there are normal days, and there are special days.  and yet there are days which you think are normal yet turn out to be special in a blink of an eye.  one such day was yesterday.  i was still recovering from my unknown sickness (i called it unknown because i didn't have fever, but was coughing like crazy, with matching phlegm and colds to boot and there were times that i would feel weak and then normal and then weak again) and the only thing left from it is the occasional coughing and that it affected my throat, thus i didn't have any voice.  i was really struggling to talk so i would do so only by whispering (i brought ginger brew this morning and it's taking it's effect, thankfully).

anyhow, it was right around dinner time when i decided to take a shower first before eating.  i was already in the bathroom when a familiar tune hit my ear.  my mobile phone was ringing.  clad only in a bath towel, i went out to check who it was, even though i know i wouldn't be able to answer it because of my voice.  the ringing had already stopped when i took my phone.  i checked the missed call and an unfamilar 14-digit number was indicated.  the thing is, it's not local.  so i wondered, "who would call me up using a foreign number?"  i asked my brother if he was familiar with the number as i showed him the phone.  he said that he didn't know what network it was.  i was still holding the phone when it started ringing again.  it was the same number calling me.  i immediately asked my brother to answer it for me since i can't talk.  he did and a couple of seconds of silence passed after he said "hello." he then said, "i'm sorry, i'm his brother.  i answered the phone because my brother has no voice."  he then held the phone, looking for something.  he then pressed the loudspeaker button.  then, a female voice came on, saying, "are you really that sick?"  the voice wasn't familiar.  i tried to muster enough strength to have my vocal chords function, saying, "i'm really sorry, but i'm having difficulty talking, as you can hear.  who is this?"  "oh my god, you really are sick," came the reply.  she had to hear for herself, maybe thinking that i was just playing around.  "who is this?" i pressed on.  "did my voice change at all?  anyhow, i just called to greet you a belated happy birthday," she said.  i thanked her the best way i can say it and continued to ask who she was.  "you don't remember me?  mark, it's lisa."  i was walking in circles around my room, wearing only a towel while talking to her and at the instant she said who she was, i stopped dead in my tracks.  "oh my god," was the only thing i could say to myself.  "hey lisa, thank you, i'm sorry i couldn't talk normally, i wish i could," was the first thing i told her after coming to my senses.  "it's ok mark, i just called to greet you a belated happy birthday.  we'll talk when you get better."  all i can say in reply was, "thank you, thank you for calling."  before she hung up, she wished me well and that she reminded me that we'll be talking soon.

wow, talk about surprises!  it was around three plus years since we last talked to each other, and it was even hardly a good conversation.  we parted in an unexpectedly negative way when she got married and left for australia.  if you need a refresher course on our history, backread lots and lots of pages, say, right around 2004-2005, and you'll know what kind of history we had.  but in any case, it really felt good when she called me up.  i didn't feel anything except being elated that she would call.  the bummer there was my voice.  we could've had a better conversation if not for my condition.  but, maybe there are better things to come.  she even sent me a text message after calling, which i was able to read after finally taking my shower, suggesting that i take ginger tea and that it would help, although the taste is something to be desired.

to make the long story short, she made my day yesterday.  and here's hoping that our once good friendship would be restored.