Guestbook

(GLO) - A yearbook is not simply a notebook. It's a place that preserves an entire era of youth, where every stroke of the pen carries a piece of memory.

There were messages that were a little naive and clumsy, but incredibly sincere. There were pages filled with heart drawings, school poems, and promises like, "Let's not forget each other someday," which sounded so gentle and simple, yet brought tears to my eyes.

For us kids born in the late 1980s, those scrapbooks were incredibly precious. They were decorated in many colors; some used zippered notebooks, others used spiral-bound ones.

After carefully writing the first page, I passed the notebook around to my classmates. Usually, they start with their names, birth dates, hobbies, addresses, and family phone numbers (if available). Those who managed to get their Korean-style photos taken on the spot pasted them in, while some even pasted their passport photos.

I clearly remember the first time I wrote in your yearbook. My pen trembled, and after the general introduction, I didn't know where to begin. What should I write to let you know how much I cherished you?

I will remember the way you laughed when you teased me, the afternoons during extra classes when we'd all bring unripe mangoes, guavas, and chili salt, gathering in small groups during recess to eat, chat, and laugh happily, and the time we cycled nearly ten kilometers together to buy the Hoa Hoc Tro (Student's Flower) newspaper...

Some choose to write a few short lines in their farewell messages, while others meticulously decorate every corner, pressing in petals of flamboyant flowers or pieces of candy wrappers. But whatever the form, each page is a part of a heart saying goodbye.

Someday, when we're all in different places, those notebooks will be carefully stored away in drawers or corners of our desks. Sometimes, we'll accidentally open them, and relive a carefree time, a season of love that quietly passed by. Then we'll smile and feel warm inside, knowing we once had such beautiful days.

Therefore, the season of yearbook entries is always a season of heartfelt words, of lingering hugs, of tight handshakes, a season of regrets and the innocent, naive love of first school days.

Almost 20 years have passed. Memories of those last summer days of high school remain in my heart. As I sit here writing, the familiar lyrics of the song "Poetic Love" flood back to my mind: "The farewell message was blurred by tears before it could be written / The beautiful flower was never given / That memory in the rainy afternoon after school / Two of us walking the same path, how lingering it feels."

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/luu-but-post319358.html