It all started with a social networking website pre-dating Friendster and Facebook. I met Raffy Tabunar online on a site called Face-Pic.com back in 2003. Nothing fancy - he said hello, I said hello right back at him. A simple hello turned into a daily routine of well wishes and small chit-chat every now and then. We never met face-to-face right away, but we did find ourselves exchanging a lot of emails, pouring our hearts out on instant messengers about work, love lives and family lives. We found ourselves to be new age pen-pals! This went on for three years. There were times when we would talk everyday and times when we didn't talk for weeks and even months, but we'd catch up every now and then - all through emails and instant messaging. I instantly had a friend whom I can actually confide on. Someone from the outside looking into my life.Three years after a simple hello, emails and instant messaging turned into phone calls and text messages. We were in our mid-20s yet we were giggling over the phone over the simplest things. We'd laught at corny jokes sent over SMS. A spark flew! Timing is everything as they say, and the time was right for us to finally meet.
It was the day before new year's day, and we decided to meet for lunch at a nearby mall. I was with my cousins and their parents at that time, and thought it would be a good chance to meet up with him. But alas! He was a no show. Saying that he was having car problems, I thought that he was just some other guy jerking me around. But he made up for it, asking me out for a cup of coffee the following night - New Years Day! He picked me up at my aunt's house, but not before he got lost on his way to finding the place. When he stepped into the house, one thought hit me - for a Filipino, he sure looked a lot like an Indian with his dark hair, bulky built, thick eye brows and his long nose. I laughed in my head. He had a surprise of his life when he saw some family pictures on the wall, with one of them containing a photo of someone familiar in his life - his high school English teacher, my grandmother! After 3 years of chatting, you'd think we'd know by then. Just comes to show you get to discover new things about each other almost every day.
He took me to his aunt's restaurant, a small burger joint inside BF Paranaque. I had fries and he had a burger. We spent the night talking a lot, exchanging stories and advice since we both were just out of relationships. We provided a good listening ear to one another. It was a relief talking to someone who wasn't judgmental and had a fair mind.
We kept in touch after that night, almost every day as a matter of fact. He spent a good amount of time with my family as well, allowing them to get to know him building up their trust on him. Each waking morning was a pleasant treat knowing that we'd talk and see each other that day. We couldn't get enough of each other - there's just something so exciting, so mysterious about him, which he also finds in me. Our friendship was going to a whole new level. My friend, my confidant was stealing my heart as I stole his in return. It was a romance like no other.
But like any other romance, it is not without its thorns. We even had challenges amongst ourselves almost on a weekly basis. But despite those challenges, we must have been doing something right. We still found ourselves arguing about everything, but no longer as friends. A year and a a half after our burger and fries, we got married. We took our romance and our friendship up to another higher level. Now, not only do we get to argue with each other every now and then, we get to love each other more. WE're still getting to discover lot of things about each other and ourselves, but we continuously find ourselves yearning for each other, craving for one another.
I am grateful for this person whom I get to wake up right next to every morning. I am grateful not just because he's my husband, but because of what we went through for the past 7 years. As a friend, he has displayed so much patience and understanding for me as well as given me a lot of joy and comfort. He helped me accept the things for the way they are; that things happen for a reason. I'd like to think that we've been through a whole lot of challenges even for a young married couple such as ourselves. But despite those challenges, our foundation as FRIENDS along for our love for one another helped kept our bond stronger. For the past 7 years, he was my constant companion both in real life and in cyber world. And this coming August 4, we will be celebrating three years of our wonderful marriage and 7 years of great friendship..
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