i love love LOVE!
Nostalgic in black and white. My cousin, Haggy, got married last week. It was a traditional, no-frills, post-lunch wedding. We were all uncomfortably sweaty in the humble little chapel in our humble little barrio but nonetheless, our humble not-really-little family was all happy and at the same time sentimental that one of us is getting married. He is the first grandchild to be married, and this is big not just for him, for his wife, for his parents, but this milestone is big for all of us. I cannot believe this man on the altar is the same little boy who I thought looked like Jerry in Tom and Jerry when he was born. I cannot believe he is the same little boy who crawled out of his crib and ate a piece of a broken glass to his mom's utter horror. I was in tears at the beginning of the ceremony when I finally grasped the bigness of this milestone - our once little baby is now a grown up man.
All Pretty in Blue and Red. The wedding's color motif is red. Mika, my other cousin, who I sat with in the church wore a powder blue dress which I think looked great on her. The color highlighted her youth. We were discussing (mostly throughout the ceremony) how the wedding could have been more heart tugging and moving if the choices of songs weren't so liturgical and more about love but we were advised the church does not allow this. There are rules, we were told. Hmmm. We also cannot believe that the priest talked about divorce in his homily - no offense Father, but before you is a young couple, in love and excited to start their own family; they need to hear the wonders of a married life. They need to hear about how love is a beautiful mix of magic, responsibility, sacrifice and completion. There is no need to be all doomsday about this. Really.
Pure in white with a mix of sunset yellow. Did I mention that my cousin is way much younger than me? I belong to the upper tier of our family tree (tsk, tsk). Good thing, I have older cousins who were grilled with "so, when will we marry you off?" and "will you be next in line?". Questions were asked with sheepish smiles and smug facial expression which silently screams, "I am married now, I found the love of my life, poor you, go find one, fast". We were even forced to participate in the tossing of the bridal bouquet game with whispered instructions to the poor bride, "nasa kanan si ate *insert name of ate here*". To our elders, we are not in a rush. There may be times when we get a little bit pressured because we see our peers settling down and we have you as constant reminders of where we should be at this stage in our lives but no, thank you. We are not in a rush. See, I even said the rush statement twice. I personally do not know the reasons of my ate's, but for me, it is as simple as not having checked off substantially my single & unattached agenda. There are far too many mountains to climb, oceans to dive into, courses to finish, businesses to start, travels and places to experience, people to meet, personal milestones to achieve - call me selfish but this is the truth. Marriage is like how Spice Girl's sang it, "two become one", not two become one and a half. It is necessary that one completes himself before being the reason of another person's life's completion. And though sad, I'll say this in all honesty, I am still in the process of gluing the pieces of "me" together. And Lord, I think this is going to be a long process. Haha!
