Pretty Women

We were classmates in grade school- or elementary school as we knew it. We were graduates of the year 1966- the era of the twist, Elvis and the Beatles.

There are eleven of us in the group which we call Batch 66. Abeng, Alice, Elvie, Guy, Liza and I make up the girls. The boys include Hermie, Lito, Bandong, Geny and my hubby, Ding. Among us girls, Abeng is our designated Nanay. Most of the time she brings us to places she’d been to and she feeds us the specialty of the place. She is the most kalog among us . Her one-liners always elicit a lot of laughter among us girls. ( Funny how four years short of being senior citizens, we still call ourselves GIRLS) Alice is the tagatawa. All jokes are a hit with her. She always brings us her specialty-adobong mani with lots of garlic. Guy used to be the sakitin in the group. I grabbed the title from her. ( 3 hospital confinements in 6 months, kaya nyo yun?) Now she’s our doctor. She’s armed with a med tech degree, anyway. She and Abeng are sangang-dikit. But no worry, there is no space for jealousy in the group. Liza is the wife of an OFW. In her husband’s absence, she spends her free time for church activities. Elvie used to be a teacher like me. But for health reasons, she decided to retire early. Now she works in her hubby’s engineering office. ( Parallel lives kami. I also work for my hubby, but it’s about time I quit. So stressful. The only bonus is I get to sleep with my boss).

We girls make it a point to meet regularly-with or without the boys. And we so enjoy each other’s company. We each have our own individuality, but together, we are one in terms of caring for one another and sharing each other’s highs and lows. God really has a way of giving us what we really need. At this point in our lives when our candles are slowly being consumed, He gathered us altogether to make the light brighter as we go along our way. Life may really be coming full circle for us now.

In pictures, from the top- Saling ( your blogger), Abeng, Alice, Guy, Elvie & Liza, the pretty women of Batch 66. Pictures taken at Abeng's Rennaisance condo unit in Ortigas July 27, 2009.