MESSAGE FROM ROILO

MESSAGE FROM ROILO

Dear classmates:

As we celebrate the 55th Anniversary of our Quirino High School graduation, let us first shout: THANK YOU LORD! BUHAY PA TAYO, MASAYA, NAGKAKAISA SA PAG CELEBRATE NG HINDI MAKALIMUTANG YUGTO NG ATING BUHAY!  

I once read in an international magazine: “For better or worse, we never forget high school.” The romantic crushes, many unrequited, the wonderful and sometimes embarrassing moments, adolescence, puberty, sexual awakening, parental and teacher pressure, songs, triumphs and frustrations, hopes, fears and anxieties about the future  and many more unforgettable moments. Universal pala ang high school memories, hindi lang tayo.

I had long wondered why high school memories are so embedded and unforgettable. Then I learned what psychologists call the “reminiscence bump” which is the tendency for older adults to have increased recollection for events that occurred during their adolescence and early adulthood. Now we know why the tug of high school is so strong, so irresistible. Feeling good about high school is just being human.

We've had a long journey, we have received so many blessings along the way. The blessings of family, love, undying friendships, wisdom and many more to be thankful for. 

We have changed a lot in many ways, but in many ways we have also remained unchanged. There will always be that high school teener inside us, in spite of all the life experiences, blissful and not so blissful, we have gone through. That teener comes out whenever we get together and engage in endless banter and affection.

Now, we gather like bothers and sisters. We have become closer. We in the Philippines get together more often, like almost every month now, to enjoy sharing stories of moments long gone, many of which have been retold many times but we don’t mind listening to them again and again, as though retelling them would bring us back to our high school days.  

In our 50th Anniversary Reunion, we sang the lines of “Those Were The Days.” 

I would like to end by repeating these lines that I feel are becoming more meaningful with each passing year.

Oh my friend we're older but no wiser

For in our hearts the dreams are still the same

Those were the days my friend

We thought they'd never end

We'd sing and dance forever and a day

We'd live the life we choose

We'd fight and never lose

For we were young and sure to have our way.

La la la la...

Those were the days, oh yes those were the days.’