Oh, Bev.

There have been a couple of posts dedicated to Bev “Bubbles in Paradise” Cabanatan lately due to her recent departure to live and thrive back in her home State of California. The postings from our circle of friends are just simple testimonials to what an effect her friendship had on us all. Everyone who knows her will miss her. I personally take it as a great loss.

It probably helped me a lot in that after her farewell dinner that she called me over to help her pack. There was a power outage when I got home and I think I would have been sad and mopey thinking about the eventual loss of another friend. I think I would have been so overwhelmed with grief that I may not have shown up to the airport. That’s just the way I am and protecting myself from a heartache that way is a poor excuse I know. But staying up late, packing her clothes, chatting, inheriting unwanted items, and eventually falling asleep on the couch saved me the emotions since we had our time on an extended goodbye. Plus there is nothing like a good dose of old reality by way of packing her belongings into her luggage to help bring eventual acceptance. Otherwise I would have been a pretty sad mess. She smiled at me all evening. She kept saying, “Oh, I know you will visit me. You can sleep over at the house!”

Bev, I will miss:

• Our hangout time with just you and me
• Being in love vicariously through your own love story
• Your hugs
• Your midday and late-day IMs
• Eating with you at any hour
• Doing random favors for you
• Your dark tan
• Making me feel like I am a good big brother
• Making me feel like I am a good teacher
• You needing me and making me feel that only I can help in certain situations
• The trust you have in my opinions
• Your open mind and heart, and readily available ears
• Jokes and the teasing
• The way you say, “You’re dumb!”
• The opportunity to play v-ball, dance salsa, and sing karaoke
• Having someone I can use the punchline, "At least it's not Tooth Morphology!"
• Your text messages that starts of with, “What r u doing?”
• Talks, talks and more talks
• You trying to hook me up with whatever new cute girl you've just met
• Your dark hair
• Your braces
• You being just a phone call away
• Invitations to everything
• Seeing and liking who I am inside at a time when I was closed off outside
• Your nice apartment and guitar
• Understanding my personal dilemmas
• Giving you grief about the stuff Greg was supposed to give me
• Being straightforward and real
• Squinty mad eyes
• Playing with your arm scar
• You telling me that I’ll be okay
• Your quick simple prayers
• Just having you near me

I miss you, Beverly Mae.

Last ride with Amy in the Subaru Airport goodbyes: With Tali, Noah and Carol

With Joy and Kuya ErnieWith The Whimsy Peddler
With Mai at a Glance

With two dentists that make looking good as a couple seem easy: Dr. Crystal and Dr. Ken. (Or, Two other people that I can use the punchline, "At least it's not Tooth Morphology!" on).

The best Taotao Guahan I (and I bet you too) know: John Dax

A prayer for traveling mercies.

Of course there was saddness and broken hearts... ...then Jessica smiled: reassurance that we'll be okay.

The Beachcomber