What would you do with a letter that changed everything?
As of this writing, I would have already watched ‘Dear John’ twice. But no matter how I think my taste would have changed this time, I was still utterly certain of one thing: it was mesmerizing, as ever. Even if I’d watch it over and over again, I know I wouldn’t get tired of it.
Well, I guess I have no right to be obsessed with his works since honestly, I never had read any of Nicholas Sparks’ novels. I’ve always seen only the cover of his books in the bookstores but I really didn’t get the chance to read though their pages. I have to admit that I’m not that really much of a bookworm. I get easily tired of reading verbatim, and I’d rather watch it on actual, on movies.
Well anyways, I am writing this article to express my praises for the movie ‘Dear John’. It magically hooked my being. Watching it on the TV’s screen was not far different from being on the story itself. I was really ‘into’ it. I was caught on it. I was all but loving ‘Dear John’.
Okay. So ‘Dear John’ is starred by Channing Tatum, who was playing as the main male protagonist ‘John’, and Amanda Seyfried, who was breathing life to the character of ‘Savannah’. Since I am not that good in storytelling, I guess it would be better if I leave things vague, and not narrating the entire story detail by detail. But I wonder… how would I let this article end on such a way? Well now, I guess you really have to watch the movie for yourselves. Probably because of how deeply it penetrated down on me, I simply cannot pour down into writing my brimming love and praises for ‘Dear John’.
Nonetheless, as a generalized introduction, the story somehow revolved around writing, sending, receiving, then finally reading ‘letters’. Yes. LETTERS!
But before the ‘letters’ stuff, John met Savannah in the beach near their respective homes. The movie opens with John, surf boarding through the waves; when Savannah enters the scene accompanied by her friends. A friend of Savannah accidentally dropped Savannah’s bag into the waters. John sees it, and immediately, he expertly dives into the sea to retrieve Savannah’s bag. Right after rescuing Savannah’s precious bag from sinking into the sea, John reluctantly returned it to her. Savannah was very grateful to him, saying that she greatly owed him. And from there on, their romance blossomed, growing profusely within just two weeks, before John returns to the Army while Savannah back to school.
That’s all it took them. Two weeks. And they easily fell in love with each other. It seemed very short from a normal perspective, but a lot of things had happened within such duration. John met Tim, the fatherly-figure in Savannah’s life; Savannah met John’s dad; John got to help Savannah rebuilding their devastated house; et cetera, et cetera. It would be a very long list to elaborate them all.
Well, you see, since John was assigned in the US Army - Special Forces, he needed to be far away from Savannah most of the time. And as their two weeks of being together comes to end, before John flies back to the Army, he wrote a tattered letter for Savannah. It wasn’t an official letter, but it gave Savannah some good idea. She then made John promise her to make her know of everything that was happening to him while he was away. She told John to scribble down every detail of his life in letters. In this way, no matter how far they were from each other, it seemed to bridge their lives together. COMMUNICATION. It was what the letters would be for. To let both of them know what’s going on with each other. So that somehow, they’ll be connected.
BUT FOR HOW LONG?
Were the letters enough to keep the relationship going? Well, that’s how it would lead the story to a lot of twists. Through the letters they wrote for each other, the story progresses. Through the letters they sent and received, both lives will be changed.
***This is all where the magic is. In the LETTERS. And personally, I was always greatly carried away by the magic. ‘Dear John’ meets my heart in a close-up.
What would you do with a letter that changed everything? For me? I surely will take chances. I’ll certainly respond to it, as long as I would be happy with such life-changing endeavor.
Well, I know I wouldn’t be able to end this article in a good way, partly because I don’t know the exact words to say, and partly because I am so much ‘into’ it that I don’t even know how to start and how to end praising such great movie. But anyhow, ‘Dear John’, on my intuitive perception, is definitely more than a STORY itself, it got its own life. It reveals a LIFE in the letters. And there’s the magic of LOVE, too.
"Hoy, manlaag ta ilang Irene sa Sto.Nino!"
No one seemed to care about the idea.
No one even showed the slightest interest to accept this jurag-jurag scheme.
But before we knew it, we were already a group of seven riding in a white multicab headed to Sto.Nino. With only a scanty supply of food. No water. Just the enthusiasm to escape from the boredom prevailing at our respective homes. And of course, with the thrill and excitement of embarking into such out-of-the-blue scheme.
Well, the road when we got to Sto.Nino was all fogged by so much dust. The scorching heat of the sun was like opening every pore of my skin that it could really pierce down into my bones. But all of it was nothing compared to what was waiting ahead of us, the exciting unknown we were about to explore.
On the way to Sampiano (a sitio of Brgy. Sto Nino), the very location of our trek right below Sto.Nino itself, we momentarily dropped by at some stores along the dusty road to buy ourselves some stuff--ice water, bread, snacks. Of course, like someone who plans to enter a war, we also needed to fully equip ourselves for this tough battle.
Walk. Walk. Walk.
And now came the ultimate test… the real battle against nature.
We were on the cliff, right before descending the mountain. At the outset, we found ourselves on an amazing panoramic view of nature’s hidden beauty. With such rare façade, we took a brief halt and contemplated the breathtaking natural wonder that was laid right before our very eyes. It was such a gift – a heavenly sight of pure serenity.
From there, we took our first step in going down. With the beautiful Ms.Irene Gaspe as our ‘tour guide’, we started descending the very steep, barren mountain. The spectacular view around us entranced us so much that we forgot what we were getting ourselves into. But there was no chickening out now. And advancing together, we bravely passed the rocky, narrow paths going down of the mountain. It was so windy out there, that it seemed nature itself is whispering right directly into your ears. The grasses were strongly glued on the slopes as if they’ve been there from the very beginning. The birds were swaying gracefully with the wind, not even scared of the altitude of their flight. I hardly noticed the exact moment when I begun to envy those birds because they don’t need to feel what it was like to descend from the mountaintop. I could really feel my knees tremble so hard. Even my heart’s pounding was very much audible in my chest.
I could only wish that my eyes were blindfolded so that I wouldn’t be able to see the view below – the trees and houses which seemed to be so tiny like an army of ants in a constant parade. But no matter how I tried, I could still see the view below. I had to carefully watch my every step so that I wouldn’t trip down and end up rolling to the footsteps of this gigantic mountain. For now, I guess there is no reason at all to deny that I really do fear heights.
Down and down we went, and we even hardly noticed that we were nearing the bottom of the mountain. When we finally reached the base of the mountain, all we could think of was that: it was energy-sapping. Rappelling down the mountain was like an endless torture of the every joint of our bodies.
Nonetheless, the prize of making it down there was really an unforgettable treat for all us. It personally gave me so much relief when I saw the crystal-clear waters of the wide rivers that was literally stretched out to the far end of my sight; while the pure air that was enveloping us soothingly caressed our tired bodies. In my mind, I was certain of one thing: it was all worth it.
To burst the excitement out, we passed a narrow, long hanging bridge. The strong winds easily swayed the bridge, tremendously scaring us all to death. Things were made more severe when we got to see the river's fierce current right below the bridge. It actually made me nauseous.
It was about one o’ clock when we officialy passed the bridge and decided to take our lunch. But thirsty as we were, we decided first to seek for a store that would have to sell ice water or any other softdrinks that would quench our dry throats. Not far from the bridge and river, we came to the sitio proper of Sampiano where only few houses can be seen. It was very hot as the sun rose above us, when we finally found ourselves in a small store which luckily sells ice water and softdrinks. And there, at last, we were once again energized.
We also bought two cans of sardines that would somehow increase the very little food supply we had. From the sitio proper, we hiked again back to the bridge. This time, it was a lot easier for us to pass the bridge because we already learned the maneuver tricks the first time we crossed it. When we made it across, we then immediately devoured our lunch. We got to finish our lunch inside a small cave by the river.
By then, we were already so tired. But as they say, nothing’s gonna to stop us! We then enjoyed ourselves in the cool, pristine river as we started soaking ourselves onto it. We splashed waters to each other’s faces; started swimming against the current; and even challenged ourselves to dive into the deep portions of the river (but then decided not to). It was only Donessa and Maegan who did not plunge themselves into the water, maybe afraid of getting wet. But Al, Tisay, Ate Beth,Vevian, Wena, Jireh, Irene and I, hesitated no more in playing with the refreshing waters. With the magnificent view of nature as bonus, we savored every second of our swimming escapade in the river.
After all the enjoyment below, we then needed to hike up back to the top of the mountain. It was not easy returning home especially when you see right before you a mighty bulge of mountain you need to surpass. Just seeing it drains one’s energy. But in no time, against all odds, we made it back on top. So exhausted. Now soaked in sweat and even racing to breathe. But what counted for us back then was that we were able to successfully win over the battle against our nature trek.
As our consolation for this jurag-jurag plan, Irene’s family which resides at Sto.Nino, treated us with the delicious ‘lamaw’, a recipe of coconut flesh added with milk and sugar. It was just so revitalizing, so melting in the mouth. It really did satiate our growling stomachs after just finishing it off with nature’s strenuous challenge.
It was already dusk when we departed from Irene’s house. Few streaks of sunlight beamed to the dimming sky as we exhaustedly hiked (as in literally just walking) from their house, to wherever our feet would bring us, before we could catch a cab that would eventually take us home. And heaven’s luck! A cab rescued us. By then, our untidy figures were really a picture of poor barefooted beggars. YES. We really looked like beggars from the way our feet and clothes were dirtied and the worn-out expression that our faces were bearing.
Nevertheless, it was not on how tired we were, but on how much fun we had, that matters the most. We may then appeared to be so dirty and exhausted after that long day of jurag-jurag – but every scratch in our bodies, every ache we felt in descending and ascending the mountain, every drop of sweat all through this crazy adventure, and every fraction of time we spent together – all of it will be treasured deep in our hearts. Our happy and exciting EXPERIENCE out there was what matters most.
All in all, as we gaze back to that experience - to the mighty mountains and the white threads of rivers, we get to realize that LIFE, in comparison to our memorable nature trek, is also an array of challenges that we need to surpass. That is why, with confidence, we bravely swear to those majestic mountains of Sampiano:
“Whatever life has to throw at us, we will face it with valor and fervor… and then surpass it as victors, just like how we conquered you, o’ great mountains of Sampiano!”
