First Randomness of 2011

God speaks in a million ways.

At a mall's security check, the officer waved at me and said "Keep your spirit high!" as he concluded his task. It was an unusual greeting, even during the first days of a new year.

In the background, Des'ree sang, "You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser.. You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger..."

Call it coincidence if you wish. I choose to see them as my Divine One's whispers, telling me that as the going gets tough, He'll help me be the tough that gets going. Ain't that what one needs most when things around one speed up faster than lightning bolts.

For some friends - and to an extent, for me too - 2010 was a hard year. An online friend had to give up to terminal illness. A close friend lost her father to cancer, and somehow we grew distanced not long afterward. Nobody is to blame for that. I was occupied with some works, so was she, and then she moved to Wellington for her 4 year tour of duty.

The online friend, Gracia, is another story. Our first 'encounter' was when she left a comment on a post dedicated to teachers here, years ago. Naturally, she was a teacher. Then she frequented this blog on its heyday - a.k.a. when I blogged regularly. She started her own blog during that time too.

By the time I got lazier and lazier in updating this blog, she also had less and less posts in her blog. I didn't pay too much attention on that - I spent my time more on tweeting. I didn't know if she tweeted too, I still don't, but she seemed more into Facebook. Of course, she added me.

October last year, she sent me a Facebook mail, saying hi and mushing about my new Big Boss. We made a small thread, conversing on that point, and it was discontinued simply because I had not replied to her last message. One month later, another friend from DC informed me that she had passed away. It still breaks my heart reading that last conversation. I just visited her Facebook page again and saw a wall message from her niece, whom she mentioned when she commented on my post about Abby. It's one heartwrenching experience, I tell ya.

November also gave me another surprising news: my next assignment. I'll be going back to the States. Another place though, somewhere around three hours drive from my previous post. That gave me chills in the beginning - a mixture of shock, joy and fear. I'll be doing something way beyond my expectation and something I never did. It took weeks for me to fully absorb the fact - and the preparation process kind of helped me through it. We were expected to arrive there as early as possible, so the office tried its best to expedite all things.

As the clock ticked closer to the end of 2010, I tweeted, "My 2011 resolution will be updating my blog".

And there it goes. My first post in 2011.