on valentine's day

I spent the day at Dodan's house. No, not because today's Valentine's Day, it's his birthday, that's why I came. I was actually half hearted at first, since he might have some visitors. But when he texted me that no one's in the house, I decided to go anyway. I did not bring anything except for the CD he requested and the sheep (the one from McDo). We've had spaghetti and fried chicken for lunch. Watched two VCDs, Along Came Polly and The Incredibles. His mom ordered for pizzas from Yellow Cab. That was our dinner. We left at 7:30, and caught a bus at EDSA.

While on the bus, his cell phone rang, it was his Kuya. Later, after their conversation, he told me that there had been 3 buses that exploded at EDSA below the MRT Ayala station. We were almost at Pasay Road that time, a few meters away from where the explosion happened. I asked him, "pag namatay ba ako, iiyak ka"-sort-of-questions, and he asked the same.

We got down at Pasay Road since the traffic was moving slowly. There were lots of people in the streets, mga usisero at usisera. I told Dodan if we could take a peek, just to see what it's like. He refused, "baka biglang sumabog ulit, mapahamak pa tayo, ano ka ba!".

Just when we were walking along the ayala center premises, nanay texted saying she'd see me in front of SM. I texted her immediately that that part of EDSA is impassable because of the explosions. After a few minutes, she replied back saying that she'd meet me at Park Square 1 instead. Ang lakas talaga ng radar ng Nanay ko, I thought. She was able to avoid the horrible traffic in an instant!

While on our way to Park Square 1, we chanced upon a rose vendor. I thought I'd buy Nanay and Lola since it was Valentine's Day. Just when I learned that a stem costs 30 pesos, I instantly changed my mind. Sobrang laki ng patong, ha! Dodan paid for the roses instead.

Nanay was already there when I reached the terminal at the Park Square 1, and then, Dodan and I parted ways.

While on our way home, I was trying to reflect on what just happened. What if's came in my mind. What if Nanay did not bring the car that day? She could have been one of those who got stuck in traffic, or heaven forbid, one of those who got injured. What if Dodan and I did not wait for the pizza, what if we decided to leave their house earlier? Here's another confirmation that God is really good. I really have a lot of things to be thankful of, and too little to complain about.