A Golden Wedding Anniversary on the Day the World was Predicted to End

May 21, 2011 is  memorable to me not because it was the day someone-- unfortunately hyped by media-- predicted that the world would end, but because it was my parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary.

It was touching to see my parents renew their vows during the evening mass at Metro Club Makati that was officiated by my  priest friend-- Fr. Rodel Paulino,  incoming parish priest of the Presentation of the Child Jesus in BF Homes Paranaque.   At the end of the rites, my parents  sweetly kissed before an intimate group of family and relatives.

Fifty years is a long period of time  to have and to hold someone.  Such length  of togetherness is  a testimony to the Lord's goodness and faithfulness. 

The Lord has indeed been good to my parents.  My father, now 80 years old,  would always say that one of his achievements in life is  his having  all his  seven children sent through college.  He would gleam whenever he enumerates the schools where we his children graduated from--here mentioned in alphabetical order-- Assumption College Makati,  Ateneo de Manila, La Salle-Taft,  Mapua Institute of Technology, St. Scholastica's College, University of  the Philippines- Diliman and University of the Philippines-Manila.  He recognizes that it is a  great blessing from the Lord for him and my mother, considering that both of them were  not into business but in  government service-- and this I must say-- honest government service.

To me, my parents are  much more accomplished than that.

My mother, now 79,  suffered a major stoke in July 2009.   Since then,  she has undergone  extensive therapy  and today, she is up and about.  She still goes through speech therapy and needs assistance, specially clearing  the stairs.  Through all these,  my father would almost always be  by her side.

One morning last month,  when I made an unannounced visit to my sister Pinky's place where my parents now reside--  I went straight to my parents' room.  The door was open  and  as I stepped into their room, I saw my father  helping my mom put on a blouse while my mom was seated on an  edge of  their bed.    I greeted them and my father smiled at me  while he  was reaching for a comb to fix the hair of my mom,  whom he assisted  in getting  a bath.

While we were conversing, my father was  gently combing my mom's hair.   My father was not aware that  beyond his words to me,  I was listening to his language of love to my mother.  That language was service and devotion.

Yesterday, as I watched my family and relatives celebrate my parents'  anniversary, I  knew that my parents had lessons to share with us. Those are the kind of  lessons taught not   through mere words but through those quiet moments   of love and affection that I have been privileged to take  glimpses of.

Thank you, Ma and Pa....

My parents on their 50th Wedding Anniversary, 21 May 2011