Mind you, this is actually the first time I’m having one of those “year-ender” posts but I’m not just going to leave you with a depressing one won’t I you 2 readers, you? I just felt the need to stay out of the comment circle for a while, just to you know, clear my head and be able to write the post that I want to write, without actually thinking of what feedback I’m going to get from it.

This year has pretty much been quite the roller coaster for me. I loved how every time shit happened to me, something so good would come out of it and I would thank whatever shit life gave me and realized that damn, life is good. I also got to appreciate life a little bit you know, even though my future still seams so ambiguous to me, at least I know where I stand and what I can depend myself on.

There was an “incident” in the beginning of the year which made me think, “Fuck, this is going to be a sign that this year is going to be baaaad.” Up until after July things started to look up. Some months before that, when I had the best 19th birthday which I thought would never have happened (but it surely did), I saw that as another sign that things were going to get better the months ahead.

Friendships were stronger this year. My bestfriend confided me and trusted me more than ever and I was (and still am) happy that I’m her number one person to run to when things are rough, and even when they are good. This is also probably the year I’ve spent SO much on coffee. But it isn’t the coffee which matters you see (which has kind of become an inelastic buy for me), it’s the conversations which are formed with it. Chino and I have increased our Coffee Bean sessions to exactly twice a week, with no fail for so many months.

The highlights were of course, getting my MacBook which seemed surreal to me at the time, a certain someone who made me realize things, and hitting the club scene in Jakarta–one of the things I’ve frequently avoided doing here. I was too prejudiced because I always thought the scene here was pretentious, expensive and social-centered. But nothing gets in the way when you want to have fun right? Party on your own terms.

The number one highlight for me this year though, was getting the chance to go home to the Philippines to visit my sick grandmother at the hospital. Even though it was just for a couple of days, I got to be at the hospital from morning til dawn, taking care of her in the ICU and actually being proactive with my actions. I went straight to the hospital after my grueling flight from 12am to 9am (already including stops & transits) and stayed there until the midnight after. That was the day of her operation and I was there to give her my best and hope that she makes it (the doctors thought there could have been no way to save her but they did) and my aunts & uncle knew it was me–I’m the eldest grandchild.

Even though she may be gone now, (she passed a week after her operation) I know she is in a better place with her true love and she has lived a blissful life with a complete family and 5 extremely successful children. She was a great mother and a wonderful grandmother to boot. I think about her all the time, and felt weird that she’s not here with us for the holiday season, but life has given her the best already.

This is for you, Lola. Cheers for 2007.