[back to our second home]

It was a sentimental journey of sorts. The alumni found themselves going back to the place where they spent their student years under the tutelage of the Hijas de Jesus sisters. Our batch was among them.

This idea of a last grand reunion was hatched because  majority  of the alumni wanted to spend this time  with former classmates, schoolmates & mentors in the school we hold dear in our hearts. It's the last one, sadly, because the school had been acquired  & will soon be taken over by a conglomerate.

Anyway, this affair was a jampacked one, with more than 700 people in attendance. Thanks to Facebook, coordination became a lot easier.

Registration started at 1 pm.

As soon as registration was done, my sister & I separately joined our batch mates. Our batch had a quick practice in one of the kindergarten classrooms for our presentation later that evening. From there, we made our way to the chapel to catch the 4 pm mass. It was celebrated by Fr. Nick Cruz, a long time, well-loved school chaplain.

During

& after the mass.

From the chapel, the alumni queued up for the parade of batches. Ours was a long wait since the first one  to come out was 2013! ;) So during the lull, we had time for photo opps & happy banter.

Aside from the usual group shots,

most of us posed beside our then-&-now pictures, a collage made especially for this event by a classmate.

For our batch entrance, we had pennants to hold

& 4 ladies in grade school & high school uniforms. Eyes were on our schoolgirls. They stole the show! ;)

Dinner was served after the parade. Several food stations were placed in strategic places within the quadrangle. It was during this time that we had total fun moments bonding & reliving stories & anecdotes of our student lives in NS with non-stop picture-taking  done in between.

Whenever we got the chance, we had our pictures taken with former mentors, especially with the Hijas de Jesus sisters,

with the other batches, 

and my sister's.

The program lasted for 3 hours or so. Some alumni sisters shared the hosting job with fellow Nazarethans, Ariel & Maverick.

Special prizes were also raffled off.

A major part of the program were the batch presentations, usually a song or a dance number. 

Ours was a medley, a collation of songs we used to sing during masses or school programs. Some members of several batches, older or younger than us, joined us on stage, much to our surprise & delight. :) Our sisterhood & friendship with them go a long way, many years back in high school.

A captured moment during our presentation.

Less than an hour after our presentation, my sister & I headed for home. My batch mates had an after-reunion get-together in BHS Central. I wasn't able to join this. =( But I grabbed these photos they took.

This homecoming will go down in the history books of  the school as unprecedented but heart-breaking, as well. =( This seeming "loss" has disheartened most, if not all of the alumni.  It will never be the same again in the years to come but in our true-blue Nazarethan hearts, the school will forever be a source of gratitude because in our formative years, it became our second home.

For the VISION & the MISSION the sisters had successfully carried out,

we will always remember you, dear Nazareth School.

Thank you!