Ode to Missy, her cheesecake and her music

(here missy ha ... i'm writing about you ... hehe ... )

it was one evening in april 2004. i had just arrived in geneva and didn't have any friends yet. mama would drag me everywhere including all the filipino community events and prayer meetings we could attend. we were at a birthday party of my mom's friend (which was providential because that's the same friend that helped me get my first stint at the ILO. i guess i could say it was a blessed night.)

that's where i met missy, who was wearing a white top with her hair all over her face, i thought she was sleeping. i don't remember if she told me she was bored or i told her that i was but we started talking amidst the loud prophecy video that the rest of the party was listening to. and we got on to the topic of her changing universities and that she was writing an essay. i said i had finished journalism and that maybe i could help her draft it. (she already had a draft. :)) so i said, just come over anytime. and you know what? she did! the following day. (we had a photoshoot too that same day. hehe. my first ever in geneva.) this is the part where i should say ... and the rest is history ...

but it's more than that ... it's been four years. she's been my longest friend here in geneva. we've been through each others highs and lows and we're still close friends, as ever. at first, we didn't see each other much. she was hanging out with my neighbour more often. they had the same name. she had a boyfriend, i had someone too. we would just see each other occasionally.

then before we knew it, our friendship was going beyond the trivial and going to the spiritual. she was always a pillar of strength in terms of faith. she gave me inspirational verses in my lowest moments. she brought me to her young christian group meetings. she tried to involve me in a lot of christian activities. i came when i could but then i was also getting busy with my own church.

i was going through some rough patches with my relationship which eventually ended in heartbreak and missy was there - with her cheesecake. she brought me cheesecake at work to try to cheer me up. she would bring me little things that she made herself. my gifts from her have always been well-thought out and well-made (if she made them). she remembers (even at times, she doesn't remember other things hehe) those things that are important to me. for my last birthday, she gave me a bag hanger because she knew i didn't like to put my bag on the floor. we are both OC. hehe. she with washing the dishes. hehe. peace missy. so, her cheesecake. one time, i was feeling low again and she had brought me cheesecake and she concluded that that was her special medicine for me. her cure-all cheesecake. she makes lovely cheesecake and i requested her to make it for my last birtday, which she faithfully did.

speaking of my last birthday ... being her OC self and my need for assistance, she didn't even ask but decided to arrange my balcony post-haste before my guests arrived. by now, she was no longer a guest. haha! she also cleaned up the balcony and arranged the tables to look as if we were in her favourite cafe, fleurs de maries (which used to be near my previous apartment).

missy is not just a wonderful cook, organizer and overall beauty (inside and out), prayer partner and all the other things i could say but she might tell me to stop now ... but i would like to mention that she is a wonderful musician. when i first met her, she took me to her place and she jammed with our other friend, jowan. she was just starting to master the guitar and she already took years of piano. so, i was really overly amazed at her passion for music. it now translates into her service at church.

i told her today after mass that she played wonderfully. although her cantor and her seemed to be less coordinated than usual, her music carried whatever uncoordination there was.

but most of all, it's not missy's ability to cook a "forget-your-name" cheesecake or her wonderful music that makes me stand in awe of her, it's her magnanimous show of faith and her strong conviction to answer the call of God. i don't know if i can share it here ... but let's just say that God asked her to do something that required her to sacrifice all that she has come to know, to bear many burdens and still she chose to answer His call. i honour her. through her faith journey, i always told her that i was so amazed because i don't know if i could do the same. i was glad to be part of her faith journey ... and will forever be part of it. diba missy? hehe ...

she has proven to me that the best way to say "i love you" is to show it in the many ways that a person can.

so, missy, thank you for teaching me to show my love ...

(missy is also summa cum laude! did i forget to mention that? haha - ok, missy, i will stop na!)