on the road
by Marla
For Independence Day, my friends and I packed our overnight bags and drove to Tagaytay, where the air was (only slightly) cooler, where Manila felt near but far away. Of course the long drive involved us singing along to old rock songs from high school and college—back then, our lives were so different. At that time emotions and relationships were simpler, and it wasn't so much the fact that we were very young as much as the fact that the world felt like it was. There were hurts that hadn't hurt yet, and joys that we had yet to feel, to share, to celebrate. These days, life is a bit more complex, a bit more uneven, a bit rougher around the edges. But when the evening is just right, and there is plenty to eat and drink and laugh about, and the music is playing, and the friendship is strong and thriving, and the road stretches long and wide before you, full of promise and maybe even hope, it is quite easy to look out the window and believe that we are always exactly where we are meant to be.
