Some peoples lives are so intertwined… Really…Read this story…
When I was in high school back in the 80’s, I attended a national encampment as a girl scout. There, I met Melissa who was to be my pen friend for the rest of high school. She was a girl scout from Nueva Vizcaya, a northern Philippine province. In the 80’s, keeping in touch meant writing letters. No, not e-mails, but handwritten letters that took about a week to send by mail. Giddy teenagers that we were, we exchanged stories all throughout high school and sent each other our latest photos with our high school buddies. By the time, we reached 4th year high school, Melissa spoke of the possibility of attending the University of the Philippines (UP), where I was already attending high school and where I hoped to continue my university studies. I promised to send her a letter when the results of the entrance exams came out. When they did, however, I did not see her name on the list of new students. Thus, I decided not to send her a letter.
The next thing I knew, she was telling me that she was attending college at UP. I was surprised and felt guilty that I hadn’t looked closely enough for her name.
And so our freshman year at the same university started – without us seeing each other. Cellphones were not yet in vogue then so it was not easy to keep in touch even with someone who was probably just around the corner. Then one day, inside the G Miranda Bookstore on campus, I bumped into Melissa. We stared at each other for a few seconds before both letting out a loud , “Oh my God!”
Unfortunately, we could only squeeze in a few lines because I was late for an appointment and had to rush. After that chance meeting, the rest of college life was uneventful for us.
Fast forward to 1995. I was in Ontario, Canada visiting my friend, Brenda. Brenda left before we could finish college and she was continuing her education in Toronto. I would oftentimes tag along whenever she went to class but always stayed in the library while waiting for her. While having lunch one day, she introduced me to one of her Filipino classmates named Brian. Brian started to ask me about home, the Philippines. He told me where he was from and that he remembered a girl he had had a crush on since high school. I told him that I knew someone from his province named Melissa. He said, “Oh, that is also the name of the girl I like so much.” Then, I went on to tell him my pen friend’s full name. Then Brian gaped at me. “That’s the name of the girl I want to marry!”
It turned out that that Brian and Melissa were high school batchmates before Brian left the Philippines.
“What?! Oh, my God?! Really?! What a small world!”, was all could say in my utter amazement.
The following year, I was back in Manila, Philippines. I went out for dinner and a movie with some friends one night. They invited a guy named James to join us. James was a visitor from Mississauga, Canada. After dinner, we were walking to the movie theater when I tried to make small talk with James and asked him about his family in the Philippines. He told me his relatives were from Nueva Vizcaya. I told him nonchalantly that I knew someone from there.
“Solano”, that’s where my friend is from, ” I said.
“Don’t tell me your family is from there,” I joked.
He said, “Yes, they are.”
“Oh, don’t tell me you know Melissa (I mentioned her surname).”
“She’s my cousin.” James said.
“No way. I don’t believe this!”
This is a story that I never grow tired narrating to people. And each time, I could only smile and be amused at how the lives of two individuals, who otherwise exist independently of each other, intertwine at several points.
Melissa is not my best friend. We do not celebrate our birthdays together. We do not bother to announce to each other the important milestones in our lives. We do not hang out together. All of our encounters are unplanned.
But because of this story, I always speak of her fondly. And whenever we see each other, I do feel like some cosmic force binds our lives together. She must feel that way, too.
And did I mention that the men we married knew each other from college?
And that Melissa’s sister was my colleague at my first job?
I am already looking forward to the next encounter…
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