PARE

For the longest time.....YOU are the only friends I knew since I went out of the seminary and started my life like the rest of mankind.


For the longest time.... I thought YOU know who or what the real "me", because I never hid it from YOU.



For the longest time.... YOU were my drinking buddies and shared the same glass in every 'tagayan' sessions we have.


For the longest time... We shared laughters, tears, stories, life stories, fears, joys, gossips, opinions, and what-nots because our relationship is not only built on friendship but of blood and faith.


For the longest time... I thought YOU have accepted homosexuals openly because you are not part of the society that condemns and ridicule people like us.

Until that night when we gathered once again to bid a good friend goodbye on his way back to work abroad.



For the first time...I heard homophobic jokes from YOU.


For the first time... I felt like a sinner in front of a condemning mob.


For the first time...I realized that you don't even know the meaning of 'homophobic' because when I told one of you that I never thought that you are one, you answered back: Sino yun?(Who's that?)


For the first time...I realized how dumb I am not to see that your gay jokes were really offensive and hurtful.



For the first time...I felt that I was not with the family I knew and loved.



For the first time...I realized the wisdom behind our group's break up and went on separate ways.

For the first time...It became clear to me who my real friends are and who are not.