Drew's Side of the
Story
The Beginning of the Rest of My
Life
My story started April 1996 during
my med tech internship rotation in
Manila
Doctor's Hospital.
At first, I was not
pleased with the idea that I would start my internship training in a
different hospital other than UST. We had to undergo this "outside"
rotation for 6 long months. I don't know anyone in MDH nor did I have
a friend from class taking their rotation there. I was really
not happy with the way things was going and at the same time
frustrated that I can do nothing about it. Little did I knew it
would bring
me my greatest wish at that time.
To find someone I could be
with, to love -- a girlfriend.
I
still remember that morning when I first saw her. I was on my first
month of rotation in Manila Doctor's Hospital, way back in 1996.
Tina transferred from a different hospital because according to her, she
wanted to be near her dad's office- "para madaling sunduin pag-uwi". It
was not a love-at-first sight thing. I thought of her only as a cute
girl with nice shiny long black hair, which as some of my
friends know, is my Achilles heel when it comes to women. We were introduced by our
chief medical technologist, Ma'm Belle, noting that we came from
the same school - UST. Tina was the shy and quiet type back then. I hardly
heard her saying hi when we were introduced. She smiled, when I joked
that her voice was so much like that of a 4 year old girl. We were then
assigned in different groups, and of course, we had different schedules
so we barely had the time to talk to each other except during lunch
breaks.
At the end of our stay in MDH, I was picked as one of the guys who
would dance for our department in the contest for the hospital's Ruby Anniversary (Wala kasing gustong sumali sa mga bosses naming med tech na
lalaki. Kaya I was really forced to do this, really!). We would do our
practice sessions at the MDH's helipad and during those sessions I noticed
that Tina was almost always there every practice. Alam ko naman na di siya kasali. She
told me that she was just watching our group. Sige na nga, watching the
group lang daw no?!
Also, during our rotation in MDH, we had this common friend, Amabelle or
Amababes, as I fondly call her, who would tell me that there was this one
girl who had a crush on me. She wouldn't tell me a clue let alone her
name on who this mystery girl was. All she told me was she was nice,
petite, and syempre, good-looking and we would "click" if I would try
courting her. So, there I was, thinking about who is this mystery girl
was, could she be the One I was waiting for? Hmmmm?
The day came when we had to perform our dance - we did Grease, the broadway show. I was not feeling too well that day, having little
rest from the long hours of practice coming up to the anniversary and
doing my duties in MDH. I think Tina noticed this before the show, and she
told me that we can win this contest. " Good luck ha. Galingan nyo.
Kaya nyo yan!" she told me. Well, what do I have here? Ang bait naman
yata nya, she took time to say good luck to me right before the show. We
ended up winning third place in the contest. I was happy that at least
may nakuha kaming award kahit third lang.
So after that night, I
began thinking that could Tina be the girl Amabelle was talking about?
Baka sakaling ito na yung hinihintay ko? Di na kaya ako ma-basted this
time? I had to gather the guts to tell Tina I wanted to court her. I
asked Amabelle for advise, and she told me to go for it. "Subukan mo.
Malay mo makapasa ka." So I did.
Courting Tina was not that easy. Tawag sa gabi bago matulog, waiting for
her during our lunch break so we could eat out together, waiting for
their driver to fetch her from MDH and much, much more. Winning Tina's
heart was the battle but winning her family's favor was the war. She had
two younger brothers, Eric and Tony, her Mom and of course her dad, Tito
Abet that I had to win also.
I remember this one time, when Tina told me I could hitch a ride with her. I
didn't know that her whole family was fetching her that day. All I knew
was that their driver
was going to drive her home, so I agreed to wait up for her. "Ok
yon, para makauwi akong maaga at kasabay pa si Tina. It's like hitting
two birds with one stone, di ba?" I thought to myself. Then came their
van, with her whole family inside.
I was shocked to see them all there
because I really hadn't formalized my intentions (good intentions ha!)
to their daughter by coming to their house and introducing myself. Tita
Carol was so nice, and very persuasive during that time , that
eventually, I did agree to come with them for a ride up to Baclaran
church. As soon as I got myself in the van, I noticed that her brothers
were looking at me and talking and worst of all, Tito Abet, was
giving me the "LOOK." You all know what I mean. I felt my heart
pounding, blood pressures rising and sweat falling out of my ears, yes,
out of my ears, because of the tension. But that was just the half
of it. Her dad had to go back to their office, pass by the bank and go
to the barber that afternoon. Sobrang tagal kong nakasakay sa van, and I
had nothing to do and no one to talk to except Tita Carol, because Tina
was sitting up front with her dad. "Patay! Gagabihin na ko sobra ng uwi
nito. Tingin pa ng tingin mga utol nya at dad nya. Sana nag-LRT na lang
ako. Sana nag- jeep na lang ako. Uwi na ko! Lord please!" But Tita Carol
, was so nice, talking to me and giving me merienda, that some of my
tension was relieved. Tita Carol, knew what I was up to with Tina and
told me that I could come by their place in Paranaque if I wanted to.
Bait naman ng mom nya, buti na lang. So after a few hours, at
last, I did get home. After that first "date' with her family,
everything seemed to be alright.
After a few months of courting, she gave me her sweet YES! And
everything was alright with me and the world. At last, may napa-Oo din.
Nakuha siguro sa good looks and irresistible charm. I told Tina that she
don't have to worry. I intend to keep her as my girlfriend as long as I
can. That she could trust me and that I can be her best friend. My
friends back in college were surprised seeing me with Tina for the first
time during our monthly meetings in UST. Iba talaga pag internship no,
bigla kang nagkaka-bf or gf. I was really proud to be with Tina. I can
truly say she had captured my heart. Sana kami lagi
ang magkasama, that nothing would change.
Looking back all these years, with all the difficulties in life, I'm
thankful to the Lord that Tina was with me through the ride. That
my journey in life is now OUR journey, and that we could have all the
things we wish for as long as we keep our love for each other.
I will always love you honey, my sweetheart. I may not be the perfect
man, but I will try my best to be the perfect husband for you!:)
Tina's Side of the
Story
The first
time I saw Andrew was during our pre-med at UST. He joined in our
Botany class - yes I could still remember that. Anyway, he went in
our room, I said to myself "what a cute guy". He had his
eyeglasses on, which was only "pa-cute" as I've found out later.
He went to sit at the back of the class, then after that I've completely
forgotten about him. There were no "sparks" that day, we didn't
even talk to each other. One day, a classmate of mine read my palm, she
told me there will be two men in my life and that I've found the guy I
will be with. I wonder who it was, it never occurred to me that it was
Andrew.
The next time we saw each other was during our med tech
internship at Manila Doctor's Hospital. I was not suppose to be matched
there but last minute changes happened when a co-intern of ours backed
out - I guess it must be faith. My friends went to other hospitals, I
didn't knew anyone there, but when I saw Andrew, I saw a familiar face.
We would all go out for lunch, he was a perfect gentleman, that's what I
liked about him.
I couldn't remember the time we started talking on the
phone. We would talk about anything, we even watched TV while on the
phone. I remember telling him that my best friend Gemma and I used to
watch TV while on the phone, he told me he could also be my best friend
- ok, why not? I guess I'm beginning to like him, so I asked Amabelle,
our mutual friend at MDH, to find out a little more about Andrew. Little
did I knew she was trying to get us together.
I remember one day when
Andrew and I ended up having lunch together at Max - he payed the bill.
When we came back I told Amabelle about it and told her I'm going to
give back my share of the bill - but she told me not to. Some of the
staff saw us and began asking questions and teasing me.
Andrew
told me that he was trying to make a move during one of our duties but
he couldn't because of the distractions by our male co-intern that he
thought liked me too.
Anyway, there was a dance contest the hospital was
having for their anniversary. Andrew was one of the participants for the
department. I would watch them practice on the rooftop with the other
staff most of the time. Then the day of the contest came, I went to
their group before the went to the auditorium. He asked me to sit beside
him, then he held my hand. I didn't know what to do! I could see the
look on their faces - smiling. At the auditorium, I wished them good
luck, when Andrew came towards me I smiled and said good luck.
Then, out
of the blue he kissed me on the cheeks! I was stunned, I looked at Sir Zaldy, and he was smiling and teasing me.
They ended up wining 3rd place that night. We went back to the hospital,
I was on duty that time. At the lab reception area he held my hand and
asked me if we could be more than friends. I didn't know what to
say at first, I just couldn't talk. That night, he never left me,
following me around wherever I go. Finally, I said to myself, he's
a nice guy, I do like him, so why not? He charmed me! That was
August 18, 1996, and we were inseparable.
During our monthly meetings back at UST,
I was so scared. It will be the first time they will see us together. I
didn't know what they think because they didn't know about us until
then. He introduced me to all his friends. They were all surprised
because he didn't tell them he was up to something.
Ours was not the typical love story
with flowers, chocolates and first dates. But he did make up for it,
he's been "courting" me for the last 7 years (going on 8 on August 18,
2004). It's so easy to fall in love
with Andrew. We're like soul mates, I once told him that I felt
like I've known him for so many years. But most importantly, God
gave him to me.
Drew and Tina have been together
for 8 wonderful years. They would talk about the day when they will
say their “I do’s”. Drew finished medicine ahead of Tina, at this
time all they were waiting for is for her to finish medicine as
well.
Then the time came when Tina was halfway finished
with her medicine internship at Makati Medical Center, during one of
their talks, they started to talk about getting married. They’ve
been talking about this for a while, but this time they felt it was
the right time. January 2004, they decided to get married. The
date was yet to be set, but they have a date in mind – January 2005.
Then months pass, they would go out canvassing for
suppliers, going to wedding fairs and surfing the net. But during
those times, Tina did not have her engagement ring yet.
Some of their friends knew of their plan already,
but the faithful day was still not set. February 2004, they went to
Fernwood Gardens to book their wedding. To their disappointment,
the dates they wanted were all taken and the whole month of December
up to January was fully booked! Tina told Drew to have the wedding
of February 2005, but Drew persisted to hold the wedding on late
November 2004. But then, the last weekend of the month was already
booked, no other dates that they like are available but the 21st
of November 2004. It was set, the big day would be the 21st
of November 2004 which was incidentally Drew’s Nanay Tacing’s
Birthday – how great was that? It was perfect!
Months pass, they would tell their friends of their
plans, but still no engagement ring. His friends was already
teasing Tina about it and Drew felt really bad. One day, they went
to their caterer’s shop. The usual, Drew was like this little
impatient boy who could not sit still while Tina was doing all the
talking with the supplier. Then he saw one of the displays for
wedding rings. They have long been canvassing for one, so he showed
it to her. Incidentally there was this engagement ring that she
loved and told him this was what she wanted. It was perfect for the
wedding ring that they chose from the same display.
A few months pass, Tina was certain that Drew will
not be able to give her an engagement ring and it was alright. The
ring was not important anymore. But little did she know that Drew
has “something up his sleeves”. The week before their 8th
year anniversary, Drew came back to Manila from Nueva Ecija. He
told Tina that they will be going out that night when he gets back.
For some reason Drew was late, he came late in the afternoon.
Coming out of the car, he had with him 3 red roses, which he said
was his gift to her for being late. Tina of course was so happy to
have them, it has been some time since the last time Drew gave her
flowers. Then they went out that night for dinner. Having decided
where to have dinner, Drew parked his car. He gave Tina a book for
their anniversary and told her to open afterwards. Then, he went
out to get something out of the trunk. It was a beautiful bouquet
of flowers. It was so beautiful that Tina cried. Asking her why
she cried, Tina answered “It’s just what I needed.” She never felt
so good for so long, maybe it was all the stress of preparing for
the big day. So they went and had dinner, the smile on Tina’s face
could not be erased – she was so happy. After dinner, they went for
a walk at the boulevard with the book he gave Tina on his hand.
When they reached the other end they sat down for tea. Drew then
handed Tina the book and asked her to open it. It was entitled
“Staying Married… And loving it”. Drew asked Tina to open it and
inside was a small card attached on the front page. Inside the card
was written “There comes a time in every man’s life when he must
take a chance and choose a wife. That time has finally come to be.
Thank you for marrying me!” It was so sweet, Tina was about to cry,
then Drew asked her to take of the little card and to her surprise
was the ring she wanted. Tears started to roll from her eyes, she
was speechless. All she could ever say was, she was happy. The
time could never have been more perfect!
And so, here we are, celebrating their love for each
other and witnessing how two souls become one under the eyes of
God.
Here’s to love forevermore!
