Our Love Story..So Far

Warning: This post is cheesy. Lactose intolerants are not allowed.

We met in 1983 or 1984, (not very particular since we were just kids then. We grew up in the same town where everybody knew everybody and what everybody was up to.

 Do you believe in destiny? Well, I do.

I believed that we were destined to be classmates since 3^rd grade; I believed then that we were destined to be born on the same month only a year apart. And I don't believe that Librans cannot be with Librans.

We lived in the opposite side of town and would see each other only at school. We were exactly opposites. I can’t dance at school programs while he can. I talked and laughed too while he is quiet and aloof type (brooding). In short we were as different as black and white. For me he was this mysterious, unreachable boy that I am curious about...so near yet so far.

We never actually talked to each other until we were seatmates in 4^th grade by then I had this huge crush on him. And I won’t dare look or talk to him for fear of my classmates knowing and we will be the target of teasing (you know what I'm talking about). Hey, it was the onset of my puberty and it is a must to have a crush or else I will forever be alienated by my friends.

Truth to tell maybe that was puppy love. I was not the cutest kid in school but some cute boys were showing interests. But deep in my 10 year old heart I know, he is the one. We parted ways in 1987 after grade school. I only received sporadic news about him from our barkadas.

High School was a different story since we studied in different schools and different cities. We have chance meeting during vacation and few gatherings with our old classmates and pals, but there is no really us. I have told my deepest secret to my closest friends and that was the farthest I have gone.

Finally, the day after my high school graduation, we gave in and that was the start of the actual love story. We became officially on without the knowledge of everybody else. While were in college and he got to visit me every now and then, mostly at school. 


These moments were the most memorable since we actually felt what boyfriends and girlfriends got to do & feel. I had fond memories of our lunches and long talk and him taking me to each of my classes. It was the feeling of being in love that kept me afloat in the sea of books, quizzes and lab works.

After a while he became invisible in my life…no issues were discussed, no break ups…we just drifted apart.

Years passed and we continue to cross paths every now and then until finally we stop riding the merry go round and stood still. Our worlds collide. The love was not gone it was just at the back of our minds & deep inside our hearts waiting for the perfect time. We were back to where we were eons ago.

More mature in love and life we became one. We have learned that our contradictions is what has made our relationship stronger and in spite of the years we have known each other, it is only now that we discovered the real us. That he is the talker and I am the listener. That he is the sensitive one while I’m the what else…insensitive. And the list goes on…

Last Valentine’s Day he gave me a card that goes like this:

Our Love is real

Love's not made of hearts and flowers,

dreamy music, moonlit scenes...

Real love comes with hurried hugs

 and fast-food meals and faded jeans.

Real love wakes up kind of rumpled,

stays up late to get work done...

It makes mistakes, apologizes, 

thinks up things to do for fun...

Yeah, it’s true Dad, what we have is real and I will never get tired of telling this story to our children and to our grandchildren. I am looking forward to growing old with you in a farm with my garden and your chicken. I love you very much…

Yours forever,

BOT

me and the decades

As 2010 slowly slips away, let me indulge you with my journey back in time and tell you where I have been in the last decades…

The 80’s

My first year in school. Well, preschool that is. It was also my first time  to live away from my parents and siblings because I have to stay with the old folks.  I was never given a choice and my siblings were still young and annoying and the thought of being an only child at Lola’s house was enticing.

The 80’s taught me one of the most valuable lessons in life: independence. Making it on my own and figuring out my way through the maze. I’ve also learned that perseverance will take me anywhere I want to be. And had known early on that dancing, singing or anything that requires me to perform in front of an audience was not my kind of thing but I can write a mean essay though. I was not the brightest kid in school but I brought my own sunshine.

The second part of my 80’s was learning how to live in the city (I was transferred to Manila) and getting along with my urbanized classmates. I have realized that a probinsiyana like me can carve her own niche in the city of "sophisticated" kids. I parted with the 80’s in LB studying in a private sectarian school where Wednesday novenas and First Friday masses were part of the curriculum.

The 1990’s

My love affair with webbing words started in 1990. While most of my classmates are busy reading love letters, I was busy reading poetry books, novels and everything I can get my hands on. While most of my classmates giggled at the sight of scented papers and freshly written love notes, I was busy proofreading the ones I received, sometimes peppered with red ink (nope, not hearts, circles of how many wrong grammars and spellings) as a way of teaching myself the basics of formative writing.

1990 has also exposed me to music where the lyrics were actually self expression. I gushed and sighed to the sounds of home grown bands – Eraserheads to top my list.

Further into the 90’s I got admitted in a school where kids wearing shorts and slippers and the latest Esprit, Guess, Benetton, Tretorn & Vans were treated equally. Yes, I became an ISKA. The first year I pursued my passion for writing and enrolled in Comm Arts but a year after, I realized that nobody was taking me seriously so I took the hardcore (and it was really hard) via Zoology. See, there’s a difference between Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science. But that is another topic.

And in a true Iska fashion, I have kept this poem inside my heart and mind:

 “I think I Shall Never See a Grade as lovely as a Three. A Three that’s earned with sweat and blood…”

Finally, I breezed through college and joined the workforce. I have learned to use my "abilidad" rather than what I actually learned from college to get me through my career. (Hello, I can’t use Zoology in Fast Food Management).

Tragedy struck our family that forever changed our lives. But my job and my determination has kept my family afloat. I ended this decade by surprisingly, getting married.

2000’s

After enjoying being single for a time, the wedding bells rung for me and I pursued the man I promised to myself (since Grade 4) that I will marry. Settling into married life was easy, after all we both have each of our lives to live or so I thought.

Years moved on & we were blessed with two beautiful children, a boy and a girl. I had my career in full gear, hopping from one company to another and living in different cities where work were. We became a real family, real husband and wife dealing with the demands of family life and how to raise kids.

It was a topsy turvy life and still is, but our love for each other is big enough for the four us to have faith in life and love…

Three decades after and here I am still pursuing my lifelong passion for writing, still a warrior in this mad world, still the hopeless romantic who is forever in love with her first love and still trying to be the best sister, daughter, niece, cousin,  friend, wife and mom that I can ever be.

This may not be my half way through life (I plan to live longer), but writing about the past decades gave me a sense of fulfillment. There are still many decades to go but my faith in myself, in my family and my love for life will see me through.

welcome to my sweet escape

This is it. 

finally i'm starting my own blog site. i was thinking about this for a while but cannot find the time and the courage to make one. after hundred years of pondering and few deep breaths finally here i am. tapping my way to infinity of thoughts spoken out loud and beyond.

why my sweet escape? well, aside from the sweet escape it will provide me, i will put emphasis on the word "MY". this is my site, i make my own rules and editing is a no-no. i will write what I feel and i will say what i want to say. and i will not follow the standard rules in writing. (notice the small letters at the beginning of the sentences? so e.e. cummings.) in short this is freedom at its best.

why start on this date...what can i say it's my month and as a true Libran it will show how passionate i am on what i choose to do.

to me...welcome to the blogosphere ten years too late.