FRIENDS AND FRIENDSHIP

"AND REMEMBER: GOOD FRIENDS ARE LIKE STARS. YOU DON'T ALWAYS SEE THEM, BUT YOU ALWAYS KNOW THEY ARE THERE!!!!!!" by Maya Angelou

Friends and Friendship by Sari:
I have been threatening to write about friends who have been quiet….and I really mean it. So here goes…… ·Aurora Villanueva Agellon – Rory (Kulasa, as I call her). She took up Nutrition at University of Sto. Tomas (UST); a “celebrity” classmate who considered Rory a close friend was Cynthia. I cannot remember how Rory and I kept in touch, but we did. She came to visit me in Detroit in 1967 when I was a dietetic intern at Henry Ford Hospital, while she was working as a dietitian in Toronto. Rory later met her better half (I really mean better) , Noli Agellon, who hails from Cavite and is related to Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo. They married in 1973 and later produced a son & a daughter – Noel (33, a finance expert who works in Toronto area) and Chari (31 a graphic artist who moved to Vancouver). Like most of our classmates, Rory was a super woman. She managed to raise well behaved goal oriented kids and at the same time build her career. She was a Manager, Nutrition Dept., Health Promotion till she retired in 2008. I re-connected with Rory in early 1990s; visited them in Oakville, Ontario at least 3 times (that’s how I know who the better half is).

It is amazing how kids influence their parents’ interest. Rory got into serious jogging because of her kids. I imagine jogging the path along Lake Ontario would be quite motivating. Rory later took up biking and continues to do so plus skiing during the winter. Rory is now “retarded” and has been giving back to the community. She teaches catechism to SK to third graders, visits a nursing home and has been making “rounds” of different parishes. This is how she re-bonded with Tessie OG. While praying the rosary, Rory recognized the familiar voice of the person leading the rosary – it was the deep full bodied voice of Tessie OG. Rory feels fulfilled – physically and spiritually. Without any doubt, Rory will continue the life she is living! When I, Bruha (a name Rory calls me) retire, I could only wish I’d have even half of Kulasa’s energy - both physically and spiritually.