(Here's a copy (shorter version) of my friend's recent published article. Thank you, Ms. Diadema Emping. You made my day!:-))

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WE WERE in the same journalism class back in college. But I hardly noticed her in the beginning. One minute she was there and the next, only God knew where she went.

I found her so mysterious. So aloof. And I was like, “What’s wrong with her?” I was moved to curiosity when our teacher asked about her whereabouts. Okay, so her name’s Aurelia. Quiet, reserved. A returnee undergoing a hard time. She didn’t talk a lot so I supposed she didn’t want to be disturbed. I didn’t have the slightest clue that in her I had found my anam cara. Yes, she is the friend of my soul!

Fast forward. We became friends. Don’t ask me how because I don’t know either. But in the meantime, we’ll settle for a memory that began in Tops, a high point in Busay Hills.

In one of our occasional talks, I must have mentioned to her that I love to be in high places like the mountaintop where I can feel some liberation and peace. So she invited me to go to Tops with her brother-in-law, which I certainly enjoyed. The highlight of that night came when we held hands, stood under a wishing bell, rang it, and threw a wish like a zephyr song.

And it is a memory that can never be put into oblivion because I know my wish reached the ears of the angels. Now we are at peace in bartering monikers. I call her “Yang” and she calls me “Wawa.” And I just find it so sweet.

Aurelia is a very great friend. That call-me-and-I’ll-be-there friend is indeed her. In fact, I need not tell her if I’m experiencing a tornado in my life because she knows it already.

My anam cara never fails to give me the impetus I so very much need. More than anything else, she knows me by heart, so much that I need not explain myself to her. I don’t have to struggle telling her how I feel. She knows my happiness and my loneliness because, at whatever season of my life, she’s always there.

What pains me is that she’s now in Singapore, working as a writer/editor of a publication.And I’m happy for her. I really hate goodbyes. They make the rain fall. But at some point in our lives, we have to deal with them no matter how painful and sad. So I just wish Singapore will take care of her.

I’ll forever treasure our happy memories and carry them in my heart. I’ll just build a bridge in our hearts and cross it every time I miss her.For now, goodbye, McDo burger meals, Coke float and French fries. Goodbye, PUJ front seats and Ayala cinemas. Goodbye, Lilo-an lighthouse and Kawasan Falls. ‘Til then. (Diadema Emping, Sun.Star Cebu Weekend)