Most Beautiful Moment in Life: My Mother's Marriage

My mom is a very private lady (as is the rest of my family), so it took a deal of persuasion to get her to allow a photo and interview. I asked her about a beautiful moment in her lifetime. Her first answer was seeing the faces of her kids. The second thing she shared was her wedding with my father decades ago.

"We had been planning to get married for what seemed like a very long time, and when the time came, it was a beautiful moment for me. "

"How did you two meet?"

"I met him when he was in the Philippines in 1983 when he was part of a summer service team from the U.S. They worked with the street children in Manila."

"What was your first impression of dad?"

"I thought he wasn't really worth a second look. At the time, I thought I would never marry a foreigner."

"How did you grow close?"

"When he finally moved into the apartment next to mine and we became neighbors.  We started talking and became friends and that's the beginning."

"How did you become friends? Was there a common interest?"

"Well, his office worked along our office, so we talked about the neighborhood and ministries. I was twenty-six. He was twenty-eight."

"How did you start dating?"

"First I invited him to come to our church. It was like a men's Sunday, so I invited him to come as a visitor. Then he introduced me to Pizza Hut. It was my first time trying pizza."

"How did he propose?"

"He proposed on Christmas Eve, asking if I would like to be his wife. I didn't say yes at first. I told him it depended of if his parents approved of our relationship first. If not, I said 'It doesn't matter how much I love you. If your parents are against this, I can't marry you."

"How long did it take to get approval?"

"Well, we had to wait for the letters to arrive. Maybe about a week or two. I wanted it to be in the physical form of a letter."

"What was your wedding like?"

"Oh, it was long I guess. It was a normal Filipino wedding. My brother, who was supposed to 'give me away' did not arrive on time because the vehicle he was riding in broke down on the way to the wedding. So, I just grabbed one of my officemates and said 'Hey! Give me away.'"

"So how was it a 'typical Filipino wedding?'"

"Well it was long, about an hour. The pastor preached. There was some special music, a message, an exchange of vows. The rituals were long. I know here in the U.S., it's like fifteen minutes, but Filipino ceremonies take more time."

"What was one of the rituals?"

"One of the bridesmaids and groomsmen will tie a cord around you, symbolizes that you will be together as one. They also put a veil on you, which meant that you would live together under one roof."

"What did the venue look like?"

"Beautiful. The church was decorated with tons of daisies. My coworkers decorated it for us. I had never seen the church before then either. It was sic o'clock in the evening on a hot Saturday, October 17."

"Did anything go wrong?"

"Well, apart from the whole van of people not being able to come until later, it was okay. Pretty typical."

"What was your favorite part?"

"When it was over. I was exhausted."

"And how long have you been together now?"

"Twenty-eight years, and counting."

July 2015