Meet my friend, Grace.

They say that there is a slim chance of finding real friends on Facebook. I took a chance and found one in Grace.

Grace and I have been Facebook friends since 2011. It started when our common friend, Ginee, suggested that we add each other as friends since we often found each other commenting in Ginee’s posts. It turned out that Grace was my college roommate’s best friend in grade school, too.  (Hi, Daisy!) Our world became smaller. As I kept updated with her life through Facebook (and she got updates with mine, too), I got to know Grace better.

Fast forward to 2014, I found her workout clip on Instagram (Gracegetfit). She was into a fitness regimen for several weeks already and I found her exercise routine to be something I can manage. It was Les Mills Combat. I tried it and I loved it. She was my one-man support team who encouraged me to get up and move. She gave me tips on what to eat and what to avoid, although I hardly follow them.  Thanks to Grace, I get compliments that I am now trimmer. I am still not in my ideal size (flat abs is the goal!). But I am happy to have a cheerleader in Grace. She has a cheerleader in me.  We’ll get there, you elusive flat abs!

Grace embraced (more like, endured, haha!) my quirks, inner weirdo and eccentricities. I do not have to edit or put careful thoughts on what I tell her. I do not get judged for what I did or said. She listens to my woes and triumphs and shares her thoughts on what I have shared.

In many of our conversations, we had planned to meet when she comes home to the Philippines.  You see, Grace was born and raised in the Philippines, studied in Japan and works in Dubai. She had not been home for years and her Philippine vacation was long overdue. We had often quipped that we would meet in some coffee shop and chat on our mobile devices.  We are both introverts.

Since last year, she had been planning to spend her vacation here in the Philippines in July. It finally pushed through. I agreed to meet her. She planned to visit Butuan but with two kids in tow and one is not accustomed to long drive (Butuan is five hours away by bus), I went to meet her in Cagayan de Oro.  I stayed overnight in her parents’ home (which she and her siblings helped build). How cool is that? I have not met her before and here she was opening her home to me. She was more awesome in person than I imagined her to be and we did not have to pull out our devices to have a conversation. It felt like we have been friends for a long time.

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Grace and me with Grace’s son, Benja, goofing around.

I went with her on a trip to Dahilayan in Bukidnon. Grace has a wonderful family who is easily to get along with.

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And she has an equally awesome daughter, Pristine, who easily became my buddy. We crossed the hanging bridge together shouting at the top of our lungs, every time the bridge wobbled.  Ha!

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Me and the lovely, Pristine.

I compiled all my photos with Grace. Thank you for being such a wonderful person, Grace! I had a wonderful time. Cheers to friendship!

Photos are all taken by Grace (stolen by me!)

Photos are all taken by Grace (stolen by me!)

Grace is also a blogger. She is one of Dubai’s Influential Bloggers. She writes about her experiences in SandierPastures.com.  Follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Like her page on Facebook.

I end this post with this thought.

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