Their love story started when my mom just came back from her 3 years living in the US and pursued her college degree in Legaspi. My dad, was a military officer ( a Lieutenant) based in Tanay, Rizal and who happened to be on home leave and was visiting his Alma Mater. It was the season for intramurals game. My mom was a badminton player for the liberal arts department and had this long black straight hair that caught the attention of my dad. There my dad instantly got smitten to this free spirited woman. He then wrote a note and sent it thru my moms friend ( who was my mom's co-player). She caught a man on the second floor of the university building who was always watching her when she plays. Then one day, they finally met right after my mom's game.
After that meeting, my dad returned to his post but after two days he would come back to see her and this went on for a month. Martial Law was declared on the night when my dad was once again travelling back to Legaspi to be with her. Through his actions, my dad has already decided that she is the one that he will spend the rest of his life with. Two weeks after he met my mom, he woke his parents one night to introduce her to them as the woman that he will marry.
Unbeknown to my mom, on those days that my dad was away from the city, he had asked his intelligence contacts and friends ( and he had thousands of them) to look after this long black haired lady ( actually she was under surveillance!). So much so, that when my dad and mom met again, my mom was always shocked to know that my dad would always know what she did or where she went or who she was with outside of her home.! To give an example, my dad mentioned to my mom that he knew that my mom went to a discotheque place with someone when he was away. When asked why he knew, he admitted that the " balut" seller outside of that place reported to him ( least she didnt know that time, that seller was an intelligence informer).
Off note: ( It is indeed true, even during my college/highschool days, my dad would really go for background checks on my suitors or bf's! He knew as well all the things that I do in and out of school--:P- he sure was really a military officer)
Anyway to continue my story..
A month of courtship, my dad invited my mom to be his partner in a gala night and they both ended walking for several hours and there when my dad took her home, dad proposed to her and got marrried secretly in Malinao. They were married twice in a year. The first one was a secret marriage where only the judge was the witness and the last one was on a more proper cerimonial wedding in the church. A year after their first marriage I was born :)
For all the 26 years, I have witnessed a beautiful marriage of my parents. There were fights ( on a closed door) but as normal as it can be, they would always make up so sweetly. I used to remember how loving and caring they both have been to each other and that they are so inseparable. That I grew up having this thoughts of an ideal marriage-- of having witnessed the strong love they both felt for each other over the years. I can say that only a few are given the opportunity to find their true love and be with them for the rest of their lives.. But my parents, are one of the few lucky ones I guess. I knew right there and then that they are meant for each other. They compliment each other, they are like best of friends and lovers at the same time. I have so much more to say about the two of them but I would like to narrate it in my chapter 2 of this love story..
( to be continued Part II)
