Today I am 31. Next year, wala na ako sa kalendaryo.
Today I want to celebrate my birthday a little different from what I've been doing in the past years. The past birthday celebrations were like as if I am running for municipal councilor. 30 or more cases of Red Horse Beer, 2 or more goats, 30 or more kilos of tilapia... and more. (Oh well, I don't usually spend for the food and drinks, I have sponsors.)
Today, I will only have a couple of friends at my house. A few long-neck bottles of Gran Matador and a few packs of chichirya for pulutan. Truth to tell, a friend of mine will still throw a party for me this Sunday but that's another story.
I want a party that is solemn, a party where I can relate to my selected visitors what it has been for me in the past years and what I plan to do in the next couple of years. So this is how it feels to be 31, the years are started to line up right before my very eyes.
"If you take a look back then replay the years, and if it doesn't give you a tear of either joy or sadness, consider it wasted."
There, right after I type these words at this moment... tears started to freely flow from my eyes and with that I know my years hasn't been wasted after all.
Last night, I asked Rodel... "Dre, am a failure at 31?" He answered, "Dave, if you have been a failure... how come many still envy the life you enjoy or the talent and skills that you possess or even the smile that you manage to wear everytime you greet someone?"
He further said, "Instead of looking back at things you failed to accomplish at your age, try to look back at all the challenges that came past your life and how were you able to overcome them ."
He also said "Dave, I know all the difficulties and challenges that you went thru... and truth to tell not everybody that I know were strong or lucky enough to survive."
Lastly, he said "So cheer up, you're still the man. You have a full life ahead of you so better prep up coz many, not only me as your friend, believe in you."
Thanks Rodel, I don't know how or where you got those words... but you somehow know how to say the right words at the right place and at the right time.
And yes, I am 31 and happy. It is not a perfect life of 31 years, but in those years I have met "perfect" people who are worth to be cherised in more than a lifetime. There is Ate Dayday, who loves me as if I'm her son. And then I have Edu, a friend who at one time I duped yet he never showed me any ill feelings at all but instead showered me with forgiveness and understanding. Its not katangahan pare, its being noble.
I raise my glass to you. Edu, you should have been Christ. I mean it.
I have Rodel, not a perfect person but a perfect friend when in difficult times.
I have Amor, my perfect business partner...
I have my boss, who is not a perfect boss, but a perfect public servant.
I have my kids (Jeri Mayah, Yujin and Denise), who are for me just PERFECT.
And all other people who came by and each left an indelible mark on my heart... my friends and dear someones....
So you see, life may not have been perfect for me... but I couldn't care less for I couldn't ask for more.
