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More endearing than any fairy tale love story is a real one. A remarkable rarity, more so, for one that starts at a barbecue and halo-halo stand in Camp Dangwa, La Trinidad and ends up in an NBA game at the Spectrum Center in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.
Well, clearly, it started way earlier for high school sweethearts – Blas and Liza. Somehow, with a smile, an unremarkable school corridor in 1992 got fireworks lit. A requited smile – for this is all, really.
Far from being wild, Liza is cultured dove, I assure you. But Blas could charm any raving-wild pigeon with that smile of his. And Liza sure made Blas crazy in love with hers.
So, six years later, a groom would be close to fainting on their Big Day. Pin it on mad love and wedding jitters; (and, I think, also on how uncompromising bullies the neighborhood boys can be. Like, how a honeymoon is suddenly funny). But would soon come out, stooping still, but standing, a better man than most of us.
How Blas thus endured our mosquitoish ribbing and a shared penniless pocket, and got to raise four extraordinary ladies with Liza is the stuff of legends.
“We started from nothing and had been through rough days,” Liza shares, an undergrad house manager in their early years. “We never stopped believing and dreaming of a better life for our kids.”
While they did, Blas worked shifts with Saparan Livestock.
Later, near their home, right by a mossy wall, both set up a halo-halo and barbecue stand. And became a cozy hangout. My heart skipped a thousand beats witnessing love at work. Much like Popoy and Basha in real-time, but without the teary break-up.
“A small business, but surprisingly was able to suffice our needs and support my education, going back to college – continuing and finishing my course, review, and getting my teaching license,” Liza recalls.
To make those far ends meet, Blas tucked Home Service to his belt: carpentry, upholstery and shoe repair – a legacy handed by his father-in-law.
Liza soon taught at the BCU College of Engineering. With this came Blas’ chance at completing his BS Education, with Biology as Major. But stopped after practice teaching due to health reasons. Not out of lack of will. Not at all.
Today, their dreams breathe on and blossom in the lovely M Quartet. Their eldest, Jasmine Blasie Anne, is a Full Time Missionary with CRU Philippines (Campus Crusade for Christ), assigned to minister to young people in Churches and campuses in Iloilo City. The second is on her 4th year, days away to the dream of being an Accountant. The third is in Grade 9 (Special Program in the Arts) at Benguet National High. And bunso grapples with Grade 4 quirks at SPED Center, Wangal.
One dreams of performing in the global stage one day. The other three will, no doubt, be there – along with their beaming stage parents, of course.
“We hoped and prayed for a better opportunity. Our Amazing God answered our prayers and brought us here (USA). Challenging ti napagdaanan mi bago kami nakaumay ditoy ngem fulfilling ken promising,” she confides. “We stood by His promise.”
In fact, these lovers, too, stood by their own. And only a week back, toasted to their 25th. They look forward to their 26th with a commemorative silver artwork.
And here lies my cue. For, a real love story, we may say, is, too, a work of art. And that all the unromantic work that made it so, is what makes it so. Not in some Taylor Swift crushing. But in some Taylor Swift hustling.
And what makes any love story remarkable, to this heart, is plain – a shared dream. A love story and a dream shared by the children, when that day comes. More so, a shared struggle, which always comes. And always, a Faith. A deep, pulsating Faith. And a big can of E.T. humor to roll with Its eternal punches and bumps.
One afternoon, perhaps a decade ago, wisps of barbecue smoke flapping to the baton on Blas’ hand, Liza fanned a sweat-soaked Blas while pressing a cold sponge to his nape. Two of the M Quartet stood worriedly by, one, a tabo in hand. The other, asking if Daddy Blas was okay.
Whether by a mossy wall in Camp Dangwa, or in an NBA game. Wherever they stand or sit in the world, these fine folks will somehow come out okay, we’re assured. For a shared love story starts and never ends.
But goes on and on, magic-like.
There, to breathe on. To blossom and scatter seeds of its kind.