Childhood Friends

My memory is not dependable nowadays but I do know that I had a happy childhood.

My siblings and I would spend most of it outside our house playing with the other kids in the neighborhood. We would play patintero, pico, habulan or whatever game we could think of until the sun would go down. Our maid/yaya would yell out threats from inside the house as we refused to come in even when it's our bedtime.

In the early 90's, our playmates from the corner house had to move away. I remember missing them so much. I have this vivid sensory memory of their house always smelling like newly baked cookies or cakes. I thought we would never see them again but apparently, the world is not as big as I thought it is.

A few days ago, I was looking for a person in the village who can bake Basti's 2nd birthday cake. As we won't have a party, I just wanted a simple cake for him. Googled spewed out Bohemia Cakes which apparently had an address which is 2 houses away from our home. I asked my husband and in-laws and though they know about the house, they're not aware that there's a bakery there.

I searched for the owner's name and a familiar name popped up. Through the wonders of Mark Zuckerberg's creation called Facebook, I was able to find a name to match the face. My memory was then kicking my brain telling me that I know this person and everything connected. I was still not yet 100% sure if she's my childhood friend so I sent her a message in Facebook. She replied a few minutes later with an affirmative.

Like someone who's suffering from amnesia, bits and pieces of our childhood came trickling back--the scent of their home, the games we used to play...but basically how happy we were.

A few more FB messages, we managed to set a time and I just came back from having tea with her. I saw her mom, brother and dad and they're the same welcoming people who I met years and years ago.

It was great to see her again and I can't wait to reconnect with her. We spent more than an hour catching up and she invited me back to their house. I can't wait to go back.