A Missed High School Reunion and Why?

I really wanted to go to my Notre Dame High School reunion but dearth of funds prevented me from doing so. In the two weeks prior to the event, I was quietly hoping to win the lottery and make a surprise appearance, but that dream never happened. Imagine me showing up unannounced at my mother’s doorstep. She probably wouldn’t have believed it was me. Let’s see, here is what it all boiled down to. It would have cost about  $1,200 for a round trip ticket to and from Los Angeles to Manila to Zamboanga. Add a couple more grand to that for expenses and money for mom, well, that just made it unaffordable based on my income. Even if I didn’t have to pay the mortgage, bills, and other living expenses, that amount would have taken three months of work to earn. If I was an RN, half a month would have been enough (saying that with envy). I should have chosen a better major in college if I was able to predict then where I would end up now. Well, that’s life. While I was contemplating this, I didn’t even know if my passport was current or already expired so I better dig it out and check (it doesn’t expire until February 2015). I’d better start saving a little bit here and there starting now so hopefully I would have adequate funds in a couple of years for the next reunion which would be our 40^th anniversary. I’m not that old, am I?

 Some of you already know why I haven’t been able to save the last two years. I’ve been searching for an alternative aerobic exercise to running and had bought several equipment starting from a treadmill, an elliptical machine, a road bike, and a spinning bike. In anticipation of my worsening ankle tendons, I had to find a replacement activity the satisfy my daily exercise needs and the search for an endorphin high. But these machines cost a lot of money, ergo, no savings to speak of for two years. Add to that the dental surgery with sleep anesthesia the last couple of years and  partial dentures afterwards, I’m surprised I’m not in the red today.

So there you go my dear classmates. In the end it was all a dollars and cents issue or the lack thereof. Sorry to have missed joining you in the joyous occasion especially when the men were woefully underrepresented. You don’t know how envious I am of all of you who could make it there. I did enjoy looking at all the pictures you posted and the chats we had on Facebook regarding all the activities before and after the event. I don’t know how my social anxiety would have fared had I been there, but I’m sure it would have been manageable within a few minutes of seeing you all again after 38 years. I pray we shall meet again at our 40^th anniversary. More power to the Notre Dame High School Class of 1973! Hail, Hail to Notre Dame!

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