Anne, Rainbow 3

The 8-Shaded Rainbow -Part tHREe

    Then there is Anne and Victor.  He is in his mid 40's I should say...I am guessing but I know this is one thing I am good at.  She is about my age too.  He recently got his annulment from his most recent marriage.  But he remains a father to a teenager back home.  Anne is a single mother to a little young man she dearly calls, Aaron.  And because the buzz in this circle is randomly suppressed and disclosed at random times, it didn't take that much longer for me to find out about Anne and Victor's story.  It was love at first sight for Victor; it was hate at first sight for Anne, the buzz declared.  Hate being an understatement.  Truth is, she loathes him.  For her, Victor is nothing but an old man trying to snatch her from the cradle.  A very dislikable creature she would never even dream of getting friends with, ever.  Well, not until one day when she "accidentally" got the chance to have a peek on his bank transaction receipt.  This sounds really ugly.  I am feeling awfully bad as I write about this part.  I mean, considering how I could personally attest to the fact that they are obviously happy with each other.  I witnessed that, first hand.  But my opinion here did not count as yet.  As the way it was whispered to me, let me give you a vivid picture of it.  You can imagine how dollar signs sparkled on her eyes like fireworks suddenly lightening up the darkness of midnight.  Yes, it is true indeed: "MONEY TALKS, BULLSHIT WALKS."  Alright, some might not be able to hold back those arching eyebrows.  But hey!  She is just being reasonable like all those bunch of chicks we commonly hear of these days.  "Love alone will leave you with nothing but an empty belly."  Okay, no.  I didn't give up on these love stories per se... Not yet...not quite yet.  What I am trying to say is that, if in case the buzz is true indeed, I don’t see a shade of injustice here.  Girls need be protected and secured not because we are needy and weak and insecure but most importantly because, we are special and we have to be treated nice... (Oops! I heard that...Yeah right, whatever!)  So cheers for Anne! That's my girl!

         As we are getting closer to the end of our trip, so much eye-opening moments flashed right through my very eyes.  I came to admire some of the bravest, the most tender-hearted, the risk takers, the gamblers.  I admire the intensified strength, I admire the convictions.  And whether or not they made the somewhat odd decisions, who are we really to judge? After all, I saw only the synopsis of it.  And somehow, along the way, I managed to see myself in bits and pieces from each of their stories.  Oh, how I would so much like to spend the longest time possible to know each of them even better.   To listen to them intently and hear their voices perpetually until I have everything I needed to know.

    And here we are, making a masterpiece as a "pack"; making a difference on each other's lives; making one's bad day a little better; turning one bad joke into a hilarious laugh; hugging to comfort; carrying along to make things lighter; listening to offer appreciation; holding a hand to say "you are not alone"...being a friend to one who is in a great big need of one.  We might not understand each other all that much but we somehow managed to live in manners of compassion...if only to reassure one another about the spirit of having someone around and "BEING THERE."

 

Grace, Rainbow 2

The 8-Shaded Rainbow -PaRt  tWo

    While the fun seem to know no end, while the customary digital cameras flashing here and there, while I, personally am so giddy and high, mesmerized and in constant awe, Janelle, casually narrated her story to me.

    Janelle couldn't speak any English then. In fact, she is terrified of the language. Adam is almost 20 years her senior, and he only speaks the language she is terrified of. But as how it usually happens, that long and winding, complicated road eventually led them the way to each other. Of course it wasn't easy. In fact, as of this time, the silent battle is still very much on. Then again, one of the sweet surprises of life is that, they are together for almost a decade now, with Tara, their eight year old lovely daughter, binding them ever more closely each day.

    Hurrah!!! At last, we are in Banff! I instantly feel that sudden jolt of excitement as soon as we entered downtown. For a moment, I was actually feeling that “celebrity-like- intimidating-presence”, as if on a bad ass escapade, away from the lenses of the paparazzi. Aboard that equally-bad ass, monstrous truck rummaging the streets with the goofiest family I've ever known. Ah...this is life in all its glory! Janelle's family absolutely knows how to make fun of anyone and anything - of each other, the random passers-by and road trippers (who, of course, never had a hint that the joke is on them.) What fun! After all, we are travelling with two kids – Yes, Tara and Tyron. Tyron is Janelle's step son. Yes again, your guess is as good as mine. In fact, there are two more stepchildren - one about Janelle's age and the other one, older.

    Nevertheless, I love the company. I love these people. I most love our ice cream moment (because it was free!) I love the Greek lunch. I love the shopping spree. I love the fabulous walk on the cobblestone walkway. I am hooked to this fraternity.

   We missed the majority of the group since we travelled in two different vehicles. Yet it seem rather funny that no matter how far apart we have become on the highways of this climb, the stories of these girls seem to chase the chance to be told.

    Grace is from an almost-all-girls brood back in the Central Visayas region in the Philippines. A real conservative and religious family, with all her unmarried sisters and herself, swearing they all are still certified virgins at ages over 30. Well, not that there's anything wrong with that, in fact, that is very admirable and rather interesting. She is 32. She is my age. And the lucky guy she is dating is Canadian - Derek is the youngest son of her employers (she is a caregiver like me.) He is 46. They obviously hit it off although in the beginning, as rumor has it, she calls him a retard, abnormal, ugly creature. As of this writing however, her world tumbles down whenever the circumstance has to lead her away from him for a day or two. He, on the other hand, is all but ready to fall in love again, after a countless whirl of heartaches. These days, I myself came to witness how she daydreams of him, how she fantasizes and long for him. She is definitely under the "CRAZY" love spell.

    Our trip was a beautiful opportunity to reflect, to believe and rediscover ourselves. The cognizant, the uniqueness of each one and how it makes a big difference to be bonded with that special thing called “friendship”, almost a sisterhood. It was the coming together of fun, pain, joy, desperation, desolation, perspectives, opinions - reality. To me, it is the animated and up-close view of these people's lives. It is as if watching a major hit film. The bonus features being able to see myself partly in, trying to be as discreet as I can possibly be though keenly in observance.