Bestfriends Forever!

Jamie Diane P. Revote is one person I can never forget.

I first met her way back in our kindergarden days were she enjoyed drinking milk and I enjoy eating tomatoes (for real!). She was quiet yet I was talkative (I was awarded as "Most Talkative" in Junior Casa). She's an angel-like kid and I was more of a fighter. She was shy to show her talents yet I am Little Miss Superstar. Despite our differences, we still clicked as good friends.

We didn't start out like what you usually see in the movies - we don't even have friendship rings or bracelets. She was always there to silently cheer for me whenever I receive my medals (Gone are the days!) and I was there constantly pushing her to fight her fear of public speaking. I was a bit more vocal about my feelings towards my classmate yet she was there-lurking.

We became better friends when we were already in Grade II. She would support me in my imaginary moomoo stories. Here's an example:

Me: May babaeng nakaputi dun sa bintana malapit sa basurahan nakatingin siya sa amin! Diba Jamie?

Jamie: Huh? Uhmmm.. Oo nakita namin

Then I pretended that a spirit went inside me and I started messing around with my bully classmates' lives. Sinakal ko sila haha and they believed na nasaniban ako. Tsktsk.

She was an accomplice and she never failed to share her stuff and ideas with me. We then met Corinna, the tallest girl among the trio. She is half pinay/scottish and she speaks good tagalog. We all wanted to sing and write our own songs thus the group JAM was born (Jamie Adamson Mica). I was the loudest in the group and some sort of a leader, but for some reasons, I felt like I can never make it without them.

We had a number of fights, usually about petty things like ballpens, notebooks and ponytales. I can never forget the days wherein we buy the ChupaChups Spice Girls Lollipop (we would contribute to come up with Php20 at least once a month - and I don't have any baon at all!). The Lollipop actually has a sticker, a pretty wrapper and of course, the lollipop. I usually get the sticker and I ended up misplacing the collection after the typhoon "Gading" where all of my Spice Girls collections were ruined .

We are jologs at heart. When we were in Grade III, the bookstore infront of the school usually sells pictures of artista worth Php5.00 per picture. Our collection mostly composed of Judy Ann Santos, Jolina Magdangal, G Toengi, Angelu de Leon, Angelika dela Cruz, Mylene Dizon and the rest of the TGIS and GIMIK barkada. We placed them in our wallets and yes, I used to have my own Judy Ann Santos Memorabilia too! It was made up of newspaper and magazine cutouts and I ended up selling it to a die hard Juday fan for Php100 (I could have sold it for a bigger price!).

We were Juday-Gladys fanatics. We watched all their films together and we also had our own versions of their sampalan and lubluban scenes. I often portrayed Gladys' character so I am the naughty girl! *grins*

We wrote our own songs and the Spice Girls were our inspiration. We had our own copies and we usually copy their dance steps and memorize the song lyrics. We tried to dress-up like them (big shoes, short skirts, sleeveless, pigtails and GIRL POWER shirts). We wanted to be like them!

When Ginger Spice resigned from the band, Corinna thought she's also out of the group! See, we were that serious!

Then when we reached Grade 6, she had to leave the country and went back to Scotland with her family. We used to write letters but all of a sudden, I didn't receive any news from her.

It's only me and Jamie left in the Philippines.

We were still together until first year high school. Luckily, we were in the same section as well! I had a new group of friends but she's still my bestfriend. That was the time wherein she also found out that they're about to migrate in the States with the family. I never thought she was dead serious-not until I heard it from her dad.

She went to USA before the schoolyear ends. She finished all her projects and stuff then packed and left the country.

Then I was alone.

I felt like a loner at first because I was traumatized with what happened to my so-called "barkada" in freshmen. Later on, I found Ruby, Maire and Kenjo. Then there I was happy again!

Jamie and I wrote letters during the start then I suddenly stopped receiving anything from her. Thanks to Friendster, she was able to search for my name and sent me a pm. I was happy upon receiving a message from her. I felt like finally, we had a connection!

After six long years, she finally went back to the Philippines for a short visit! She's more beautiful and it seems like she's happy with her life. Just like me, she never had a boyfriend. She's more responsible towards her studies and she's a bit more outspoken compared to years ago. I am happy because I finally saw her again. Realization? Friendship is in the heart. Distance can never changed the love and the trust you have for each other. Real friends are those who cherish you in their hearts no matter how long you lost connections.

PAGING CORINNA SORIANO ADAMSON. Email me!

How about you? Who was your childhood bestfriend?