Dear Juned,
I finally found the email you send almost ten years ago. That email that made me so mad at you for sending. It never occurred to me that the day would come. I had a hard time finding it because you always had a beautiful way of putting words together. I write the way I talk and that's probably why all the search words I was using didn't work. It took me almost two days since I found out you were gone.
I was enroute to visit my MIL at the cemetery when Karla pinged me. I've been a zombie since then and it didn't help that I've been suffering from food poisoning too. I could just imagine you dispensing advise on what I could do to alleviate my condition. That's what you've always been to me my dear friend.
Funny I don't even remember exactly when we met, but our friendship just grew through the years. When I was trying to find the email I found a gazillion chat messages between us. It always started with a good morning from you checking on me and it continued for many years. Our chat sessions dwindled eventually and we only managed to catch up whenever I went home and squeezed in time to meet. The last time we got together was January last year when you hosted a dinner with blogger friends at your new pad.
I have so many happy memories with you Juned. The events we both attended were just excuses to meet up and do our tsismis sessions in person. There were also lots of trips! One of the most memorable was when you went to Baguio and typhoon Yolanda hit. I insisted you stay with us. We all stayed in my room. I only managed to sleep through the scary winds because you were there. Then there was our trek up Borobudur. It was an achievement for both of us because I just had heart surgery and you had to go up with assistance. Good thing JR and Vanj were there to take care of us.
Of course, you were our lifesaver during our wedding. Our bridal car did not show up and after reception both our parents left Jay and me to fend for ourselves. We both didn't have any money to take a taxi back to the hotel and so your Ford Fiera instantly became bridal one. I think from everything that happened during that day that's one memory I will always cherish.
I finally found the email you send almost ten years ago. That email that made me so mad at you for sending. It never occurred to me that the day would come. I had a hard time finding it because you always had a beautiful way of putting words together. I write the way I talk and that's probably why all the search words I was using didn't work. It took me almost two days since I found out you were gone.
I was enroute to visit my MIL at the cemetery when Karla pinged me. I've been a zombie since then and it didn't help that I've been suffering from food poisoning too. I could just imagine you dispensing advise on what I could do to alleviate my condition. That's what you've always been to me my dear friend.
Funny I don't even remember exactly when we met, but our friendship just grew through the years. When I was trying to find the email I found a gazillion chat messages between us. It always started with a good morning from you checking on me and it continued for many years. Our chat sessions dwindled eventually and we only managed to catch up whenever I went home and squeezed in time to meet. The last time we got together was January last year when you hosted a dinner with blogger friends at your new pad.
Of course, you were our lifesaver during our wedding. Our bridal car did not show up and after reception both our parents left Jay and me to fend for ourselves. We both didn't have any money to take a taxi back to the hotel and so your Ford Fiera instantly became bridal one. I think from everything that happened during that day that's one memory I will always cherish.
Thank you Juned for the 12+ years of friendship. For being a great listener, for all the stories (even though sometimes you'd doze off midway!), for bailing me out of situations, for being a great supporter (you were always there for all my events!), for everything I have learned from you (some photography skills yo!), for the respect, the trust, for being a true great friend. I love you my friend, you can now have your bottomless crispy pata and Coke without Fritz the pulis getting mad at you. I'll do my best to do your wishes. See you at the end of the rainbow.
Love, your friend,
Aileen
*Juned's wake will be from Thursday to Saturday at the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral (map).
