I mentioned yesterday that I moved to America in the sixth grade. I exchanged some letters with my friend Steve Landsteamer, and I think he shared it with some of our chums in class. One of them decided to write me as well. That was Connie Lingus, and we actually became pretty good pen pals.
Now since she's female, I'd like to clarify that I never sensed any romantic interest from her. Either that, or I was just too dense and didn't notice it. For my part, I never looked at her that way even since grade school.
Connie turned out to be one of those people who kept the friends together. Some of us moved away or went to different schools, and she pretty much kept in touch with everybody. If anybody wondered how someone somewhere was doing, the first person you would ask was Connie.
In the Philippines, kids generally don't go to seventh and eighth grade. They go straight to high school after grade six. This is mostly due to economics to save parents and schools money. Kids are given more freedom and more responsibility at an earlier age.
Connie wrote to me about our friends, about projects, classroom antics and everything else. She shared about all the adventures they would go on, about road trips and spending the night at the beach. I was very jealous of them. I wished I could have been there with me. Meanwhile, they probably thought I was having a great time living in the United States. But it was very lonely for me.
By the time I returned, everyone from our class was just about to graduate college. Most of my friends didn't know I was back. Steve and Connie took me with them and rounded everyone up, saying, "Guess who's back?" Some were excited, some tried to hide their apathy. We had lunch at Connie's family's restaurant. It was closed at the time but she rustled up some food for us. The place was by the roadside surrounded by farmland and had a nice view of the mountains behind it. And of course, being fed for free is always apreciated.
We planned a little reunion at a cottage by the beach and invited everyone we could find. Some were able to make it, and some didn't show. I provided the food which my family cooked. It wasn't as fun as I had pictured it. Everyone had just graduated and most were worried about finding jobs and what to do next. It was mostly somber really. Also, most of the topics of conversation were recalling stuff that they did together during high school, so mostly I just sat and listened. I didn't talk much because I don't usually like being the center of attention. But now that I think about it, maybe I should have tried harder. I did appreciate having everyone there though.
A few years later, Connie went to the States for vacation. She told me she would be in New York and invited me to hang out. I said I would meet her, but I totally flaked out. One main reason was that I was broke. She let me know later on that she was disappointed. I felt bad about that. I still regret it now. And then after that, we kind of slowly stopped communicating.
Here are a couple of memories about her in childhood. I always associate "Winter Wonderland" with her. In the third grade, she brought a tape of that song. I think she was doing some kind of a presentation with it, dancing to it or singing it or something, either alone or with a group. That was the first time I ever heard that song and I always remember her when I hear it.
Around the third or fourth grade, we had a spelling bee, and she and I were the finalists. There was some kind of thing going on, a commencement ceremony maybe, and our teacher wanted to get it out of the way. While the previous rounds were done in class, the final round was just the two of us and it was written. I don't remember if the other rounds were written either. I remember thinking I got everything right, although the word "balloon" kind of threw me off.
We handed in our papers and went back outside to watch the events. After a while, I noticed Connie giving away candy to everyone, including me. She had won the contest, and it was her prize. It was very nice of her. I didn't care much about winning either, but I always wondered what word I got wrong. And I never thought to ask.
No comments:
Post a Comment