Sitti

5:30pm, May 28, 2017. I sit gazing at the otherworldly calmness of Taal Lake, slightly intoxicated by both its transcendent beauty that doesn’t get old, and the glass of wine I hold in my hand, a welcome gift from the hotel we are staying at. Joey and I just checked into the most beautiful suite I’ve ever been in, and from the moment I stepped into the room to my dropped-jaw delight, I remember being ever so thankful for the countless, nameless travelers who so accurately rate on booking.com. It was a bit pricey, but it was worth it, so worth it, especially given the occasion.

It’s our second anniversary, and after a glass of wine, an early and full morning of bike training, Joey is asleep.

Not exactly how I imagined this day would be.

To be honest though, I didn’t really imagine anything for this day. I was happy just to be wherever and do whatever with Joey, no fanfare, as long as we spent time together. Initially though, we wanted to go up to Sagada but due to car, weather, and physical constraints, we ended up in Nuvali and Tagaytay. Sayang, excited pa naman ako to share the calm yet extremely beautiful magic of that place with him. Pero okay lang, we’ll just make the trip another time.

Which is just as well. Because in the two years that I’ve been married to Joey, I know him well enough to know that he really wanted to be there for one of his best buds’ first duathlon. After years of him being the only one engaged in swimming, cycling, and running, finally, FINALLY, one of his early childhood barkadas caught on. It was a treat watching him prepare Paulo the night before the race, like a father equipping a son on the first day of school. I wanted to take a picture of him prepping Paulo’s water source but didn’t want to be overly sentimental, so I just preserved it in my memory.

This, in itself, was already a very nice second anniversary gift, because in it I saw a picture of how good a father Joey will be to our kids.

There was another good memory to preserve, too. On our way to get dinner and while stuck in Sta. Rosa traffic, my husband, Mr. Joey Ramirez, who in the two years we’ve been married has always been stingy when giving out compliments, said,

“Alam ko magiging successful ako kasi okay napangasawa ko. Buti nlng sa’yo ako napunta. Ang bait-bait mo e.”

Pambihira. I wanted him to repeat what he said and record it hahaha! But I know that’ll change the mood, so I just uttered a long, incredulous “Woooow!” and sat there basking in the moment, feeling how a cactus must feel, not needing much water to live on, but thriving on the little quality ones that it does get. Ang sarap ulit-ulitin sa alaala! Happy anniversary to me!

Later, we shared dinner and a room with Paulo and his wife Rachel, and it was fun having a sleepover. We didn’t get up as early as they did though, haha. At about 6am on the day of our second church anniversary, Joey went off to do his bike training, while I met up with Rache and kept her company, hollering at some of the duathletes and screaming at Paulo in particular, haha.

Boy, is it fun to be cheering at the sidelines!

Paulo finished his first duathlon (congratulations!! You did it, Pau!!!), Joey joined us after his training and we had light brunch accompanied by fun discussions. Then it was time to part as Pau and Rache had to go home, and Joey and I had to check out of Nuvali then go to Tagaytay for the second leg of our celebration. Our friends bid us goodbye with greetings of “Happy anniversary!”, and I couldn’t help but be happy with how our morning went. Our special day was made even more special because we shared it with friends, and because our friends shared their victory with us, too.

(Come to think of it, our first anniversary last year was also spent with friends. That time, we shared in the joy of and partied with newlyweds Todd and Tin! How nice if this could be a yearly thing!)

*Congratulations on your first duathlon, Pau!!*

Going back, I’ve always thought anniversaries should be spent between the couple alone, but life has shown that spending some of it with friends can make one’s heart feel a little fuller. For in the end, through memories and celebrations shared, we all, ultimately, become a part of each other. It was also a continuing testament to how Joey and I approach married life, which is the no frills, no pressure, going with the flow and doing the best that we can kind. Plus, we both were never the cheesy ones, anyway.

Remind me never to go up to Tagaytay on a Sunday ever again. Traffic. Was. Terrible!! So, so bad. We ended up having very late lunch at around 3pm or so, and checked into our beautiful suite much later than expected. It’s a blessing neither of us got hangry, though I did lose my patience with our first restaurant and transferred to another (we waited a full forty minutes after they took our order, for nothing! So I took a stand and left, hungry yet incredibly patient husband in tow).

Which brings us to my current view. Beautiful Taal Lake, wine in hand, lightly snoring husband facedown wiped out on the bed. He wouldn’t sleep the rest of our second church anniversary away, there wouldn’t be an altercation because he conked out on me. He’d wake up, tease me like he always does, I’ll be by his side while he plays his favorite Toy Blast on my iPad while I watch the towns by the lake light up one by one, we’d go out for dinner that would fill us to the brim, then we would tease and laugh and enjoy each other’s company some more.