love ko to...

It was a sweaty ordinary day. After attending to the hassles of my friggin existence, which is nothing but normal, I found myself groping for shots of sanity. The FX ride was hellish, the traffic was horrendous and the sun really had a very bad humor when I mistakenly sat on the wrong side of the vehicle where it shone directly on my forehead.

I wanted to end the day at four in the afternoon, but for some reasons, I alighted at Mindanao Avenue and went straight to my tambayan during my high school days, Mcdo sa tapat ng ja mes.

Nothing much had changed except for the unfamiliar faces of the crew and the manager and the new male restroom’s door knob. It was the same old sight near the window overlooking our seemingly endless under-renovation high school campus. They have not changed the interior, even the seats and what do you know, they still have not changed the table where I carved my immortality six years ago.

And surprisingly enough, I ordered the same old meal I used to buy, burger mcdo meal, upsized coke and fries with extra catsup and salt. I did not intend to just because I was in the mood to reminisce that day, believe me.

However, the place was eerily silent. Aside from Nina singing her own rendition of love moves blah blah, no one made the same noise we were making years ago. And yes I was sited alone, no one bushwhacked my fries and sipped on my soda, no one to pop mcdo straws with, no one to make mcdo desert composed of soda, catsup, gravy and sundae with a French fry on the top for garnish with, no one to laugh with.

That made all biggest difference. I was sad to see that picture of course but I did not cry heaven’s sake!

Five years after high school graduation, I have grown my mustache, I have blown up because I stopped doing push ups, I took the road less traveled by many and became a youth leader, I have grown up. Mcdo sa tapat ng ja mes remained the same even though jabby landed across the street.

And I have become a child with my friends, we laughed, we cried. We dreamt, we achieved and we grew. And tomorrow we will go places. And mcdo became the silent witness of our antics. And it will stay there. It will await our return and it will become a towering reminder of the child we all once became.

It was seven in the evening when I decided to finish my nostalgic ride with memories. I ate up two orders of burger mcdo meal, upsized coke and fries with extra catsup and salt and a cup of hot fudge…

And once again I became a child…I carved my second serving with immortality on their table…. “Bangi was here”