Our Story

Our Story

"What is love? No definitions. Love and don't ask too many questions. Just love."

- The Witch of Portobello
At Last!
At Last!

Photo credit: Marco Antonio Cabazal

Not a lot of people know this, but as early as 2000 when Louie first set foot in Boracay, he knew he wanted a wedding there. He actually proposed to me then, with two rings- one for him, and one for me. He went down on his knees and asked the question. I said yes. But that was 10 years ago. We could have had 3 kids by now!

But life's like that; sometimes you hit a curb. So what do you do? You get your act together and live life the way God intended it to be- with fullness of joy!

Our story is a happy one. After all, we are getting married--at last!
She Says: Ten Years In the Making
The Joy of Writing Class
She Says: Ten Years In the Making

Photo credit: Boracay sunset by Anna Ylagan

In 2007, L and I split up. He was in Singapore, working there for a little over two years, I was based in Manila, and the long distance thing was not working out. He had other plans in mind; I was dreaming of the beach wedding he already promised when we get engaged for the second time in October of 2006. I was crushed. Among other things, I took up a wonderful class by Tweetums Gonzalez called The Joy of Writing. I took the class because I needed a distraction, and I wanted to do all the things that I dreamt of doing or taking. (I also took up yoga and badminton, and discovered a love affair with the sport that happened by chance- but I digress).

I am sharing with you a vignette of that class.

http://hellotigerkitty.blogspot.com/2007/10/blue.html

October 2007

Last Saturday we learn about images.

“An image is an internal whole in the mind’s eye complete with all the sensations surrounding it, full of meaning for the writer. Images have strong visual significance, but they also evoke the feel or sound or smell or taste of things. Images are constant in all natural writing for they heighten or intensify the implicit, often becoming interlocking patterns of related images full of meaning.”

"Where do images come from? Aside from our five senses, they can also come from daydreams, fantasies, internalized experiences of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste, as well as from dreams and nightmares."

The exercise that day was to cluster around the word color. I choose blue, and then I let my pen guide me, totally disregarding my left brain, and words tumble, and they continue to come out pouring, gushing from an unknown source, as if possessed, wanting to come out. I instantly felt the shift, and I was surprised where it led me to. (I almost choked at the last two lines when I read it in class.)

When I think of blue, I think of the sea,
the shorelines melting away with the sand,
the aquamarine, the greens,
as they dip further away
into the deep blue yonder.

When I think of blue, I think of its many hues
and like its palette, emotions weave through me,
evoking, stirring nostalgia--
The Fine Romance. The yesteryears.

When I think of blue, I get the blues.
I think of jazz: the crooning, the melting,
the sound of Billie Holiday's Yesterdays, whispering,
Norah Jones's, "Come Away With Me", sadly beckoning.

When I think of blue, I think of you
I catch the blues and the darkness
surrounding this agony.
Let me be.
Stay away.
Don't go.
When I think of blue, I think of you.

***
Twee (that’s how she wants to be called) was pleased with this one because she said the clustering led me to a very personal experience, and she clearly saw (and heard) that. "The Joy of Writing Class teaches you to find your own voice in writing."

Postscript:

At the same time, L wrote a blogpost and dedicated A SONG FOR YOU. It's a very sad song and Simply Red's rendition is heart-wrenching.

****
Today:

The pain took a while to heal. It took us a year.Ours isn't a fairy tale story;it is real. It is a journey, and now it feels right.

The vow we're going to make to God, to our families, and to our closest friends will be a touching one because we have been through so much, and yet have been blessed with wonderful people who have embraced us with love, support and prayers when we were broken. You helped us heal, and learn about life, and in the process, grow. You have been invited to now become witnesses to the start of our marriage.

Thank you for all your love!
He Says: This Is It!
He Says: This Is It!

I'm not a writing kind of guy. I seem to recall in grade school that I was passing chicken feet scratches for penmanship. So bear with me.

We met when I was working at Skyinternet as the tech support guy helping folks out with their connections. She the hapless victim of service failure, I the knight in matte plastic armour.

She naturally fell for my charm and that was that. About a month of sleepless nights (I was on night shift most of the time), we got together. 10 years later of love, hopes and pains, here it is. Like Michael Jackson's post-mortem show, This is it!