June 1997
It was the first week of college life for Paolo, being a Fine Arts freshman at the University of Santo Tomas. A blur of activities lay ahead of him...adjusting to the new university rules, coed living, and orientations were scheduled to start him right.
I was a third year student council marshal; it was my second year of participating in orientation week. It was pretty much the same... exciting but a bit tiring. The excitement slowed down after the first week of catching up with classmates, new professors, new subjects and of course new faces.
Orientation day at the university auditorium. My friends and I were assigned to the first year advertising classes. Little did I know that I would meet the person I would spend the rest of my life with.
Fate. Destiny. Whatever you call it, it was meant to be.
University Pageant Night
It was the first time Paolo and I talked.
We were assigned as usherettes for the college pageant by the council president. Paolo and his friends were ushers as well. We were formally introduced a week before the event by a common friend. First impressions? He was quite tall(+), had nice features(+) but not really my type. He was younger and too tisoy for me (during that time I was into chinito guys).
We were oriented and given our designations. I had my pager with me (it was the fad those days) but my evening dress had no pockets so I asked if any of the guys in the group could hold my pager for me and it was Paolo who volunteered. The night was a blur of activities and we were able to relax only when all the guests were settled down, Paolo was seated two seats away from me. He transferred beside me when my friend left her seat to look for another friend. We chatted for a short while. I really don’t remember what the conversation was about but what I remember was that it came so naturally. The night ended and we said our goodnights.
Paolo and I immediately became friends. He was so easy to talk to. He always made me laugh. He told me about his past loves, crushes, etc. and we teased each other like little kids. We had that kind of light banter between us. He was close to my ‘barkada’ and was always willing to help out with our plates and school activities. But I always thought that he had a crush on one of my friends. And back then, I was also into this other guy.
September 1998
It was my birthday. School was just hectic. We had a lot of deadlines that week and the weekend was fast approaching. My friend Cheryl and I were treating out our friends to lunch. Before leaving, Len and Mars (my bestfriends and locker mates) asked me to pick-up some things from our locker. We were chatting away when I opened the locker si I quickly stashed my things inside and closed the door. Len asked me to open the locker again. It was then that I saw a single rose with a note “Happy Birthday! From Paolo”. That night Paolo called me at home and finally, told me how he felt about me. I was confused at that time and wanted to continue on being just friends. That’s what I thought we were. For Paolo it was the start of courtship.
6 months before my graduation
Our phone conversations became more frequent. He was always hanging out by my classroom and from time to time he would actually sit in some of my classes (when in fact he was 2 years lower).
January 1999
Our first date. I finally agreed to go out on a date with him. After some futile attempts to get our schedules to match, we finally went out to a mall for lunch and a movie.
April 1999
It was Paolo’s bday and I was struck with a realization. I was going to miss him. I just graduated from college and there wouldn’t be a next schoolyear for me. I won’t see him as often as I used to. I prayed to God to give me a clear understanding of my feelings for him and it took me 2 days to reflect on this. April 6, a day before leaving for Davao with friends for our much-awaited trip (graduation gift from our parents), I was still confused and struggling with my feelings for Paolo. He called and immediately after hearing his voice on the phone, I knew that I wanted him to be a part of my life.
April 2007
It’s our 8th year anniversary. It was January of this year when we decided that we want to spend the rest of our lives together. We’ve been through a lot. All the trials in our relationship only made our bond stronger. The bond that has formed during our 8 years together can never be replaced or broken by anything or anybody that easily.
And that is our love story. And now, we continue to write our story as we start with a new chapter in our life together. We are bestfriends, lovers and now, about to become partners for life.
It’s a chapter that will begin many new chapters. To be filled with many more smiles, tears, laughter, struggles. It will be about romance and friendship, marriage and family, happiness and woes.
But amidst the developing plot, LOVE + TRUST + GOD will always be the center of our narrative.