Newly found friend

One month to go and it's already election day. I already bought shirts and fans for my father's campaign who is running for Councilor in our municipality.  I am a little bit worried about his status so what I did was joined the Municipality's Page as member and in just an hour they accepted my request. I just want to know the locals voice about the upcoming election and the candidates. I want to know if there are things that had been said about my father online or even about the party his running with, as well as the status of other candidates.  I am worried because we really need to win this. We still have three college students to finance and if father loses his job it would create financial problem for the family. 

What I didn't expect is to gain new friend from that group because my intention was just to drop by, read comments and posts. Let's just named him Mr. SC. He created a comment on welcoming me in the group and I said thank you. (Yeah, i was so friendly) hahaha Then he added me as a friend. It was okay, I know he curious about me. Then he sent me a message;

"Hi April, thanks for accepting my friend invite. Are you a CPA? nakita ko la pix of ur company picnic with that accounting firm. Any relation to ___ (my father's name?)."

Don't get me wrong, its not a boy girl getting to know each other conversation type. He is an old man around 60's and a retired accountant who just want to make friends and connect to people from his own province. 

Before replying, I viewed his profile and found out that he's a CPA too and a very successful Accountant in United States. So my reply was; 

"Yes sir I am, I am glad to know that you're an accountant too. He is my father. I'm his second daughter. Thanks for the add."

He told me that he haven't met my father yet but he'd seen his photos in FB. The next thing he told me was about the audit firm experience. He said I can't go wrong working with a CPA firm...it's an excellent stepping stone toward more challenging opportunities. He shared his past experiences as CPA. His starting pay when he was with J Cunanan (now PriceWaterhouse) was P180 per month but this was in the late '60s and he didn't have any regrets gaining experience for such measly pay. Imagine, mine was a thousand times of that. haha I was moved and I suddenly missed audit. I resigned from auditing firm nine months ago and I started hating and asking for reason why the hell I joined an auditing firm but he made me realize good things auditing firm have given me. There was some flashbacks in my mind. With that, I began to enjoy talking with him.  We are of the same profession and I love taking with successful and intelligent people because I know I'd learn from them. Then the conversation went on. 

From a CPA firm auditor to an officer in private and government banks in Philippines and when he came to the US, he went back to accounting and retired 2 years ago as Accounting Manager of the 2nd largest transportation agency in US. 

He also asked me if I have plans on working abroad. I wanted to say yes,and is there any possibility you could help me finding a job in US? hahaha but I just said yes just waiting for the right time. His response was "Kaya mo yan April, you are still young. I'll try to follow your career I'm sure you'll be successful kc you have the looks and determination to succeed."  --- yeah you read it correctly, I have the looks!! hahaha Kidding aside, it was inspiring and saying he'll be following my career put a little bit pressure on me. 

He then asked me where did I go for high school. I was again surprised to know that we attended same high school, Samar High and he graduated Valedictorian in '64. That was awesome! He was the last Calbiganon to achieve that feat and it made me proud Calbiganon also. While I only landed as the 6th honorable mention. Diba ang galing ng lolo mo! hehe  I get too excited to share this on my blog. It even made me forget about the election thing. 

Somehow, that conversation left a smile on my face. That's was just a short talk but for me was meaningful. I gained a new friend who inspired me to work hard and give me courage to aim high. I don't know much about him yet and likewise he does not know much about me but he trust my capabilities and believe in me. Sometimes, strangers came and will make you realize that you worth something and you just need a little push. Striking up a conversation with someone you don't know is somehow fun and interesting. You never know who you might meet.  Looking forward to meeting him like in alumni home coming or town fiesta.