I am Sixteen, Going on Seventeen

Our wedding anniversary is tomorrow, April 16. It’s our 17^th, and I don’t know what to give, or rather, ask the Hubby. Usually, we give ourselves something for the household, like a new TV, or an oven, or a pressure cooker, anything useful to make our house, well, a home. I tried to trick him into giving me a bottle of perfume once (for His/Her scent naman ah!), but he was smart enough to look through the scam. Anyway, gift or no gift, I feel blessed that I have been married to him for 17 years.

Let me tell you a secret. When I was single, I prayed for him to come to my life. No, I just didn’t pray for the right man to come along. I prayed for a specific man. I made a list of all the characteristics I wanted in a hubby:

       (1) From the height (please, make him at least 5’10, because I don’t want my kids to be pygmies like me!)

       (2) to his looks (bad experience in too handsome guys--hmph! you know who you are!!),

       (3) to his skin color (preferably darker than my morena skin),

       (4) to his character (generous--mahilig sana sya mag-shopping; smart enough--at least having the same brainwaves as mine; communicative--won't tire of talking to me),

       (5) to his economic status (someone who has a stable and promising job; I never wanted to marry a rich guy, baka gawin pa akong helper sa mansion nila!)

...and so much more absurd items that I can't remember everything anymore. It was like ringing for a made-to-order husband because the details are up to the last stitches. I kept this list in a journal, and forgot all about it. It was only a year after I got married to him that I stumbled upon my list again and realized that my Isagani fit the picture perfectly (awww!). I guess “Ask and it shall be given” worked wonders for me!

Horsing around on a beach somewhere
 in Hinigaran, Negros Occidental

I’m not sure if he also prayed for someone like me. Never dared to ask (for what if he denied it?). What I’m sure is that we fit to a T. We can talk to each other for hours. We rarely have arguments. We never sleep over an unsettled issue. What more is there to ask for in a marriage? (what about more S, di ba Tet? ehek!)

Happy anniversary, Dad!! Here’s to more loving and blissful years together.  By the way, can I have a bottle of perfume this year?