Today, the 28th of May (Manila time) is our 38th wedding anniversary. It was a very quiet day for us. We spent most of the morning inside the Matthias Church, a Roman Catholic Church in Budapest, originally called the Church of Mary but was later re-named after King Matthias of Hungary with its re-construction in the 19th century. As we sat in the church pew meditating, we gave thanks for all the blessings bestowed on the family and prayed for good health and long life. In the midst of reflection, the sound of silence triggered back memories of past decades to the very day after we just got married. Selfies were not fashionable then but I was able to capture the moment I first carried Becky into our honeymoon room. I thought it must have been the adrenalin as she was almost light as a feather. Little did I know then and just realizing years later that I was actually carrying my angel of life, love and inspiration. She must have earned her wings soon after as she nudged me to particular directions. She lighted the steps along the way and together, we blazed the path into the unknown and flew to places that existed only in our dreams.
As a young UP engineering student in the early seventies, I was captivated by the writings of Machiavelli, Dostoyevsky, MTT’s red book etc. but I gifted her with two books from “the other me” – Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet” and Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s “The Little Prince”. These have profound influence on us. Our first born was named Kahlil and for now, I like to re-visit some quotes from “The Little Prince”. “Of course, an ordinary passerby would think my rose looked just like you. But my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she's the one I've watered. Since she's the one I put under glass, since she's the one I sheltered behind the screen. Since she's the one I listened to when she complained, or when she boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing at all. Since she's my rose.” “People have forgotten this truth," the fox said. "But you mustn’t forget it. You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose.” Yes, I am … but we have actually tamed each other so we are responsible forever for each other. Happy anniversary my gentle inspiration!
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