Hi everyone! What’s up for today? I hope all is good. This is my first time posting in this community @SilverBloggers. I look forward to sharing more ventures and learning in this community. I’m so excited to connect and exchange ideas with you. Today, I will share something close to my heart, friendship goals.
We are 13 best friends who have been together since high school. Decades have passed yet our connection remains steady as ever. We named our group “The Smart Ambassadors”, SMARTIES for short. We came up with this name because we were in the Top 12 of the whole first-year level until we graduated. Not to brag but we are smart and talented. Our teen years were full of memories, laughter and naughtiness that can make us smile. Those moments will always be a great part of us.
Now some of us live in different countries, but the distance has not changed the way we connect. We had a group chat to share our disappointments, achievements and thoughts about life, the happy and sad moments.
This gathering happened last year when three of us went home to the Philippines. I was home a bit earlier than the two. The Smarties planned right away a get-together before the two girls arrived. We are incomplete, some can’t be home due to work-related commitments and distance makes it even harder.
The day has come, the getaway will be overnight. Excitement filled the air before we got inside the car, hugging, laughing and picture-taking. The place was a bit far from our home town, it took two hours to get there. But before we go to our destination we do some side trips. The first stop was a coffee shop, where we ordered different kinds of coffee, latte, cappuccino, black and frappe. While having a good cup of coffee, our laughter filled the store, we didn’t mind some customers. Just in front of the cafe’ was a supermarket, we went there to grab some chips and of course a wine. More posing shots happened even inside the store and arguing about what kind of wine we get. The second stop was Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto, we prayed and took some pictures.
We proceed to Balay Puti for our lunch. This was originally built in 1920. The heritage house underwent a makeover and reopened as a fine-dining restaurant. That time we were only the customers so we did a lot of poses and enjoyed ourselves as if we were back in high school.
The next stop was St. James the Greater Church, our hearts were full of gratitude for all the blessings in our lives. We gave thanks for the friendship, the time we had each other and the love that continues our bond. We lifted also our prayers for our family for good health, protection and happiness.
It’s almost late afternoon, we headed to the place where we will be having our overnight, The Balay Bukid. A place you can unwind with a scenic view of the mountains and the place was perfect.
We settled our things in our room, then we changed for our pictorials. We wore white blouses and denim shorts and had a friendship necklace. After so many poses, we spent the rest of our time teasing each other just like teenage years. Memories flooded back, we giggled endlessly talking about our crushes, first loves and heartbreaks. There were days that we slipped away from the class just to watch a movie around a Betamax player. Then were caught and punished to an entire day of kneeling in the chapel with rosary beads in our hands. Those memories make us laugh louder and that was the best years of our lives, filled with happiness and rebellion that only youth can bring. After all those talks and reminiscing, it’s time for our dinner. We prepared our packed food on the table and each of us had our assignments. We enjoyed our meal because we chose our favorite dishes. Came deeper conversations, about our life-changing moments, the trials and struggles, marriages, parenthood and the lessons of life that have taught us. We looked back on our journey with a sense of pride. We’re all successful and achieved our dreams.
After dinner, went to our room, refreshed and done with all our skincare. Opened the wine had a toss, and was ready for the night's laughter. We sang old songs and even danced. Time seemed so irrelevant, we just enjoyed being together. As the night stretched, one of the besties opened her big pouch full of makeup, lipsticks and perfumes. All of us were excited to get each of those. Endless laughter is still present and the moment of truth we were hit by the wine we drink, makes us tipsy and forces us to lie down in bed and sleep.
As we woke up, laughter filled the room, talked about last night's happening. We had our breakfast, took an early swim in the pool. We made sure not to miss another pictorial session. We dressed up and our theme was colorful attire. We struck with different poses, played around with angles and even pulled off some fun jump shots. Every click of the camera captured our smile with pure joy. We’re 50s and we didn’t mind our age, it’s just a number, but the energy and laughter we shared keep us all forever young.
As we went home, we never stopped talking and laughing, no boredom would take its place. There were no tears as we said goodbyes, only smiles. The SMARTIES, we will always have each other’s back, together we will keep this friendship forever.
Photos taken using Samsung S24 Ultra
Edited thru Canva
