Yesterday, my in-laws celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary - a feat considering their failing health. Extremely hardworking and amazingly devoted to each other, they were firm in wanting to celebrate this milestone. The original plans had to be redrawn though, in deference to my mother in law's recent puzzling illness which made her lose her usual mobility. She was eventually diagnosed with Fibromalgia, which her osteopath explained as similar to Multiple Sclerosis except that it attacks only the muscles and not the brain. Last year, my father in law underwent radiation for his colon cancer. Yesterday's plan was to attend mass at the ungodly hour of 6:30 in the morning, and re-convene for lunch. It was an epic day as the mass dissolved into breakfast, faded into lunch, montaged with meryenda and picture taking, and eventually had a dinner finale. In between, my family had to sneak in naps as we stayed up 'til the wee hours of the morning putting together a surprise newsletter for the occasion. Conceptualized only the night before, a core editorial and production team stole old photos, tagged and scanned them, emailed and texted relatives for greetings and messages, wrote their own messages, and did their own share of hard, pressure-filled and panicky work. In the end we filled up five pages and printed about a dozen limited edition copies, with the intention of releasing an updated, more comprehensive version in the coming days.
To visually mark the occasion, we all wore yellow (since gold may not be feasible for all, or at all) and had three sets of family photos, which made up for the two years we didn't have one.
Below is the front page article I wrote for the Gold Times, my own tribute to my children's only surviving grandparents.
Golden couple Dr. Filomeno a.k.a Totoy and Zenaida a.k.a. Ada celebrates their 50th wedding anniversary with a Thanksgiving mass and a family get-together today, January 3, 2009.
As the saying goes, all that glitters is not gold… and yet their enduring love continues to shine through – 50 years after they said their vows at the National Shrine of St. Anne in Hagonoy, Bulacan. This century-old church is the only one in the Philippines where the relics of Saints Anne and Joaquim, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are venerated.
Fil and Zeny first met in their twenties when a cousin asked Zeny to work as a dentist’s assistant. A twist of fate occurred when the said dentist did not come to work, and instead, the dental board topnotcher from Limay, Bataan was on duty.
It was inevitable that love bloomed among the cavities. In no time, and without sedation or anesthesia, “Doc” was able to extract Zeny’s matamis na oo.
Through the early years of marriage, they continued their respective careers – Fil as a teacher at the University of the East and Zeny as a secretary at her uncle’s law office.
They were immediately blessed with five children whom they sent to Catholic schools as an affirmation of their faith.
Distance never really created a strain in their relationship as Fil’s job took him back north to Bataan, first as company dentist at Planter’s Products, Inc. and in the recent years as Town Administrator of Limay.
Meanwhile, Zeny kept their Quezon City home neat and always bursting with the aroma of home-cooked meals. Every single day was spent doing house chores and attending to the needs and demands of their growing children. She most certainly looked forward to the days when Fil came home by hydrofoil to pick up the rod a.k.a. walis tambo.
Recent illnesses allowed them to use their Senior Citizen’s privileges more often than they’d like. But their state of health only brought them closer as they dutifully and lovingly attend to each other’s needs. And this time, they have their grandchildren to count on – nine boys and three girls between the ages of nine months and thirty two years – each of them a source of pride and joy in their own little way.
Twelve grandchildren plus five children plus five sons- and daughter-in-law plus Fil plus Zeny equals a 24-carat family!
Fil and Zeny first met in their twenties when a cousin asked Zeny to work as a dentist’s assistant. A twist of fate occurred when the said dentist did not come to work, and instead, the dental board topnotcher from Limay, Bataan was on duty.
It was inevitable that love bloomed among the cavities. In no time, and without sedation or anesthesia, “Doc” was able to extract Zeny’s matamis na oo.
Through the early years of marriage, they continued their respective careers – Fil as a teacher at the University of the East and Zeny as a secretary at her uncle’s law office.
They were immediately blessed with five children whom they sent to Catholic schools as an affirmation of their faith.
Distance never really created a strain in their relationship as Fil’s job took him back north to Bataan, first as company dentist at Planter’s Products, Inc. and in the recent years as Town Administrator of Limay.
Meanwhile, Zeny kept their Quezon City home neat and always bursting with the aroma of home-cooked meals. Every single day was spent doing house chores and attending to the needs and demands of their growing children. She most certainly looked forward to the days when Fil came home by hydrofoil to pick up the rod a.k.a. walis tambo.
Recent illnesses allowed them to use their Senior Citizen’s privileges more often than they’d like. But their state of health only brought them closer as they dutifully and lovingly attend to each other’s needs. And this time, they have their grandchildren to count on – nine boys and three girls between the ages of nine months and thirty two years – each of them a source of pride and joy in their own little way.
Twelve grandchildren plus five children plus five sons- and daughter-in-law plus Fil plus Zeny equals a 24-carat family!
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2 comments:
you really write well, Carol! Light and easy maski mabigat ang topic. Galeng (!) despite the time constraints! My heartfelt congratulations to your in-laws Dr Fil and Zeny! Your write-up of them is certainly one of the very admirable couple-story I have read!
thanks, my friend. I need to do some revisions, may mali pala ang mga reporters ko about some details, haha.
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