Post Frat Ball Despedida at UP North
by Gerry Abenes

T’was a most fitting closure to UP North’s wildly successful 30th Anniversary Celebration. It was a curtain call of sorts for brods who stayed behind after the big party to see if there’s any truth to that drunken one-liner from the old days: the last drop is always the sweetest!

I’m talking 6 days after the frat ball.

Brods Rolly Reyes, Gilbert Basbas, Johnny Singh, Ting Valdez and spouse Cheng, were treated to a send-off BBQ potluck party on Saturday, June 1 at Gerry and Lleva’s place. It was a BIG PARTY where the culinary rundown looked like a taxonomical enumeration of representatives of both plant and animal kingdoms. From terrestrial to aquatic to aerial, raw to well-done, served au naturel or exquisitely presented, the gustatory fulfillment was almost as sensual as it was visceral.

There were, as always, stories from Y to X to triple X, dapples of business spiel, bits of drama, talks about the present, the past, the future. There was non-stop laughter in response to a lot of bull, and more bull. No wonder there was so much leftover food; there was very little respite between speaking one’s piece, listening to jokes, and gasping for air.

When it was finally time to draw the curtains, there was the temptation to ask if the feeling was any close to being as sweet as the proverbial last drop that they stayed for. But then again, it was obvious from everyone’s face that attempt at validation was unnecessary. Way into the endless hugs of farewell, the din of laughter was still audible, the pulsating beat of moments gone still palpable. If anyone was sad, the emotion was obscured by that look of anticipation for the next meeting, perhaps not very soon but certainly sometime in the future.

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