Serendipity

On this day 13 years ago, Ryan and I officially became a couple. Around this same time, I finally agreed to be his girlfriend (after a condition we still laugh about). So in celebration of this day, I would like to share the piece I contributed to Bo Sanchez' 40 Stories of Finding Your One True Love (Inspiring Short Stories of Real People Who Found Lasting Love). It was published in 2010, so I am revising the ending to fit our present situation.

HOW SERENDIPITY  STEPPED IN

"For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope."   -  Jeremiah 29:11

 Serendipity is defined as the gift of finding valuable things not sought. Is it possible?

I suppose it is.

My one true love and I first met on October 18, 2001 at the lobby of my present company's head office. We both had a job interview that day. Both nervous and anxious, we just smiled at each other. All I had in mind was getting the job. He told me later that he somewhat found me interesting.

It took four months before I got the job. Within those four months, I got into a relationship. I thought my boyfriend was the person I had been waiting for. We had great times together, we laughed a lot, and we were so in love. But getting the job required me to relocate. Back in 2002, cellular phones were unknown in the place where I was assigned. This made it difficult for my boyfriend and me to keep in touch.

One afternoon in March, I saw Ryan - the guy I met at the lobby. We made some small talk and I learned that he got into the company earlier than I did, and that he was with the engineering department. I didn't give him much attention then, but I couldn't forget his reaction when we saw each other there. Star-struck is the word for it I believe.

One day, Ryan and I happened to ride the same jeepney. I was going to visit a friend and I told him he should meet her, and that she was also single like him. Somebody commented while we were talking that we might end up with each other. I found that very silly, but unknown to either of us, it was destined to happen.

My boyfriend eventually decided to end our relationship because he was happier with someone else. I cried buckets of tears. My office mates told me to forget the guy and offered comfort by saying that they would set me up with one of the new employees. This new employee turned out to be Ryan.

11 years after... top photo was our first official couple picture and bottom photo was taken two years ago

Ryan and I started going out as friends. And because he was a housemate of a coworker in my department, we often hang out together. He was very smart, sweet and had loads of sense of humor. Suddenly, one day we felt that friendship was not enough. Two months after my boyfriend broke up with me,  Ryan and I became a couple (That's June 2! J). And two years after that, we got married.

We now have three kids, whom we fondly call as our bears. Our eldest is Raphael. He got his daddy's good looks and towering height, and he loves anything that has wheels. Loraine is my mini-me, my stylist and my fashion adviser. I see so much of myself in her, except that she is more creative. And my baby bear is Karina, our Miss Congeniality. Though very young, she now has followers who love her bubbly personality. *


Our thirteen years together was not always smooth, there was a time when we almost gave up on each other. But I wouldn't trade the wonderful memories we created together with anything in this world. *

I guess true love is not about finding the right person, but creating the right relationship. It's not about how much you have in the beginning but how much love you you build until the end.

With our bears during our most recent family date

* Revised to the current writing.