01.24.08
Augmenters of Loves
Cebu never looked as hushed and profound when the glorious moon eclipsed Water
Front’s fairy-tale grandeur so early that morning…
and Vinz was at the wheel
driving extra miles out of his comfort zone to serve friendship.
My eyes crept back and forth between the moon
and Vinz, and saw him as “a traveling companion but on a different kind of
journey,” a line by C. S. Lewis whose reflections on friendship remain
unsurpassed – based on my own reading experience and assessment, at least. In that moment, friendship embraced and
warmed me, and rescued me from the emotional-vehicle-aurora draught.
I was in Cebu because of an unrelenting urge to be with
Tonet. One and twenty is simply too
early an age to lose both parents. I had
to know her state, I had to see with my own eyes whether she was alright or
not, I had to be there for Franz and I, and attempt to be of some reassurance
but especially remind her of the One source of comfort and Love.
Being
driven by such a mighty impulse left me no time to think of hotel
vacancies and other preparations… and that led me to Mae’s doorstep.
Mae, a
childhood best friend who later became Tonet’s choir-mate in college, welcomed
me without hesitation and walked in the rain with me – literally and
metaphorically, as we have always done for each other.
Vinz, also
a childhood best friend who turned out to be Tonet’s instructor in college,
helped Reji and I clean up the chapel by mopping the floors at 4 in the
morning, providing us with a hot breakfast, and offering his driving expertise –
notwithstanding that wrong turn in a one-way road. =P
Marie Vic,
whose mutual concern for Tonet and care for my safety touched me.
Jeremiah,
who helped me pray for Tonet’s strength… and such a powerful prayer that the
answer manifests itself in Tonet’s being!
The
Quartet. “Drawn apart together from the herd,” (Franz, Reji, Tonet, and I),
whose presence in each other’s soul inspires and builds each other up – each
one bringing out the unique light of the other, and each one, “augmenting our
loves.”
What I did
not foresee was that in my attempt to “be there” for one friend, others in turn
lent and shared their hearts and hands and proved that our lives were not
merely intertwined by coincidence, but rather, bound by a greater cause – a
greater truth.
Vinz asked
what I was doing when I strained my neck to get a glimpse of the sky as we
drove down the same road for the second time that day… “I just wanted to see
the sky,” I replied with a smile… but not only that, my heart whispered. I was giving thanks to God for true friends that exceed the number of fingers I have in one hand. I was thanking God for friendship.
