death becomes him

Today, I went to Holy Gardens Cemetery in Antipolo with Migs and Veej to visit Delro, their sophomore HS classmate who left this world at the tender age of 15 years. That fateful day was April 11, 1999; it was an alleged suicide more than 7 years ago.

We positioned the flowers on the stone. And silence fell among the three of us.

For a time, Migs and I were just quietly standing beside his tombstone, while Veej was generously cleaning his space. Migs was taking memento pictures here and there, while Veej would mutter about how inconsiderate the cemetery administration was for allowing tractors to pass by the tombs. Throughout that time, I could feel the chill of nostalgia, mixed with the warmth of eternal friendship.

Migs and Veej started sharing stories about the person that was Paolo Del Rosario, fondly called "Delro." This dude broke so many girls' hearts, started the "Raw is War" tradition, was part of the contingent who destroyed a VCD player in one of those "playing hooky" days and so many more. And I said to myself, here were two friends, with unspeakable and honorable loyalty, visiting an old friend with such tenderness and faithfulness that transcends mortal life. I could not help but feel overpoweringness amidst them.

Sometimes, it is so convenient for people facing a difficult reality to forget. To shut out the noise of the truth. But to me, the ultimate manifestation of inner strength and love is to face and accept and bow down to the reality that is called life --- including everything that goes with it --- while remaining sincere and loyal a year or seven years or decades henceforth.

I don't think I have ever seen loyalty among friends as strong as what I witnessed today.