Birthday Entry XXV: Lhab Bathan

Date Submitted: June 16, 2009

James... His bhebhe, my bhebhe, and our bhebhe…

I really don’t know how to start this blog but I want to start it by introducing this man as I have known him…

I have known him through my cousin Pax… A quiet person at first, I thought he is a snob guy that will not be loved by our family… Later on, he became the guy whom I treasured even if we are apart… A guy that has been loved by everybody in the family… A guy with smiles on his face, and laughs that really comes out from his heart…

And in the long run, I myself have loved this person in many ways that he was not aware of… He left me with memories that are really unforgettable, not just with me but with our whole family…

James is a man with a big and a very good heart… A sincere person who doesn’t have any mean backbone on his body… A good son... I must know because he once became a son of Mama Josie, Tita Au and my Mom (Tita Paz)… A loving brother… Who once became a brother to Aj, Ate Kath, Ate Joie and Kuya Mei…

A sweet cousin… Who once became a cousin of Niks, Jeck, and (to many names to mention) and of course, yours truly… A caring grandson… Who once became a grandson to Apung Iling, Tatang Entot and Apung Sailormoon… Really… I’m telling you guys, James has been a real part of our family, and HE IS STILL A PART OF OUR FAMILY UNTIL THIS TIME…

Bhebhe as we are fond of calling him… Before, we used to hang out and locked ourselves in his room here in Pampanga, and there we laugh and cry… Chikkaness all night… Drink and videoke till our vocal cords surrender… Happy moments that are really worth keeping…

A man who craves for “Patatim”, he’s visit will not be complete without it… And if he’s coming, my Mom and Mama will surely prepare for the food that he is craving of… And at the end of the visit, the ending will always be heart breaking because we don’t know when we will be seeing our Bhebhe again…

Bhebhe is one of the persons who I trusted absolutely in a bliss… I haven’t felt any hesitations to open my life to him… And in the longest chapter of my relationship, he was there… I miss the times we are talking, chikka till we drop and as always, time really runs so fast that we are not given enough time tackle all the things that happened when we are apart…

I miss the times when I became the number one fan of his Friendster… A comment giver… The times when we used to text each other… I really miss James… For some reasons, we lost our communication… No texts, no comments, no everything…

And as I evaluate the times that we are not reaching out to each other, I realized that even though we are apart, and we don’t have communication at all, I came to the reality that Bhebhe will always be in my heart no matter what… As I write this blog, memories flashes… And I can’t help crying… I miss the times that he’s here with us… And I miss the times when we are all happy together…

There have been rough times in our journey, but as time passes, we all moved on… And as I checked his FS and FB accounts, I’m happy to see him as a happy and contented person, a man with a great career, a man with a lot of friends, and a man with great family… And a lot of suitors…

He accomplished almost everything that he likes and he wants, maybe because he has a clean loving heart that guides his way to his success… And I’m very thankful for seeing him that way… And I will always be praying for him to be in that situation always…

I may not be a 24/7 friend for James, but I can assure him that I will always be here if he needs me, and I know he knows that… He will always be the James, and the Bhebhe of our family… We are only waiting for him and again, he knows that… No can replace him in our hearts, maybe someone new will walk in the family, but his place will never be replaced, I’m assuring that to him, mostly his place in my heart…

And to end this blog; to all his friends, family, colleagues, and to everyone, there’s only one thing I can say…

“NABIBILANG TAYO SA MGA PINAG PALA… NAG-IISA LANG SI JAMES, AT KAHIT ANONG GAWIN NYONG PAGHAHANAP SA TAONG PAPALIT SA KANYA, ISA LANG ANG MASASABI KO; MABIBIGO KAYO…”

Happy Birthday Bhebhe… I love You and I Miss You So Much…