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| January 1, 2000 |
On New Year’s Eve, 1999, when the craze of the Millennium was upon us and Y2K was thought to be a threat to the workings of our economy, John and I announced to our friends and family that we would be getting married on the first day of the New Year. We had recently gotten engaged at the end of November on the white sandy beaches of Boracay, in the Philippines. The Professional basketball team John was playing for at the time had just won its first Championship title so his entire team was flown to this beautiful island as a “bonus” for their win. One evening John and I decided to sneak away from the team and have dinner at a small restaurant on the beach. We had talked about getting married over the past year, but when his official proposal came that evening in such a traditional way (he got down on one knee) I was very touched by his sincerity. Even though I don’t remember everything that he said to me in that moment, I do remember feeling extremely happy for the future that awaited us.
Shortly after our engagement we flew home for the Christmas Holidays and surprised our families with the news. They were very excited for us, but the thought of planning a wedding from a distance was overwhelming. We needed to head back to the Philippines shortly after the holidays to make it back in time for the start of John’s new season so there would be no time to really discuss plans with our families. The end of a basketball season was hard to predict and there were no guarantees on the next time we would be back in Canada, so planning for a specific day to get married seemed impossible. However, unbeknownst to our parents and friends, John and I came up with the plan to have a surprise wedding on New Year’s Day! It took some coordinating but when the clock on New Year’s Eve hit 12 am, John and I shared the news that we were getting married at 3:00pm that afternoon. Needless to say, our parents and friends could not have been happier for us, the year 2000 was looking good already!
The Wedding was set to take place at Mike and Margot’s house and my sister Tricia and her then, ‘fiancé” Jeff, were among the small few that knew ahead of time about our plans, which made getting things organized easier. John had already made up his mind to wear a traditional ceremonial Filipino Barong for the wedding, and I, the nonconformist, wore a lavender cashmere sweater and a long, black taffeta skirt. Our immediate family and a small group of friends were there to witness our commitment to one another, I loved that we were both willing to take the leap of faith and acknowledge that it would not be the fuss and size of a wedding that would prove our commitment to one another, but that it would be our willingness to stick together and stand by each other through life’s not so perfect plans. “For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and heath, until death do us part.” Today would have been our 17th Wedding Anniversary and exactly 4 months since John passed away. The reality of starting a New Year without him is an unbearable pain to feel, but we also know that John’s spirit lives on and remembering him with joy and love has been the best way to appreciate all the times we were so fortunate to have with him.
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| 10 year Anniversay |
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| Christmas 2014 |
