by Reynaldo "Ding" de Jesus

Anytime you meet a childhood buddy you haven’t seen for fifty years – that’s a very sentimental reunion. Which is exactly what the Ateneo alumni homecoming in December 2000 was for all of us who had the good fortune of making it to Loyola Heights – a trip to nostalgia. At the general alumni homecoming dinner they showed us slides of members of HS50, the golden jubilarians. As they did that they also played Glen Miller’s "Moonlight Serenade" and at that point it was misty eyes for a lot of our classmates. Gosh, what a sentimental journey!

Of course even more meaningful were the activities we had as a class, where we could enjoy one another by ourselves. There were the dinner meetings at the Spuntino Restaurant in Makati, where most of the balikbayans saw the balik-edads for the first time in half a century. That became a guessing game, as each was trying to figure out who the heck the others were.

Time ravages, and we were indeed a ravaged group! And as if guessing wasn’t tough enough, Mike Guerrero had to keep hollering "Sino ako?" at everybody else, and wouldn’t give the slightest clue as to his identity. That was most uncomfortable for those who crossed the Pacific to be there, people like Jimmy Padilla, Pete Suzara, Chummy Ng, Ceron Encomienda, Bossy Sevilla and myself.

Some were recognizable, notably Esting Teopaco,Mel Salazar, Benjie Mendoza, Ed Olivares, Tony Zara, Noli Quiray, Tito Mesina, Beteng Pascual, Mike Uy, Francis Arcenas and, stretching it a little, Emy Ramos, Tito Felizardo, Jorge Lacson, Calix Llamas, Joe Torres, Cery Abad, Tony Jose, Emong Miranda and Ben Vera Cruz. Time has been relatively kind to these guys. But others like Rudy Castillo, Binoy Arevalo, Fr. Guido Arguelles, Fr. Carl Abesamis, Evan Garcia, Danny de Jesus, Alfonso Qua, myself and, yes, Mike Guerrero – like forget it!

The Missa Recitata was another fantastic journey through time. In fact, the sheets were marked "Ateneo de Manila University Archives". Couldn’t quite imagine we were archives material. After theMissa, when the bust of Fr. "Tanda " Delaney was blessed, came the very sumptuous dinner at Emy Ramos’ house, where we met a few wives other than those of Pete Suzara, Mike Uy and Bossy Sevilla, who were at the Punta Fuego Resort in Batangas. We also saw the internationally acclaimed Ateneo College Glee Club in action, and we couldn’t have enough of their singing. Terrific group! I asked the president of the glee club if they would contribute their time and talent to a fund-raising concert for the projects of HS50,gratis et amore , and she said yes! I guess it didn’t hurt to tell her that I was the piano accompanist of the first post-war college glee club either, under the baton of the indestructible Fr. James B. Reuter, SJ.

Punta Fuego is a breath-taking island resort, exclusively for members and guests. Good thing Emy's a member, and we made the motor trip for about two hours from Makati in a small convoy of cars. There was just a small bunch of us, and we spent the night there. Pete Suzara gave us a real fright when he acted like he was having what we thought was a heart attack! But I guess bad grass is hard to kill, and Pete turned out to be okay, at least the next day. The fact that Mike Uy's wife knew a lot about herbal medicine might have helped some too.

All in all, hey, what a great reunion! Must have taken a lot of organizing – a true labor of love. Can’t wait to do it again four years hence, when College "54 comes home as golden jubilarians.

Note: See our Gallery for more reunion photos.