The Road to the Wedding

Vinz – Since my family moved to Pasay, I really wasn’t very active in church. Sure, I may have been pretty active in campus ministry back during my UP days, pero after church service during Saturday mornings (we are Seventh-day Adventists by the way), diretso uwi, kain ng lunch tapos tulog without plans of attending the youth programs in the afternoon.

Cel -I attend midweek, vesper and divine worship pero never ako umatend ng AY program. I started attending AY program only when sharon (my cousin) and I agreed to try at least once. Until nakilala ko sila neil, kuya jay, daryl, kuya jit, kuya jim, and ate ken. So ayun sunud-sunod na yung pag attend ko pero hindi pa ako masyadong active nun.

Vinz – There was this time in October 2002 when the youth of Pasay Adventist Church was promoting a retreat. Wala talaga akong planong sumama. I didn’t have any church friends so it really didn’t interest me at all. Until the day came before the schedule of the retreat, sobrang kinulit ako ni mama. Pati si Kuya Jay (my cousin) was urging me to death na sumama. I came up with various kinds of lame excuses like me being too busy finishing my delayed thesis, etc. To cut this portion short, ayun, napilit din.

Cel – One sabbath afternoon, after commitment, dumaan si neil sa bahay along with dat. Si neil, isa sa mga unang naging close ko sa mga AY pips that time, so siya talaga nag insist sa akin na sumama sa retreat. At first, i was really hesitant kasi wala nga akong masyadong close sa AY. Pero pumayag din ako sa pangungulit ni neil. hehe. So ayun, for the first time, sumama ako sa retreat ng PAC-AY.

Vinz – On the way to the retreat, I saw Cel with her college batchmates. Nagkukulitan sa likod ng bus. Malapit naman ako sa seat nila pero since I wasn’t an acquaintance naman, hanggang tingin lang. No biggie. During the retreat, sa dami nang attendees, bihira talaga kaming magkapansinan. She has her own tropa while I was with Kuya Jay who was introducing me to the youth leaders of our church. But I remember one time we were listening to one workshop when I glanced upon Cel and I thought “Maganda siya.” But that was it. No intentions of courting. Hanggang ganun lang.

Cel – Napansin ko lang si vinz when we were in bus kasi he was with his cousin, kuya jay at malapit lang yung seat nila sa amin. Pero pagdating sa retreat, honestly hindi ko talaga siya napansin even during the activities. Isa pa, never kami magka group sa lahat ng activities.

Vinz – Nagkausap kami for the first time, a week after the retreat. For the first time in a long time, I attended the afternoon youth program in church. Pareho kami ni Cel na late dumating sa church. Since familiar naman yung mga faces namin from the retreat, nabatian kami sabay biro, “Hoy, bakit late ka?”

Cel – At eto na ang simula ng kwento. One sabbath afternoon after the retreat, vinz and i were walking along San Juan Street and we were on our way to attend the AY program. Hindi kami magkasama pero I was walking behind him, so alam ko na pareho kaming late that time. Medyo nagkausap bago umupo at ayun, nagkatabi na kami at nagkakwentuhan during the program.

Vinz – After the program, syempe we were invited to the meetings ng youth. Di na maiwasan ang tuksuhan. Refering to Cel, Kuya Jit and Neil would whisper to me from time to time “Vinz, single pa yan! Pwde yan!” Ako naman, nakikisakay naman but nothing serious. But it took sooner for me to take a serious look at Cel and realize that she really is a knockout.

Christmas day of 2002, I texted Cel to greet her and at the same time ask her how she is spending her Christmas. She replied quickly telling that hers was nothing special. She was left at her place. So I offered to come over and give her company to which she agreed. Eto na. Baby steps towards something special.

(Tuloy ko na lang daw sabi ni Cel ang story- Vinz)

Vinz – We kept texting each other after that (taas ng bill ko nun! hehe!), went to church together, went out with friends together and the relationship grew. There was no doubting that we have already fallen for each other then. We “officially” became “together” on January 29, 2003.

On 2004, I had to fly to Thailand to look for opportunities of growth personally and career-wise. It was a tough decision to make, having to leave Cel behind in the Philippines. A few days after my birthday in 2004, with the relationship still strong, I flew to Thailand.

This was the toughest period of our relationship. It wasn’t as easy as being able to text or call in a snap. Communication was expensive and our schedules hardly matched. Other personal priorities also got in the way of our relationship which we were already taking for granted.

In the summer of 2005, we called it quits. It was painful. Working in a distant place from Cel, I can’t help but think what could be happening back home. What things could have triggered this decision to be realized? Despite the good things happening to me at work in Thailand and the good things in store for another schoolyear (I was teaching at an international school there as a computer teacher, by the way), I decided to head home for good.

There was no Cel to meet me at the airport. Besides, we were not “a couple” then. The next day after I arrived from the airport, I got some flowers, met Cel and had a short talk. Kumustahan lang. The feeling was quite awkward. I asked her out and she agreed. I was thinking to myself “I still love Cel. I’m going to get my Cel back. If she doesn’t want to, it’s still worth the effort trying.” We went out and talked some more. When we were not together, we texted each other, until after seeing each other often, we reached the point that we can’t hide each others’ feelings anymore, naging “kami” ulit!

We did our best to make up for lost time together. It was 1 year being apart. We got to know each other even better. To put things simple, we grew together. Each day, in the midst of our individual busy schedules, we would always look forward to see each other and enjoy each others’ company. We would hold each other up when one is down and celebrate on each others’ accomplishments.

After five years of being together, we have finally decided to tie the knot. There are stages in life in which we make a big no-nonsense decision. Here’s one. Choosing a lifetime partner. And having found each other, looking back at what we’ve been through, how we’ve loved each other and what we’ve learned together, we have finally decided to carry to forever. It wasn’t that difficult to make the decision and we’re both glad we assertively made it.