My semi-novel version
i went back home in San Luis after failing to find an opportunity to work as a waiter in a cruise ship or abroad; also, to face the painful truth of my life... to start all over again in reaching my life's goal of achieving a stable job. in short, i found myself realizing that my mother had been right ever since - that i should find a work in government which will ensure my future even with a "not so high salary." i sound so sorrowful saying this, but that’s the truth. i was broke then; literally using my sister's phone & asking pasaload from my mother, just to give me a shed of light.
that same phone was what i used to start talking with this girl who i knew from high school. she was just using her registered unlimited texting & sending forwarded messages to everyone, which honestly i don't think i can ever be a follower. if i remember correctly, i even criticized her for the forwarded message she sent me one night of October 2006. & so i told her that it was me using my sister's phone. the conversation then continued.
i knew this for a fact: that the day after, while me & my mother were cleaning our ground, i asked her about the family of Michelle. her quick response: she had a chance to work with Misu's father as DPWH District Engineer then while she was the auditor for the same government agency. also, i remember her telling me "i know Oyie's daughters are beautiful & a little aloof with people in the office.".
days passed, we continued exchanging SMS with me trying to tease her with her up-until-now-cannot-be-figured-out crush in me during our high school years. she was to go back to the province to visit her father's tomb for All Saints' Day, which i later learned had been her practice ever since the death of the best father they could ever have. (i speak from my soul by the way when i say i admire this person the way he & his wife manage their family intact throughout the years of people's criticism since his father was in a very controversial position then.) & as i knew that she was coming to Baler, i became so interested in meeting her, settling once & for all what was that hype i was feeling for her. so we met in Bay's Inn; she was having dinner with Yumi & Luanne (2 of her closest friends since high school) and i went there with Sol (my best buddy ever). i remember the province was having an electricity problem so it was blackout. the next day, me & Sol tried our best baking Ube-halaya which i brought 1 small food container for her mother & aunt (Tita Nati) & Nanay to taste. they were all at the balcony since it was dark inside the house & they had nothing to do because of the blackout. the last night of their short vacation in Baler, i pulled out all the guts that i had in me to ask Michelle out from Mommy. this will not be erased from my mind: that Mommy looked at me from head to foot & asked Michelle "do you want to go?". while we were walking i kept on telling her about that inferiority i felt. there & then i knew i have a companion. she talked me over it which made me tell Michelle even the loneliest part of my life. i knew from then on i have Michelle in my life. if she will not be my girlfriend, she will be my close friend. for other people, having someone whom you can share things or whom you will hear words from may not be so important; but for me, that's what i had been seeking. & so i started falling in love with this girl. days & weeks pass, I was missing her.
i was watching over my ailing grandfather during the last week of November, which had been consuming most of my time, and i had my aunt of course to help me with that. since Michelle was staying in Manila pursuing her Masters study in Clinical Audiology, i hardly had a chance to meet her. i will not say it's a good thing that Tatay was brought to VMMC, but this gave me the chance to strengthen that connection with Michelle. she visited me a day after we admitted my grandfather. she brought a bag of fruits greeting Tatay to get well & enjoy life a little longer. the most memorable words of that day "ay magandang bata itu ah (she's a beautiful child). kilala ku pamilya nitu, maayus na pamilya (i know her family, a good one)." what can i say more, she caught Tatay's heart. i was hoping him to like Michelle, but i didn't expect that he will admire her. (just so you know hon, he even asked me how's our relationship, and he said "take care of that girl, she must really like you.")
during the less than a month stay of Tatay in VMMC, i had few chance of going out with her:going to UST, waiting for her while rehearsing for their DAP perfomance. i also had a chance to meet her classmates & friends from MClAud. and of course there were a few times bringing her home, saying a short hi-hello to Mommy. mind you, i still managed to go out even with those sleepless nights looking out for Tatay. there was even one incident when i barely slept the whole night because Tatay was in so much pain & i needed to go straight to UST because it will be my chance to hangout with her the whole day. my energy came from a Redbull & coffee.
in VMMC, Tinan was having her internship as a medical technologist. she came by at least 2times, i think, to get blood samples from Tatay. i can remember asking a favor from her, discreetly, to please help me with her sister.
before the end of the year, we went to Enchanted Kingdom which we had planned for the whole month of December. i guess in essence, i just love the thought of adrenaline hype riding all those we can see in a theme park. i’ve never been in one, at least just before then, that is why i guess i was so excited waiting for it to happen. i remember Misu’s mom telling us “para kayung mga bata,” which in that case we were really reaching out to our childishness. going there was a long travel, we needed to ask few people where was the terminal going to Sta. Rosa, Laguna. along the way we had some discussions, and i observed that Misu easily gets upset even from simple uncertain things. i didn’t know why, but from then on i enjoyed making her lighten-up everytime she was pissed-off. she was like a baby leaning on my shoulder saying all her sorrows and her tears will slowly pour down, as if she’s forcing herself to cry. the loveliest about thing about her is her baby soft skin. (she loves it by the way, when I tell her that she is lovely.
Michelle also did her share of stopping at our place in Frisco, greeting my brothers & cousins whom i was staying with. we were not yet boyfriend-girlfriend then, but we were already building the strongest possible foundation before stepping forward to the commitment.
then, i headed back to San Luis to take care of my grandfather further while gaining his energy back. that was also the time i needed to decide where to find work; either in the province or go back to Manila. the winner was the first, wherein obviously i made a good choice getting a stable job in the state college. for everyone's knowledge, it was Michelle who talked me over this saying "i would rather see you working in a government agency in our province though it would entail having a low monthly income rather than working your ass hard as a management trainee for a fastfood restaurant in Manila." my point: Michelle was becoming the guardian angel of my life.
there is one thing i want to tell everyone: it was not easy for Michelle for me to come into her life. it was so hard for her actually. but she unselfishly embraced this, embraced me. i don't need to get into detail about that, but one thing is for sure, when i look back and realize whatshe went through to love me, i feel so loved. she is indeed the best girl a man can ever have. (hon, believe me, you are so beautiful inside & out. these are not simply praises, because we both know that you also have imperfections. if i may say, you are so easy to be pissed off & too maarte. but these things & everything in between i learned to love through time. i can even now say that these things in you are so lovable & i don't want you taking those traits out of your personality.)
from the time i had the chance to work in the province, i see to it that every payday i will go to Manila to visit Michelle, just to spend time with her - walking in the mall or staying in UST... until she graduated & landed an admirable job as Audiologist for AMEARCO. i continued my, i would say, “monthly” visit to her whenever it was possible & we did our best to know each other so well, from our downiest moment to our jolliest time. i had the most interesting time in courting a girl. i courted her then, actually i don't want to stop courting her up until now. we made "us" official on the night of June 8 - a post-dinner for her birthday & our pre-selected day to make our relationship official. i will not forget the free banana split, which by the way so delicious, because they served us a plate of garden salad with worm crawling on it. (big smile for that)
*****
M Says
My story to tell
He was my high-school crush - I was in first year high school, he was in fourth year. For one whole school year, it was a game of trying not to bump into him in the school corridors, which, of course would be next to impossible as we were attending the same institution.
I haven't seen him since he graduated from high school (he told me he saw me once when I was in college) even though we would usually go back to the province every long breaks. It was a forwarded message which I sent to her sister one unlimited-text-night which made us get to know each other better - at that time he was using his sister's mobile phone. That night, our SMS exchanges lasted til 3am.
A week later, we met - we went out with friends and had dinner-slash-kuwentuhan-slash-bulaanan. He sent me home that night and met my mom..briefly (brownout nun, db?). The next day, which was All Saints Day, he went to our house and asked my mom if we could go out, while my mom looked at me and asked if I wanted to. While we were walking, he told me how he asked his grandfather and literally traced our family lineage just to make sure we didn't belong to the same 'family tree'. It was quite surprising to know that I have relatives married to his, and he was glad to know we weren't connected.. *wink*
Our first 'fight' happened 2 weeks after, when he was on his way to Manila, accompanying his grandfather to be confined at VMMC. I wouldn't bore you with the details, it was a lame incident, or so I thought afterwards. It was that time that he was having second thoughts if he would continue getting to know me better. I'm glad he decided on pursuing the courtship.Hehe..
That was when I met Tatay, his grandfather. It was one of those busy weeks we were having at school, when I went to visit Tatay. (I remembered my sister was having her internship at VMMC then; she mentioned about Tatay being at VMMC: which ward, and what procedures being undertaken. I knew about it, of course, R is filling me with all the details.) Tatay was so nice to me, he asked me about my family and relatives. He told me that he and my grandfather, whom I also refer to as Tatay, were neighbours many years back.
After a month and a half, we went on our first out-of-town trip - Enchanted Kingdom in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. "We are kids at heart" was what I told my mom when she asked why we were going to a theme park. I couldn't forget this day because he was an hour late and my mom was teasing me "Inindyan ka na!". We were together for about 15 hours that day! The very next day, we went to hear our very first mass - it was New Year's Eve.
4 months later, he took me to their place and met his mom and dad. His mom used to work with my dad before, so she knew me even before that day. It was an awkward moment for me - meeting the parents. But they were so accomodating. I was happy, I felt so welcome.
Then 2 months after that, the day after my birthday, we became an 'official couple' (the term I prefer to use).
The Promise Rings
How we had the rings (as told by M)
We both wanted to get a 'promise ring' before I leave the Philippines to work abroad. Few weeks after I got my visa, he bought us promise rings.
It was a few days before my scheduled flight, we went to hear mass at the latter. After the mass, he talked to the parish's secretary and asked if we could have the rings blessed. So there we were, standing at the church altar, holding the rings in our hands, while the parish priest asked us "engagement rings?" wherein we both just smiled. After the priest recited his prayers, my then-boyfriend-turned-fiance took one of the rings and placed it in my left ring finger. It was such a magical moment that I totally forgot if he had said something aside from "I love you", and that it was already my turn to put the other ring into his finger.
Few days after that, while inside a PUV, and my head was resting in his shoulder and trying to get some sleep, he slipped another ring on top of our promise ring. I woke up, and couldn't speak at first. I nearly cried, and it took me about 3 more minutes before I was able to say my "Thank you" and "I love you".
The Proposal
How the Proposal happened during the Pamamanhikan (as told by R)
-To be updated.
Through the Years
Whats and Whens
- October 23, 2006 - First SMS exchange.
- October 30, 2006 - First group date. First time HE went to HER house in the province.
- October 31, 2006 - First present HE gave HER. Ube Jam he prepared
- November 1, 2006 - First real date in the province.
- November 15, 2006 - First time HE went to HER house in the city.
- November 16, 2006 - First real date in the city.
- November 18, 2006 - First time HE gave HER flowers. A bouquet of white and yellow roses First pictures.
- November 21, 2006 - First movie date. The Devil Wears Prada
- November 22, 2006 - The day SHE visited Tatay, HIS grandfather.
- December 29, 2006 - First time SHE gave HIM a flower. A single red rose
- December 30, 2006 - First out-of-town date. Enchanted Kingdom
- December 31, 2006 - First midnight mass. Our Lady of Mary Miraculous Medal Church
- January 3, 2007 - First time SHE went to HIS house in the city.
- April 5, 2007 - First time SHE went to HIS house in the province.
- May 5-6, 2007 - Went to Sta. Maria in Bulacan.
- June 9-10, 2007 - Went to Mangatarem for a wedding; and visited the Our Lady of Manaoag in Pangasinan.
- December 31, 2007 - Spent (the First) New Year's Eve together with HER family.
- January 1, 2008 - Spent (the First) New Year's Day with HIS Family.
- April 19-20, 2008 - Went to Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro.
- June 7, 2008 - Pseudo-photoshoot at the La Mesa Eco Park.
- August 8, 2008 - First movie date with HIS mom. A Very Special Love
- December 25, 2009 - Spent (the First) Christmas Day with HER siblings.
- December 27, 2009 - Went to Lipa City in Batangas.
- January 3, 2010 - Attended the first mass of the year with HIS family.
- January 10, 2010 - HIS nephew's christening.
- January 14, 2010 - Went to visit Nature Church in Las Piñas.
- June 28, 2011 - Pamamanhikan.
- July 15-16, 2011 - Went to Corregidor in Cavite.
- December 18-21, 2011 - Went to Taiwan.
- December 22, 2011 - HER grandmother's birthday in San Pedro, Laguna.
