PFF: PINK Friends Forever

People have defined friend in countless ways. 

“A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.” Arnold H. Glasow

“Friendship . . . is born at the moment when one man says to another 'What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .'” C.S. Lewis

“A true friend encourages us, comforts us, supports us like a big easy chair, offering us a safe refuge from the world.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Likewise, countless songs have been written about friends—all of them enabling. James Taylor’s You’ve Got a Friend is one of my favorites: 

"When you're down and troubled

And you need a helping hand . . .

You’ve got a friend." 

This I sang after an online meet-up with kakampinks in one of my many Group Chats on FB. All eight of us, old friends who have been separated by time and space for years, got together again virtually during the presidential campaign, which resulted in a fiasco.  So we needed to de-stress, and one hour later, we were each other’s helping hand. 

PFF. It's being on the same wavelength and having shared values, shared vision, and shared commitment for a better country (our term: rosy). 

And like receiving a bunch of over 600 PINK roses, I have been blessed with additional virtual kindred souls. These new friendships blossomed when a powerful question was silently asked, What? You too?

I will probably never meet them in person, but we are PINK Forever Friends as we continue to communicate about our dreams for the Philippines, encourage, help, pray for one another; exchange inspiring thoughts; and to never give up on what we have begun. 

(In contrast, I have blocked thrice that number of FB netizens for cursing, lying, insulting, belittling, and sowing hatred. Like noxious and repulsive weeds, they keep sprouting—so I keep blocking.)

Having PFF is indeed like being nestled in a big easy chair (Brown Jr.'s metaphor), a safe place from a cruel, stressful world of paid trolls rooting for what should never be. 

Heartwarming anecdotes, woven in grace, experienced during the rallies and other events—and even simply meeting someone in PINK anywhere—bred (and continue to breed) instant camaraderie and connections. In my case, as I hardly go out, in cyberspace.  

“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT)