God blesses us with friends worth keeping for a lifetime

in a conversation not too long ago, a good friend disclosed that she felt friends in different periods of her life were there to help her "get through the phase" and are there primarily to serve that purpose alone. she called her approach to friendship output oriented and "user-practical".

after dinner with my high school barkada, i find it imposssible to agree with that friend. there are friends who, while they get you through the tough phases of particularly different points of your life, you keep for the long haul. because they mean that much to you. my high school barkada is one such group of friends.

we have been friends since the first year of high school. back in the day when i hated myself and how i looked. we have lived through our idiosyncracies (mine), temper tantrums (mine), anxiety attacks (mine), and failed relationships (theirs). and yet, we have stuck through it all. weight gain, weight loss, hair massacres, guys gone bad, guys who are the spawn of the devil, guys who pretend theyre single but are not, family problems, and everything else in between.

we used to pride our group in being the most "malait" and "maldita" group ever to have existed. our tongues were sharper than anything you could ever imagined. yet, even through the ugliest of ugly and most pathetic of the pathetic, we have stuck by each other.

this week, last february 14, we celebrated valentines day together for the 5th year in a row, and today, we got together again for joanne's 23rd birthday dinner. admittedly, it wasn't the best or the most outrageous dinner weve ever had, but it was the most honest one the 3 of us have been to. and i guess, even though we don't see each other as often, i feel closest to them now.

i hope everyone comes across friends like these. as i said to them last feb. 14, they (my friends) are the undisputed loves of my life. and i think they always will be.