TO SEE HIM SMILE AGAIN

Memories of Tita Arnie - her cremated ashes in an urn,
her beautiful picture,
and a framed copy of her favorite prayer.  

The past two months seemed like a hell on earth for my best guy buddy, Jeremy Laguda. His mom, 53 years old, succumbed to endometrial cancer. It was not easy for Jeremy since his mom died just five days after he happily celebrated his 21^st birthday with her.  

Since after the cremation of his mom, I have been monitoring my buddy. Dark clouds of despair and desperation enveloped his once very happy life.  He changed. I am now having a hard time making him smile. My jokes won’t cut the invisible threads that are somewhat being sewn on his lips, preventing him to smile again. My usual ways of cheering him up every time he is down is now a big failure. He seemed really affected of the loss of his beloved mom. For almost a month now, I have been thinking of ways on how to at least help him hurdle over this roadblock in his life – to help him accept the fact that death is constant in this world and all we have to do is to grieve over the loss, accept the things that we cannot change or bring back, and move on with life. I really want to see him smile again.

Photo Credit: www.byahilo.com

Surfing the internet about smiles, I have jumped into an article that featured Bacolod City, the city of smiles in the Philippines. Cultivating my curiosity, I dug deeper trying to research why it's called the city of smiles. And this is what I’ve read:

“The moniker reflects the general disposition of the locals. In the 1980s, a period of tragedy and economic dislocation enveloped the city with gloom. During this period, the prices of sugar in the world market were at an all-time low and the Bacolenos were in a crisis as the province only relied in the sugar industry then. The depression was further aggravated when a passenger vessel Don Juan sank on Aprill 22, where an estimated 700 Negrenses including prominent families perished.

In the midst of these tragic events, the city’s artists, local government and civic groups decided to hold a festival of smiles, the MassKara Festival. They reasoned that a festival was also a good opportunity to pull the residents out of the pervasive gloomy atmosphere. The initial festival was therefore, a declaration by the people of the city that no matter how tough and bad the times were, Bacolod City is going to pull through, survive, and in the end, triumph.”

Source: http://www.themasskarafestival.com/about-masskara/why-masskara/

Jeremy and I during my college graduation.

BINGO! I told myself “This is the perfect place to bring my best buddy! And the MASSKARA festival is the perfect festival to help him forget the worries of life and just enjoy experiencing the festival.” I really want to make him smile again. I want to bring him with me to Bacolod City for an adventure of a lifetime.  To explore a city that would welcome us with sincere warmth and experience a festival that excites our senses. SEE the warm smiles of the locals of Bacolod City. HEAR the festive sounds of the rolling drums during the Masskara Festival. FEEL the non-stop energy of its dancers. TASTE delicious delicacies in a dazzling dining scene. And just BREATHE easy and smile and laugh all day.

Life is short. And I just don't want time to pass without me helping my best guy buddy get back to his old happy self and appreciate the beauty of life. I am now very excited to see him smile again at the MassKara Festival in Bacolod City this October. Thank you in advance, AirPhil Express! =)

Experience MassKara Festival, Hermosa Festival and Lanzones Festival this October. Airphil Express flies daily to BACOLOD, ZAMBOANGA and CAGAYAN DE ORO from Cebu and Manila. Visit www.airphilexpress.com to book!

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