5/23/2012

Footprints

Once in a blue moon, my old friends and I plan a get-together—meaning, a dinner in one place at a specific time. It is probably one of the most difficult events to mount on planet earth, bar none. It takes weeks, or months even, before we finally agree on a date.

Then something comes up, and so it gets postponed.

Deciding on the venue is another story; getting a headcount is next to impossible. 

If one thinks he already has a number of attendees a week before, he's  dead wrong.

Every day the number changes. One calls to cancel and another calls to confirm—in and out, ad infinitum.

But miracles happen, and one such plan pushed through (whew!) one evening last week to celebrate the birthdays of two of us (as you might have guessed, the birthday dates have lapsed because of the umpteenth postponements, but no matter).  Nothing wrong in celebrating a May 1st birthday on the 16th, is there?

Now, how about those who would have wanted to come but were not informed? Ooops, but that's another story.  We all lead busy, busy lives in a busy, busy world, and because we are all getting on in years, we inadvertently forget. 

The night brought together 12 people (out of a possible 200). I bussed familiar faces again after a long time, and I remembered a popular quote from Flavia Weedn in her book, Forever. “Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.”

These are some of the people who stayed for awhile in my life.

“What you taught me is coming in handy in all my talks,” I told Norbert, seated to my right. 

“And what's that?” he asked. 

“Don't you remember? You taught me how to do power point presentations!”  

“I did?” 

“We worked on a few together,” I tried to jog his memory.

“We did?”

People don't remember the things they unselfishly do for others. But the beneficiaries of these gracious acts remember them forever.

I was a recipient of many kind acts from these 11 friends in the past (one blog on grace won't do them justice), which I am sure they don't remember either.

But I do. They're the footprints on my heart.

8 comments:

Bumpy John said...

Aww, this is one touched me, I suddenly remembered people who made "Footprints" in my life. :)

Grace D. Chong said...

Yeah, it's wonderful to remember them. Does the heart good!

Yay Padua-Olmedo said...

Friends are for keeps, no matter the distance or the time lapse between each dinner or coffee.

Anonymous said...

I won't have a coffee-mate this week! and the next!

Norbert said...

Thank you for this Grace. You are definitely one of the few indelible footprints in my heart as well. I am blessed to have you as my dear friend. A Grace in my life. I will never get tired of organizing these get-togethers if only I can see dear friends like you as often as I could. -- Norbert

Rita A. Gomez said...

I don't know why it's rather difficult to get together when we have all possible means to communicate. In the early day, we just had a landline but it seemed easier to meet up. The digital world makes us busier than ever.
Friends we keep are really treasures. Remember our grade school song "....make new friends, but ke-eep the-a old, one is silver and the other gold"!

Grace D. Chong said...

Thank you for dropping by my site, Norbert. Our few-and-far-between get-togethers are something I always look forward to. I hope you don't get tired organizing one or two now and then.

Grace D. Chong said...

Hi, Rita! You're right, it's a million times harder these days to get people together. There are just too many gadgets and too many distractions. But we have to keep trying. It's so worth it!