Of Precious Gems

The fourth episode of the Level-Up Brotherhood Salutations series of 2011.

I have always been taught that still water runs deep...that was until I met you.

We are often told that people who are noisy and loud are not always the smartest people in the bunch. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer. People mostly think they are shallow airheads.

But you know how you get to meet a certain person who defies what you have always believed in? There is always going to be that one person who destroys any preconceived notion you form at the back of your mind. And you finally say to yourself that not all of what you were told are right. And how first impressions are not always the best. That’s what I think when I talk about Gem.

You might have had a fair share of happy birthday's and God bless you's and the occasional thank you for being a friend greetings this day. Savor it. The horde of people remembering you on this day is a testament of how great you are as a person and how big of an impact you make in people’s lives. Like them, the Brotherhood is lucky to have such wonderful person in our lives. I am honoured to be included in your circle of friends.

Before the day ends, I would like to greet you on your special day. I consider you not just a dear friend, a comrade all through out these years; someone whom I share failures and frustrations with. You are not just a drinking and window-shopping buddy, a Kpop, anime, Hollywood-gossip connoisseur; a friend whose house is open 24/7 or someone whom we can easily tag along on spur-of-the-moment trips. You are not just someone whom we seek comfort when we need warmth or whose laughter we want during lulls and moments of silence.  

More importantly, you serve as an inspiration. You remind me that no matter how hopeless and dire the situation might seem, if you hold on for a minute longer, you will make it through unscathed.

Thank you for reminding me to not give up a fight. Thank you for reminding me to always finish what you started. I say this to you all and to our friends - the accomplishments of our blockmates, the summa and magna cum laudes and the naysayers of our batch will never amount to what you have accomplished back in college. Not even close. For their path was straight and predictable. They were not challenged and tested by life like you were. Yours was a path full dead ends and detours, yet by sheer will you were able to get past them. Your never faltered when they shut you down.

You have triumphed well above those who looked down on you and said that you couldn’t make it. For every professor who made you feel inferior and for every college secretary who gave you a reproaching, condescending look because of what your transcript looked like, you raised your middle finger (metaphorically of course) and proved them wrong. You made it, with flying colors, and while keeping your job at that. For someone like me who regrettably quit and quivered, you serve as a role model. I just hope that I can amount to what you are and make it like you did now that I'm heading back to finish what I should've done a long time ago.

Science taught us that gems are formed miles below heaps of soil and earth. Once dull and formless clay, they are subjected to extreme pressure and heat only to come out to the surface as shining, beautiful stones. But as it turns out, you don’t have to dig up under layers of mud to see such wonder, for true gems are also found above ground. They are those who are tested by problems and molded by failures only to come out as shining and better versions of their previous selves.

And just as still waters run deep, so are noisy rivers—with their loud and often times, violent undercurrents. And it is through these unstable and erratic waters that we find precious stones surface from beneath the earth.  Stones which are treasured forever. And just like those who find these remarkable treasures in shallow noisy waters, we are very fortunate to have found someone so rare and one-of-a-kind that only befits the title of a true gem. 

And you, my friend, outshine every single one of these precious stones. A Gem in every sense of the word.

Happy happy 25^th Birthday Gem! The Brotherhood loves you very much.

Happy happy birthday, Sexy!!!