Out of the blue I thought of Millie today. Who is Millie? I met Millie in college, freshman year. She’s one of the girls I hang out with. Since we were seated alphabetically (pathetic, right?) we always sit together, both of us have last names starting with M.
In college she wore her straight black hair short, an inch or two above shoulder with bangs. She wore red red lipstick on her nicely shaped lips. She also wore make-up, I thought too much for school setting. She kept her uniform (yes we did wear unis in university) above the knee, highlighting her beautifully-shaped legs, proportional for her short stature.
She was a Manilena, through and through. Okay to be more precise, she was from San Juan. One time we went to their house, I don't remember why.
Anyway, she belonged to the group of gals that I hang with on that freshman year. All of them are from the Metro area and I was the only one that’s from the province. I really felt like I was fresh off the boat for the most part whenever I was around them, or what we used to term, promdi (short for from the province).
She was very nice to me and she has that guile, womanly guile that only a Manilena would know at age 17. In my eyes she was mature beyond her years.
She moved away the next year. I heard she migrated to USA.
Years later, my bff from high school who also migrated to California was on the phone with me and out of nowhere she asked if I knew Millie. They bumped into each other in San Jose and they had me in common. Both of them shared individual experience of how we copied off each other during exams.
I really don’t have a reason for this post except that I realized that so many people come into our lives that are there only for a second or so. Then they’re gone forever. They move on to their own journey on this earth and our journey goes on without them.
Say for instance, all the people in all the classes I’ve been in the university. Out of a roomful of people, there’s one or two that would be important for a period of time, if not forever. What happens with the others?
I’ve lived in dormitories before. I’ve made life-long friends there. But there were more who I ate dinner with regularity and yet I cannot remember their names anymore. At one point in my life, I have shared a chuckle with so many people that have touched my life in some ways.
I don’t know what I’m talking about. But as I was looking at the photos of people I took in Venice, an idea is brewing in my mind. I think I’ll explore that idea further.
In the meantime, I wonder what happened to Millie. Would we recognize each other when we bump into each other? I could only wonder.
1 comment:
It is amazing how people come in and out of our lives. How people could have such significance but yet 10 years later, are just a memory. This made me think of my friend Leigh.
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