kodak moment

i had a kodak moment recently that i should have seen coming but had been laboring under the delusion that time stops after college that the moment caught me off-guard.

one of my close friends from college recently got engaged to be married. and our group, a bunch of four unmarried girls, met up for dinner to catch up and to see her ring.

it was surreal, that moment. one second, we were all giggling and carrying on like a bunch of thirteen year-olds. the next second, we all fell into a reverent hush as the engagement ring on my friend's finger sparkled prettily in our midst. there was a split second where a zillion thoughts zinged through my mind -- this is the girl i had giggled with on the first day of orientation in college. this is the girl i had watched cry when her family fell apart. this is the girl who was reprimanded by our teacher for eating in class. and this is the girl i had always envied for her enchanting use of words and images.

this bunch of girls has been in my life for more than a decade, and having them in my life stops time. it doesn't matter if we were college seniors having lunch in the caf or semi-struggling yuppies having dinner in makati.

time stops.

we are simply angel ines justine lissa, perpetually young, forever laughing, eternally frozen at a time of life where everything is perfect.