The Philippines Writing Project

October Will Never Be October Again
By Roxanne Henkin
The Philippines Writing Project
October 26, 2016


October will never be October again.
October will never be just ordinary October to me again.
When I remember October 2016,
I will always think of the lovely Philippines,
And more importantly, the beautiful Filipino people
who let me into their lives.

I will always remember
how we opened our hearts
as we shared our stories,
telling the truth about ourselves,
no matter how difficult
it was to tell.

How can I explain
how much this experience
has meant to me?
It would have been enough
for you to be polite to me.
It would have been enough
for you to welcome me.
It would have been enough
for you to complete the assignments.

But instead...
We shared the stories of our lives.
We shared all of it,
the agony as well as the joyous parts.
The parts when
our hearts were torn open
and we thought we could not go on.

We shared our grief
and our disappointments,
our insecurities, fears
and our deepest sorrows.

But we also shared
our strength and determination,
our understandings and our insights,
and our beliefs in our loved ones and ourselves.
We shared our ability to move on.

Life is not easy for anyone.
But what we shared together proves
that there is always tomorrow,
that we are survivors,
that we will endure
and in fact thrive.
That we are all one in our humanity,
and in our ability to love.

October will never be October again.
October will never be just ordinary October to me again.
When I remember October 2016,
I will always think of the lovely Philippines,
and more importantly, the beautiful Filipino people,
of whom I am honored to call my friends,
and who honor me with their friendship.
Because we shared at such a profound level,
we are transformed,
and will never be the same again.