Saturday, May 26, 2007

Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 17th wedding anniversary. May 26, 1990 was a classic wedding day, if such a day existed. The ceremony and the reception oozed with simplicity. My wife designed her dress, a sister took care of her hair and make-up, I personally mowed and manicured the backyard of my grandparents, a cousin who was a Jesuit priest officiated, a classmate sang a few romantic ditties, and we prepared a native breakfast consisting of hot chocolate, puto, ensaymada, Vigan sausages and native ham. Took 3 weeks to plan and we invited everybody we knew. My wife and I paid for the whole deal. According to an uncle of mine: it was the most joyous occasion he had seen. We took a bus that broke down twice along the way to Baguio for our honeymoon and we stayed in the mountain for all of 2 days. We left shortly for the United States.

We had witnessed and we were going to witness many weddings that were super elaborate, requiring months, if not years to produce and we both agreed that such a project was not our style. A wedding was a beginning, it was not meant to be a lifetime achievement ceremony from whence everything would go downhill. Every couple needs to be able to pay for their own wedding.

Our elections here in the Philippines can be compared to a wedding extravaganza, only we hold these every 3 years. Surely we can’t afford them but hardly anybody makes a fuss anymore. We’ve accepted these national disgorging episodes as part of our lot. Totally irresponsible but the entire political fabric will definitely unravel if by some twist of fate we are prevented from exercising our destructive drives. As long as everybody seems to be having fun, why ruin a very good arrangement for our loving traditional politicians?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary to you Doc and your wife. Thanks for coming back and staying. You have inspired me and countless others.

I have always believed that Filipinos only need a break and a healthy dose of inspiration. Leaders like you, who demonstrate love of country in both words and actions, certainly are giving us Yuppies a renewed sense of patriotism and belief that the Filipinos can.

I work for an American software company and everyday it never ceases to amaze me how good Filipinos are if given the chance and the resources. I wonder how much more we can achieve if we have leaders who inspire us the way you do.

I hope you run for president in 2010 since one of your platforms is to serve only one term. Think about it, sir, and launch your campaign early. Stay visible in the next three years, please. We will campaign hard for you in Cebu, the way we almost made Senators Salonga and Roco president in 1992, 1998, and 2004.

Mabuhay po kayo!

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary to you both! We miss you dearly back in Oklahoma!

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary. I still remember that day 17 years ago, and the breakfast outdoors. I was glad to be part of your ceremony and am proud to be your friend.

Jerome Herrera said...

I saw you kanina sa ANC. It is disheartening to hear your stories of corrupt media people. Gosh, everything here is corrupt. The schools, hospitals, corporations, everything!

Anonymous said...

Happy aniversary Martin and Sylvia! We have the same wedding anniversary pala! Only we just celebrated our second year of being married *wink* preceded by nine years of being together. And we almost had the same type of wedding with 3 weeks planning, 50 guests, my gown though bought off the rack (hahaha)! A wonderful intimate gathering of close family and friends. Definitely a wedding I would recommend, where you remember almost everything that happened on that special day, rather than the blur that most grandiose weddings bring.

Anonymous said...

Happy anniversary Martin and Sylvia! We have the same wedding anniversary pala! Only we just celebrated our second year of being married *wink* preceded by nine years of being together. And we almost had the same type of wedding with 3 weeks planning, 50 guests, my gown though bought off the rack (hahaha)! A wonderful intimate gathering of close family and friends. Definitely a wedding I would recommend, where you remember almost everything that happened on that special day, rather than the blur that most grandiose weddings bring.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Bautista

Happy Anniversary po!

I just saw you last night on ANC. And the words you said were just so true. Actually, I first saw you in the KBP forum on ANC last April, I think. From that time, sir, I have become your best endorser. I was really amazed with all the things that you said there. I could feel the sincerity.
After that, I told my parents about you, I sent a message to my sisters, I called my aunts, and dialed some classmates for them to tell their parents about you. Yes, I'm only 15 and unfortunately, was not able to vote. But I firmly believe that at this point, I should be someone like you. I am actually entering college this year-upm too. And I firmly believe that as a Filipino, I should be hopeful, and faithful that we can make our country a better one. Filipinos like you surely make a difference.

I also watched you on Isang Tanong. I actually invited lots of friends to watch that-to see you. And surely, they were amazed. We all believed, and still believe in you.

Like what you said, what's important was the fact that you were able to open the eyes of the Filipinos. You did open our minds. You were asked last night if you're going to run again. And your answer's surely the best.

Dr. Bautista, I do believe that we surely need a compassionate Filipino like you. You are my idol. And I want to be like you now and for the rest of my life.

Mabuhay po kayo, sir!

God bless you!

You are definitely a big help to the Philippines.

Your kababayan who also cares for the country,

Rowena Garcia
lillianmariejill@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary! :-)

Tito Cesar said...

Belated Happy Anniversary to you and your wife. So you got hitched the same year your class mate Rudy got hitched too on September 30.