add) are just as crazy and hilarious as I remember; lurking inside the grown-up garb and demeanor was still my favorite seatmate and choc-nut & chichacorn partner, Rico Crisologo, with a treasure trove of high school exploits and trivia; Diminutive Carol Andreu still looks so youthful it’s hard to imagine that she’s a mother of two; Cecile Benavides remains the warm and endearing person that I remember and Jing Gelano has not lost her trademark wit and candor.  

 It was a perfect evening, from the video flashing images of our carefree youth to Pepelou’s sardonic wit and excellent emceeing, capped by the confetti shower at midnight.  It was as if the heavens conspired to make it so.  As my husband succinctly put it, “You guys raised the bar for all reunions to follow”. 

Kudos to the great instigator, Bunny de Leon, who envisioned this whole event, and along with Cecile, Rico, Carol and Jing tracked, harassed, mobilized, hounded and hunted people down and did just about everything (short of rousing the dead and doing anything illegal) to make it happen.  Estrell Magnaye, the creative hand behind our commemorative CD, gave unselfishly of her time despite her frenzied schedule. Of course, without the graciousness of Francis Juan, we would not have had the fantastic open-air venue.  Joining later in the game, I was awe-inspired by the synergy and resourcefulness of this group.  

It was as if time stood still that Thursday evening.  The only difference was that this time, as adults, we were all on a level playing field - unencumbered by the cliques and restrictions of our youth.  No more popular or nerd, baduy or sosyal groups.  None of it mattered anymore.  We were just glad to be there.  Twenty years, after all, is a milestone!

Judging from the happy faces and spirited smiles that evening, I can only surmise that we all found genuine pleasure in the camaraderie and this speaks well of us. 

Indeed, we have grown up.