This is an edited copy of my letter to toni aure on her special day 5 years ago.

Who would think that a loudmouth im-not-a-friggin-girl-im-not-even-a-woman would be friends with a relatively new, extremely-shy-inside-but-loud-outside-girl-sometimes-a-boy-in-a-wrongly-sewn-uniform? Well, that’s highschool life for me. Senior year would not be complete without me wondering what the hell tadpole meant in her life.. since I was naive in terms of the other worlds.. pink/blue/black/white and that banana language would have boggled me to death if not for the guru in Toni Aure. It was because of her that I studied in DLSU since I thought – heck maybe we’d be even closer when we step into college – and close we were (and she did a bit of cajoling actually) and besides, I did like the com arts program which would later prove a futile attempt since we did not major together…

The first two years of my college life – filled with laughter, tears, numerous crushes, curvas, debuts(Gaaad forgive my booboo during nikki’s debut and let us not bring that up whenever we have new guys around…)and endless love songs…(i cringe when i think of the crushes).. Even if she had so many friends(she hasn’t changed since highschool), with her endless appointments with different people, she never fails to write a letter to me. However short, we exchange letters almost everyday even if we were just a seat away from each other. I still have the post-it with the words “jebenemobonon! anjan na sha! be still my heart!” but I still remain firm that I would like to forget that part of my life – i only kept it because of the sender. It was until i majored that we sorta lost a bit of the closeness we once shared.

She says that I never actually knew how she felt, but I guess I haven’t made it clear that I was actually lonely without her! No more noisy classes for me, no more teachers ganging up on us, no more gaylords, no more moralists seething with anger everytime she cursed.. how boring. It was all serious shit from then on.. can u believe? venneth who once cried (pathetic attempt at drama) because of this stupid gay teacher who kept on ganging up the three ”maria’s”, was to be without a partner for the rest of her remaining college life?

WAWA naman.

But all ends well since I was able to graduate FINALLY after another gaylord tried to destroy my life.. and now.. though this sounds like a eulogy(which it isnt!!!), she’s in the US as an OFW (though she doesn’t really send any dollars so can we still classify her as OFW??? ), terrorizing a lot of American kids… and I hope she’s still befriending people like she used to… her friends miss her terribly as I do too.. and since it’s her bday today dec 17 (yuck gurangis), I would like to greet tonio a happy happy happy happy birthday! I hope she does not remain the same and she marries a mexican so they can curse all they want and have no moralists at her neck all the time… I will forever treasure her and i will never forget her since she apparently hasn’t forgotten about me

***

A few things have  changed – our boobs got bigger, we got a bit fatter in the middle, and well.. we’re both wearing heels now, although she wears it more often than I do – but I guess the rest remains the same. She still curses, I still love boys, and she still loves…haHahaHa.

I love you toni! and to everyone who’s reading this, I hope you’re as lucky as I am to find a friend who’s as awesome as her

Happy Birthday Toni Aure from ven santos on Vimeo.