High School: The Barkada That Survived Adolescence, Marriage, Maintenance Medicines... And Each Other
High school friendships often become lifelong friendships for a simple reason: we didn't just meet each other during those years, we grew up together.
G. Jo Tadeo-Marcelo
8/4/20263 min read
High school friendships often become lifelong friendships for a simple reason: we didn't just meet each other during those years, we grew up together.
We shared the same classrooms, the same teachers, the same victories and disappointments, and often the same punishments. We navigated the confusing and sometimes treacherous wilderness called adolescence side by side. While everyone was trying to figure out who they were, we were all figuring it out together.
Many of us went on to the same colleges and universities, or at least stayed in the same city, allowing those friendships to continue through late-night study sessions, endless cups of coffee, campus adventures, and collective panic before exams.
Perhaps most importantly, we knew one another before life taught us to wear masks. We were honest with each other in a way that becomes increasingly rare as we grow older. There was less pretense, less posturing, and more authenticity. We witnessed one another's awkward phases, questionable fashion choices, first heartbreaks, biggest dreams, and, yes, a few decisions that were probably best left undocumented.
We also shared many firsts together: first crushes, first dates, first taste of independence, and occasionally a first cigarette, first drink, or other harmless youthful shenanigans that seemed terribly important at the time. Those experiences became the chapters of a story that we would continue writing for decades.
For me, this is exactly what happened with my high school barkada.
More than forty years later, we're still together. We've celebrated milestones, survived setbacks, and accumulated enough stories to keep a reunion going for days. What amazes me most is that the friendship did not stop with us. Our spouses became friends. Our children became friends. A bond forged in high school has grown into something that spans generations.
Back then, our conversations revolved around crushes, favorite and least favorite teachers, subjects we loved or hated, who was dating whom, and the latest songs we heard on the radio. We debated basketball teams, worried about report cards, and thought getting called to the principal's office was one of life's greatest tragedies.
Today, the topics have evolved, but the conversations remain remarkably familiar.
We still talk about people, relationships, victories, disappointments, and life's surprises. Only now, discussions about crushes have been replaced by discussions about our children. And somewhere between stories and laughter, someone inevitably asks:
"Ano maintenance mo sa cholesterol?"
"Sino cardiologist mo?"
"Magkano na ba maintenance medicines mo?"
Forty years ago, we compared test scores. Today, we compare laboratory results.
Progress.
Over the years, we've become ninongs and ninangs to one another's children, not only at baptisms but now even at weddings. We've celebrated birthdays, graduations, promotions, anniversaries, retirements, and all the milestones in between.
But friendship is tested not only in celebrations.
We've stood beside one another through life's most difficult moments, attending wakes and funerals of parents, spouses, loved ones, and even some of our own batchmates. Those moments remind us that true friendship is not measured by how many laughs you share, but by who shows up when life becomes heavy.
And yet, despite the gray hair, reading glasses, maintenance medicines, aching knees, and backs that now provide weather forecasts more accurately than PAGASA, all it takes is one reunion for us to become teenagers again.
The same high school kalokohans resurface.
The same stories get told.
The same people get roasted.
The same jokes somehow remain funny after four decades.
And the funniest part? We all know exactly how the story ends, yet we still laugh as if we're hearing it for the first time.
Looking back, I realize that what began as friendship eventually became family. We have witnessed one another's journey from awkward teenagers to responsible adults, successful professionals, loving parents, and proud grandparents. We have walked together through almost every season of life.
As Proverbs 17:17 reminds us:
"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."
That is what true friendship is. Not simply the people who shared your classroom, but the people who shared your life. The ones who kept showing up through every season. The years may pass, our hair may thin and turn gray, and our bodies may require more maintenance than our first cars ever did, but the friendship remains.
What began in the hallways and classrooms of high school has become one of God's greatest gifts in our lives: a friendship that has endured the passage of time, deepened through joy and sorrow, and now lives on in our spouses, our children, and the generations that follow.
And for that, we will always be grateful. ❤
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