Summer At The Park

Photo:  The Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

It was extremely hot here over the weekend, so we thought of heading south to San Francisco to chill out.  San Francisco is only 15 minutes south of where we live, but because it's closer to the ocean the temperature in the city is always cooler.  It rarely goes beyond 75 degrees F.

So with babies in tow, we ended up at the Golden Gate Park.  Indeed, it was much cooler down there--the sun was up and bright but the cool breeze brought down the temperature to the mid-60's.  We settled in one corner under the shade and enjoyed lunch and a good conversation with family.

Photo: My brother-in-law John and my nephew Nathan enjoying a stroll at the park

There were a lot of people at the park but it wasn't crowded.   The view was breathtaking--lots and lots of beautiful flowers, kids running around, men playing toss and catch, and bikini-clad women getting their tan.  While there, we also visited the Conservatory of Flowers, a large botanical greenhouse housing a collection of exotic plants.  The conservatory was built in 1878 and is the oldest building at the Golden Gate Park.  

Photo:  Inside the conservatory

It was Lucas' first trip to a park and he's going to have a lot more.  I think it would be good for him to be out exploring places and be around people most of the time, so I'm getting him started early.  

Photo:  Charles and Lucas enjoying the view from Twin Peaks

Last stop before heading home--Twin Peaks, the highest point in San Francisco.  We come here to get a good 360-degrees view of the city.

Three

Three years ago today, you committed yourself to me

You promised to love me, protect me, and stay with me in sickness and in health

You made me part of your life

Three years ago today, you made me the happiest person in the planet

Happy Anniversary, my dearest!

Not many people know that we've actually been married three years--not two.  It was no big secret at all but we just thought it wasn't necessary to offer the information if people don't ask. Well, guess what--I'm offering it now.

Right after we got engaged, we immediately set the date for our church wedding in Cebu. But knowing how difficult it is to comply with requirements without being physically present, we decided to take care of all the pre-requisites here including the marriage certificate, church permits, seminars, etc.  Hence, two weeks after our engagement and exactly a year before we were married in church, we were civilly wed at the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael.  Why we had to do it that quickly? We wanted our civil wedding and our church wedding to be on the same day.

We also had to consider that at that time, we were both waiting for our green cards which were processed under two different applications. I was going to get mine quicker if we processed the applications as a married couple.

We thought the idea of getting married that quickly was crazy and up until the last minute before the wedding, I still wasn't sure it was the right thing to do.  It took months before I got it to sink in even after we did it already.  

It was a Friday and a day just like the ordinary.  We both went to work, left the office early, showed up at the Civic Center to sign the paperwork and said our "I do's" in front of the Deputy Commissioner.  We had my parents as our witnesses.  We thought it was going to be that quick and would feel meaningless, but we were so wrong.  It felt most special, most intimate, most magical it was almost surreal.  The Commissioner said some of the most beautiful words it brought me to tears.  At that very moment all the doubts disappeared, and we knew--we were convinced that it was the right thing to do.  In fact, it was one of the best decisions we ever made.

Right after the wedding, we joined some friends and went camping in Mendocino County.  Yeah--we spent our first night as a married couple in the woods!  Quite romantic, actually!  Exactly a year later, we had the wedding of our dreams--in Cebu where we first met, surrounded by our family and friends.

So there you go--it's been three years!  Three years of blissful marriage ("hehe, bag-o pa man"), three years of getting to know each other further and loving each other more in the process, three years of both joys and pains.  Our marriage is by no means perfect, but we make each day count and I think that's what matters.

There was only one thing we regret that day--that we didn't take any pictures.  No pictures to show our little one.  What we have are just good memories of that very special day.

***

Photo:  One of our engagement photos taken by Chay Tan Ting.

Hands

Blessings of the Hands

This is part of a prayer that we used on our wedding day.  This was shared to us during our wedding preparation seminar and I thought I should share this here.  

***

These are the hands of your best friend, 

young and strong and vibrant with love, 

that are holding yours on your wedding day, 

as he promises to love you all the days of his life. 

These are the hands that will work alongside yours, 

as together you build your future, as you laugh and cry, 

as you share your innermost secrets and dreams. 

These are the hands you will place with expectant joy against your stomach, 

until he too, feels his child stir within you. 

These are the hands that look so large and strong, 

yet will be so gentle as he holds your baby for the first time. 

These are the hands that will work long hours for you and your new family.

These are that hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, 

for a lifetime of happiness. 

These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes: 

tears of sorrow and tears of joy.

These are the hands that will comfort you in illness, 

and hold you when fear or grief wrack your mind. 

These are the hands that will tenderly lift your chin 

and brush your cheek as they raise your face to look into his eyes: 

eyes that are filled completely with his overwhelming love and desire for you. 

To my dad Ricardo, one of the best fathers in the world--thank you for raising us and for making us what we are now, for being such a great father to us and a loving grandfather to Lucas.

To my dearest Charles, the love of my life and father to my most precious little boy--thank you for being a very hands-on dad!  There is no doubt you are going to be a great father and Lucas will love you back.  You deserve each other!

To my brother-in-law John Mayel--thank you for being a great friend to us and for being there always whenever we need anything. Thank you for being a great love to my sister and a loving parent to my beloved nephew, Nathan!

Happy, happy Fathers' Day to you and to all the dads in the world!!!

From A Distance

***Richard & Hannah -- Baker Beach, San Francisco***

It doesn't seem so long ago when my brother Richard was literally the baby in the family. He's our only brother and he's the youngest so he got a lot of attention not only from our parents but also from us, his sisters.

I remember him being so frail and unwell as an infant. He was allergic to milk of almost any kind--breastmilk, baby formula, cow's milk--doctors tried to feed him different kinds but it would only give him a really bad case of diarrhea. He spent months at the Cebu Doctors Hospital with only IV/dextrose as his supply of food and fluid--without it he would get dehydrated. We didn't think he would survive, until one doctor found a kind of milk that hadn't been tried on my brother yet. It was goat's milk and it made him well.

I remember how our relatives, friends and even the nurses and doctors at the hospital gave him a nickname "Kanding" (Goat) because he only fed on goat's milk. When it was time for him to have solid food, my parents would feed him with goat's meat--blended or pureed after being cooked.

Even after he survived, he grew up very fragile. I remember how an easy fall or a mere stumble turned into a convulsion. I remember the trips to the ER each time he had a seizure. But as he got older, his body got stronger as well. Now, to my knowledge, he has no more allergies and hasn't been ill in a long time.

As the youngest in the family and the only boy among as kids, he was the object of both attention and ridicule. I remember how my sister and I always made fun of him. We would bully him and tell him he's gay until he cried. I remember how we would find him sleepwalking and the next day he would not stop hearing about it. I remember how I took him riding on a borrowed bike when I just learned how to ride and I drove him off a cliff. We both ended up with minor injuries but I had to deal with a major punishment.

We thought he would turn out to be a spoiled brat, but no. He turned out to be one loving son and brother. In college, he joined me in Dumaguete and went to the same university I attended. So I had to look out for him. He never argued with me on anything. He never complained about my rules or the food that I served despite the lack of variety as we had to live on a very tight budget. I'd give him 75 pesos in weekly allowance, which I know was realistically enough for just a day, but he would take it and make do with it. He was a very driven student. He made a lot of friends and was very happy. He didn't let anything get in his way. He worked hard, finished college and made us all proud.

I feel that it hasn't been long since then, but now he has grown up and ready to take on more responsibilities. He's found love and has made a commitment to start his own family and settle down. I can't help but feel proud that my once sickly and skinny little brother has now become a fine young gentleman with a nice girl in his arms.

I wish him well! I wish them both well! And even as he moves on, starts a new life and makes memories of his own, he will always remain my little brother and I will continue to look out for him--from a distance.

***Richard, Hannah and our parents -- Exploratorium, San Francisco***

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Photos:  I had the pleasure of taking their engagement/wedding photos during their last visit to San Francisco.  My parents tagged along and my dad was my assistant.  We had a blast!  The couple is so much fun to work with.  More photos here.

Protecting Your Photos

I once thought about removing the Copyright marker from my photos. Sometimes I find it distracting and sometimes I just can't figure out where to put it.  I don't even know if there are rules to Copyright markers.

So I thought "Who's going to steal my photos anyway? I mean, they're not worth stealing!"  

And then I saw this...

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Photo:  My tummy at 39 weeks (taken a couple of days before I gave birth).  Been looking at my preggy photos lately--to see how much I've lost.