Preparing for the OPM Night Pure Heart fundraising event, I could say, was the highlight of my 2023 so far. It was really exciting to be working with Ronel, Jera, and Gama on our second year as the music team for the event. But this year, we got a few addition to our team that made the whole difference. So I want to thank Angel, Geil and Ate Marlyn for their saying yes to this mission and hope to see them next year, too! It was fun deciding on the songs to fit the theme of the fundraising. We also had to think twice about the lead vocalist because we have three lovely voices in the team, the accompaniment, and the arrangement of each songs, especially the original ones composed by Ronel and Geil. We wanted to show we own these songs and hoped that the audience will love it.
During practices, the biggest challenge was finding the time that works for everybody because we had different schedules for school and work. Some of us had little to no sleep, some had to come early while others had to stay up late, but we all found ways to be flexible and made it work. It's interesting how a few years back, we had little to no problem agreeing on the time and place to practice. But look at us now, we really are growing up, ates and kuyas of Pure Heart! We got help from Kuya Lance, Ate Yang, and Ate Mapet who spent from their pocket for our meals during practices. Thank you for your support during those hungry times, ates and kuya! Haha! We also would like to thank Father Steban for allowing us to practice in Taboan priory especially when we had to stay late because we had a late afternoon start, and Ate Mapet for the one-night practice in St. Anne's. We were able to concentrate on our practices more with having two less things to worry about.
The day before the event, we found ourselves in a bind on one particular song. We only just realized the accompaniment was in the wrong key the whole three weeks we've been practicing. We got flustered and almost panicked but we remained calm and found a way to end the song in the right key. I guess I got worried because I am not good with confrontation and I was afraid it would create a rift between us when during those practices, I felt like the group has become closer than ever, and I didn't want to lose that bond I was creating with them. But we got over that like it never happened, and up to this day, I still find it amazing how I have this kind of relationship with these people, especially when you're so used to being left behind and everyone just judge you because of a mistake you made. It really warms my heart thinking we're even better friends now after that night.
We had a blast during our live performance and that feeling lasted for a couple more days when we gathered in Kuya Lance's house to celebrate ourselves for doing our best as the music team, and the success of the fundraising as a whole. It was also Villa Del Rio's patron's feast, St. John the Baptist, so it felt like everybody was celebrating with us during the Mass. In this world nowadays, it's rare to find genuine love. But love comes in different forms, and sometimes, they come in the form of friends. You know, the ones you go to Church and serve with, or sometimes the ones you play music and online games with. But maybe the best ones you can find out there are those you disagree with but forgets it happened a day later, especially before a PH fundraising event. Yeah, those are best kind.
Written by Angelica Fernandez. Angie is a Pure Heart volunteer since 2021.