October 29, 2012

• Run, Rudy. Run!

  Sunday, October 21st 2012. The day I ran on a public street for the second time in my life. And it was fun. All in the name of health and money. JAKARTA RACE, an annual fund raising event organized by The Cancer Foundation of Indonesia, and sponsored by many of the biggest company names in the country. You can choose a 5K run or a 10K run. Obviously, I chose the 5K one.

  Earlier during the week… she called out of the blue and asked if I wanted to participate at the event and to support the hotel she is working for (one of the many sponsors) by purchasing the ticket and register from her hotel. I said yes. As a gesture of friendship and as a birthday present for her.

  We met up for lunch the day before her birthday. Her treat. It was nice sitting and chatting with her again after the many confusing months me trying to figure out what I had done wrong. It turned out it wasn’t me. It was her. She was going through personal issues that she needed to sort out on her own. She is very private that way. At least now we both are communicating again, ever since she called for the first time after an 8-month absence.

  She confided in me of her life situation. How she got an offer from another big name hotel with a much higher salary. She is unsure if she’ll take the job, considering it’ll be in another city and that both of her aging parents are having health issues. She also told me that she met someone and had a relationship. Unfortunately, he was a poison for her happiness. He was possessive. And he also cheated on her. She actually caught him dating another woman. What an a@#hole. I told her she deserves better. And she does. She is still in her grieving stage but she is in a much better place now that she ended it. She is tougher than she gives herself credit for.

  That Sunday we met up at the race meeting point. She brought along her bike. It was a fun time. We talked and laughed the entire run. Well, I jogged, and she biked next to me the entire time. We talked about our past adventures in travels, our current life, and possible future. She took few photos of me. She would pedal really fast so she could be a few minutes ahead of me, then she would park her bike, and waited for me to jog pass her so she could take pictures of me. Each time she did it, she would say “Run, Rudy. Run” and then giggled, as I smiled to the camera, drenched in sweat.

  It's always nice to be able to chat with her like we used to. We even talked about the possibility of us traveling together again. I don’t know if she’ll be able to keep her promise, or us joining this race again together for the next year. But I can hope, for her sake. And for our friendship.

  

  

  • 6:48 am
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