Last, but definitely not the least, I'm reminded of what made our high school journey so special & unforgettable.  Let's refresh our memory and reminish those happy moments, such as, house-to-house caroling & gift-giving to a friend or loved one around Christmastime (my sister & Mom used to make  kalame ube and suman latik   and I shared & delivered it to a special classmate the night before Christmas;) picnicking, following up school projects, or just cutting classes at Bayto River, Bato ni Barang beach, Crasher natural lagoon, and Guisguis where our group ended up picking up lomboy/Filipino black cherries & kasuy/cashew fruits after eating rice & sardines with peasants in their humble nipa hut; serving Mass with our Columban priests in far-flung villages during barrio fiestas which sometimes culminated at swimming in the ocean of West Philippines Sea (formerly known as South China Sea) in Candelaria or Sta. Cruz. 

What about the times during junior year when we beat the seniors in basketball & volleyball intramurals, student council election, and won first prize for best & most original Christmas tree? Or, singing  Barong Tagalog while wearing one as a sophomore contestant and beating all freshman, junior & senior class solo singers during our school convocation and being sent to Iba, the provincial capitol to represent our school and placing second to Mae of St. Augustine Academy who sang a Filipino aria and became a fellow lead singer & founding member of UST Action Singers, the official singing group of the Catholic University of Santo Tomas during college freshman year. For me, the icing on the cake (thanks to our sophomore Math teacher Mrs. Ponsaran who found the song and let me sing it) was not winning the town fiesta's amateur singing contest later on while belting the same song, but rather reinforcing my love for music to this day by singing lullabies to my granddaughter while putting her to sleep.

How about having your first crush, composing a poem and memorializing it by having it cartographed in Manila and giving it to her in freshman year (although nothing beats your one true love today  whom you have shared your matrimonial bed with for 36 years,) getting introduced to smoking for 10 years after puffing your 1st cigarettte stick in high school sophomore year, getting really drunk in junior year, or French kissing & losing your virginity (in your dreams, or maybe in reality) in senior high.

Or, remember your best friends in high school?  Our classmates who kept our hormones or sanity intact because we were clueless about what's really happening inside and around us?  Some of us were so innocent or naive that we didn't know how to become political that early and manipulate the system or do our bidding. Fortunately, not everyone could be influenced that easily; and those teachers & fellow students whom we thought had done us the greatest good deserve from us, not just a thank you, but also individual gifts instead of class presents, for helping us grow professionally, and as a person, later in life.

 (To be concluded in 2021....)

​6. Let's keep our reunion simple & manageable by focusing on our goal, that is, to reminisce & enjoy each other's company again, 50 years after saying goodbye, see you later, please release me, or till death do us part to each other (just kidding!) and refrain from using our priceless two reunion days for personal promotion, merchandizing, fundraising, or charitable giving, in order to keep our cost down. However, if you would like to raise funds, give gifts or donate money to a classmate, teacher, Santa Cruz Academy, or St. Michael Church (which some of us had already done by donating money to Fr. Montes for the procurement, sculpting & installation of the stone statue of St. Michael the Archangel at the facade of the church, and to the Academy for the purchase of volleyball uniforms of SCA players, etc.,) then you can still do that on your own (like my wife & I did without funfare; and also  in my other hometown of Macabebe, Pampanga, every time we visited the Philippines, and through our ministry.) But again, do not forget to bring unmarked raffle prizes if you can, such as cash prizes for TV, washing machine, microwave, fridge, or bottle of wine, box of cigars, chocolate for our classmates in the Philippines, and the world famous fresh or dried mangoes of Sta. Cruz or native delicacies for our classmates abroad, and give them to the emcee at the beach for the concluding raffle on the last day of our reunion.

7. After doing my research online, attending parties such as weddings & family reunions for the last 2 years in Manila & Pampanga, and based on the comments I read online or heard from classmates, the cost for attending our Golden Jubilee for those who can afford to pay should be: PHP500 for the party, PHP500 at the beach, PHP500 for miscellaneous fees such as T-shirt, banner, Thanksgiving Mass offering, etc., and PHP500 for 30% inflation adjustment in 3 years, or for a total of PHP2,000/$40 per person; plus another PHP2,000, for a total of PHP4,000/$80 if you bring your spouse.  Now, if you work abroad & retired anywhere in the world, then you need to pay additional PHP4,000/$80 as a sponsor to 2 classmates in the Philippines who cannot afford to pay, for a total of PHP8,000 or $160 for the 4 of you. However, the total cost for those who can afford to pay, whether you work, live or retired overseas or in the Philippines, must sponsor 2 classmates, and brings his or her spouse will be PHP10,000/$200, if you miss the deadline for payment.

8. We should encourage & motivate everyone of our classmates to attend, whether they have the means or not. If they don't have the means, then they should pay nothing. However, they cannot bring their spouse, unless another well-off classmate is willing to sponsor them both on time and pay PHP10,000/$200 before the deadline. Also, may I suggest that instead of hiring a photographer, let's have the spouses who will be attending to be the official recorders or camera persons for this event, and share the videos & photos in our Event Page online, so that we can copy them.

9.  Also, may I suggest that the deadline for the remittance of payment will be on June 1, 2019 for the non-refundable deposit of one person, or PHP2,000/$40; while the full payment shall be due no later than December 1, 2019. However, for whatever reason you may have, please don't forget to contact our producers, or any classmate locally or abroad, whether you are coming, or not.

10. And, please don't forget to include all  of our classmates, whether deceased or alive, in any of your prayers; but most specially, pray for the success of our Golden Reunion in 2021.

(To be concluded, definitely!)

Finally, here are my top 10 suggestions regarding our 2021 Golden Jubilee or SCA Class of 1971 Grand Reunion & Homecoming:

1. First of all, we need 2 committees, here abroad & in the Philippines, composed of one coordinator who is in charge of the commitee in coordinating the reunion meetings & activities on both sides of the Pacific (like Isagani,) 3 promoters who will get the word out (Arlin, Lilia Misa & Josie Gumba,) 3 producers who will make this affair happen by finding & informing our classmates abroad (Antonio, Dionisio & Mario Abrera,) and 2 Treasurers who will open a class bank account in the US to track collections & expenses, with both of their signatures necessary to transact business & disbursement, and with prior approval of the commitee (maybe Delia & myself.) N.B.: Another set of commitee members in the Philippines will communicate thru social media or teleconference with the commitee above, and vice-versa.

2. Lock down & save the date in everybody's calendar. Some of us overseas, like me, would have preferred the days right after New Year so that we could spend Christmas also with family & friends in the Philippines; but most of our classmates in the US liked the cheaper air fares in February (as long as it does not conflict with my wife's Valentine's Day reunion with her classmates, then we're fine.)

​3. I'm hoping that the promoters will create an Event Page or adopt an old one on Facebook, use hashtags, and post some memorable high school pictures asap, in order to get the excitement going regarding our Reunion, immediately after accepting their nominations.

4. Everyone must be dressed appropriately during the occasion.

5. Unlike our previous reunions, this will be bigger, a homecoming for some of us to our Town of Sta. Cruz, Community or Barangay, Parish of St. Michael & Santa Cruz Academy, well-attended by all sections, and golden or 50 years in the making; hence, we need at least 2 days to celebrate, starting with a Thanksgiving Mass & visiting our Alma Mater across the Church, and culminating in a luncheon or dinner dance in a Reception Hall, where every classmate will have 1 minute to say something; followed by a  picnic at the beach on the second day, with lots of fun & parlor games, swimming, food, drinks, karaoke singing & dancing, raffle drawing, and gift giving.

(To be concluded...) 

The success of  a reunion, whether it's among friends, relatives or classmates, depends on its goals, planning & execution.

​Is this grand reunion (with emphasis on the whole Graduating Class and not just Section A) geared towards having a great time together as a group after 50 years of pursuing our individual lives (except for a few classmates who ended up with each other;) or is it also a fundraiser in pursuit of our charitable & personal objectives? Shall it be formal, informal, semi-formal, contemporary, provincial, colorful, or elegant but subdued with a dinner-dance & throwback music in a hotel, school or reception hall, sacred with a Thanksgiving Mass initially for parochial school graduates like us, and then afterwards loud, fun-loving & mischievous (just kidding!) on the beach, which dots our town's seaboard?

How many people are we expecting, realistically? I guess it all depends on the cost for each person who can afford it; so why not let all Filipino expats & foreign workers pay for the whole affair?  But how about those classmates of ours in the Philippines who are well off and can pay for themselves and their spouses, or even sponsor those who cannot afford it?  And, how do we bring the cost down to make it easy and affordable for those who are paying for it? Should we make it a whole day or 2-day vibe in our town of Sta. Cruz, Zambales, or make a splash out of town, and let everyone chip in according to their means, minus the spouses or better halves?  Do you know any donors & sponsors, or a number of us who are willing to pay for the miscellaneous expenses, such as, T-shirts, banner, catering and bus fares?

Do we need a timeline, particularly the deadlines for non-refundable deposits, partial or full payment of dues in order to track the progress of early supporters of this commendable endeavor, or exact monetary penalties for late deciders, if necessary?

And in the grand scheme of things, have we thought of a simple but appropriate & noble theme for this once in a lifetime get-together that we cannot afford to miss, with or without a fee?

I think what I'm trying to say after listening in person and reading some of our classmates' feedbacks on Messenger is: Let's plan this reunion now by forming a commitee abroad & in the home country; lock down and save the date; and start finding all our classmates by communicating via social media, telephone calls, or old-fashioned word-of-mouth, while searching for those unretouched, non-photoshopped high school photographs & mementos, and post them on Facebook, Messenger, Instagram or other platforms, in order to ignite or rekindle our faded memories.

​(To be concluded...) 

                                                    "We'll meet again,
                                           Don't know where, don't know
                                                               when
                                            But I know we'll meet again,
                                                     some sunny day."
                                                        --Anonymous

In response to two of my high school classmates' querries during my recent birthday celebration at home regarding our upcoming reunion for Santa Cruz Academy Class of 1971, here are my two cents about the matter.

The first thing that popped inside my head when I read about the reunion for the first time online was: Isnt it too early to be talking about this which is not happening until three years from now?  I guess not; afterall, early birds catch the worms (especially for our classmates whom we havent seen or heard from since we finished our secondary education.)  Besides, this Golden Jubilee & Homecoming will be a milestone in our lives (myself included, as a culmination of my early job retirement, but not from work or vocation.) It's also a way of honoring our dear Alma Mater, beloved teachers, and most fittingly the memory of some of our classmates who had or could have gone before us, yet we have no knowledge of it, until this opportunity comes.  But above all, it's fun to reminisce the good old days, fifty years later.

Unfortunately, I've witnessed, heard & watched also some horrific reunion stories in reality and on the screen, which came about during supposedly grand reunions with classmates, friends & relatives; which reminds me of Joseph & his ten jealous brothers who betrayed and sold him early on out of envy & pride, and didn't recognize him when they reunited later in life due to famine; while Joseph knew it was them but pretended to be someone else.  I'm talking, of course, about Joseph in the Bible, and the amazing story of reunion & reconciliation with his 10 brothers.

But of all the top reunion scenes found in Sacred Scriptures & secular literature, I'm partial to that of Mary with her cousin Elizabeth because of it's urgency & poignancy (they were both pregnant,) magnificence (Mary's response,) and Divine Revelation (baby John the Baptist who was in Elizabeth's womb leapt with joy upon encountering Baby Jesus his Savior in His Mother Mary's womb!)  And that's the kind of joy that I am envisioning would transpire during the 50th anniversary of our high school graduation.

​(To be continued...)