sweet herni (my ode to you my friend)
May 2, 2007
catesbool
it’s may… summer in asia, spring in the netherlands and europe.
yesterday, i heaved yet another big sigh. i suddenly recalled where i was at this time of the month and who i was with.
i went to the three most beautiful cities in the world and i was in the company of the most wonderful people.
i gave a laugh as i read one of bunso’s text messages. a year ago, i was trying to find a dreadful smell coming out of the refrigerator as i try to pack some of my things for a wonderful trip outside of the netherlands. it was that rotting chicken irish bought from the market and put inside the vegetable bin. i gave her one of her first cooking lesson: put raw chicken meat inside the freezer, not the veggie bin as they easily rot. and what a rotting smell it was!
then i packed my gear and went off to the wonderful land of maria, mozart and those beautiful czechs. i was with my kuya ohmel, my ever loyal friend adrianus, the sweet devil herself - agnes, the sweet but untemptable bayu (who is always afraid of his wife, hehehe), and of course, sweeeeettt herni!!!
i suddenly missed her. it is at moments like these that i truly, deeply miss the crazy woman who taught me how to use the veil. the person who is always on the lookout for someone who can love her. that beautiful big woman who is one of the best cooks in our batch and who can be very unselfish with her healing powers. yes, that big woman with the bigger butt than i have who can give you the biggest hugs and the biggest smiles and who likes to share the sapi moments with ohmel and me.
how do you reach out across someone you cannot touch for the moment?
that is how i feel now towards herni…
i simply miss those dinners with her, her iblis laugh, her funny iblis looks. i miss sitting with her by the window of my room doing funny stuff and watching lots of dvds while our eyes pop out.
i miss being with her on those bicycle wheels as we travel along the streets of den haag in search of summer fun going to the rosarium, the beach or wherever the whims take us.
i miss being with her in the same room as she makes her silent presence felt. i miss watching the movies with her. i miss those carefree days spent with her eating fresh crepes in one of the cafes of salzburg or trying out a pair of eyeglasses with her in front of the church where maria and captain von trapp were wedded.
i miss cooking that rice with her inside hauschristine and those smelly moments when we simply just lazed around the night trying to massage the foot of agnes after a day of walking around the streets of salzburg. i miss lending her my red jacket to keep her warm as we sat by a cafe one night, while she and rommel tried to sneak off with four tall beer glasses and hiding them inside my backpack while i went off in search of the toiletten. i miss the mischievous friend i shared a walk with on my last day in den haag.
i miss terribly the way we sat together inside the pankoeken haus along schev with chrysant and discussing about going back. i miss her trying to take care of me while i blew myself off with tequila in sorrow during the last party of the batch last december.
there are so many things that i miss about herni. and the only thing i can do right now is sit here with depressing music playing inside my office and thinking and cursing myself for being here and not with a friend i sorely miss.
how do i get over this bloody sick feeling?
i can’t.
there is no cure for missing a person so dear.
there are only haunting memories that you simply cannot share with other people around you. because they do not know how it feels, being a friend to one who they do not know.
my friend, my memories…
i miss you, mummmy!!!
Entry Filed under: Uncategorized
2 Comments Add your own
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Subscribe to comments via RSS Feed
1. Herni | May 3, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Cates, thank you for the nice thoughts about me that you put on your blog. I am still touched by it, always will. I miss you tooo!!!!
I always remember the crazy devil pinoys, the ones who always been there with me when I committed my sins (and many times, shared the burden by paying all of my sins :P). Maybe we should form a devil club, don’t you think? 
Wish I could go there, meet you all… and of course we will have this crazy culinary trip… especially with the soup number five (whatever it is..) and have those sapi moments again 
Loka-loka na? 
2. RmA | May 3, 2007 at 10:38 pm
hi ate…. why are you so senti? hihihihi… miss you and herni and all…. waaaaa.. when we’ll be back in den haag? and be the child we were… miss the days…. *sigh* phd tayo! bwhahahahahaha