To honor my classmate Maricel Lopez Hahn who passed away last Aug. 27, 2020, I am sharing this personal essay that was first published in Tomas Vol 2, Issue 12, 2nd Semester 2017-2018 (The Journal of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies).
The Class Reunion: Remembering the Salmon Run
by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Copyright 2017 and 2020 by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Aside from the two who lived in Toronto, the women who showed up for our class reunion in Toronto travelled from the Philippines, US, UK, and even Switzerland -- twenty-four women, college classmates, friends from Maryknoll days. I hadn’t seen many of them in decades and had lost the threads of their life stories. In many ways, they were strangers to me, but there were a few commonalities that we shared. Most of us were transplants from the Philippines. Many had left Manila in the years following our 1969 graduation.
Aside from the two who lived in Toronto, the women who showed up for our class reunion in Toronto travelled from the Philippines, US, UK, and even Switzerland -- twenty-four women, college classmates, friends from Maryknoll days. I hadn’t seen many of them in decades and had lost the threads of their life stories. In many ways, they were strangers to me, but there were a few commonalities that we shared. Most of us were transplants from the Philippines. Many had left Manila in the years following our 1969 graduation.
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