hbd,jb!

Aug1996: "Marchae, kumusta ka na ulit? I'm sure everything is OK. OK! Study well & God Bless. Go touch the moon--> !"

Mar1997: birthday greetings recorded on a casette tape...priceless.

Mar2003: "92 pala kayo...ako 82..isang number lang pinag-iba..classmates!"

Jul2003: tavern, 3rd set. "this is for lola <some name i can't remember> happy 70th birthday! ay nakaalis na ata. ah alam ko na...this is for marchae!"  no reason. basta for me lang. :)

Mar2005: "alam mo yun lyrics ng somebody? may nag-request, tagal ko ng di kinakanta, di ko na maalala" and he proceeded to recite the song lyrics and and stopped when he couldn't recall what came next. i said what i thought was next. he said, "un din akala ko pero parang hindi" gaaaaah, i can't quite think straight when your face is 2 inches from mine while you're reciting a love song, can i?

Mar2006: "my marchae"

Oct2006: "pls text mo lang ako.. pag manonood kayo...para naman ma guestlist ko kayo."

Jan2007: "ayan si marchae naman...wala pa syang picture...wala pa syang picture for 2007"

Feb2007: while he was inside the band room, he saw me and my friends leaving from afar. after 2 min, i got a text.."Thx marchae :)"

Feb2007: "for little marchae...sabi ng mommy mo favorite mo daw to." this after i told him a few months back that nica liked the song.

Mar2007: "my wife daw" pointing to me as he confusingly dedicated the song to me and his wife. "somebody" will forever remind me of him.

Apr2007: as he was pulling out of the parking lot, he saw me, stopped the car in the middle of the road and waved at me before driving off.

May2007: "sarap" said he after hugging me tight. me in tears after. saying goodbye never gets easier.

the besos...the hugs...the countless unnecessary "thank you"s... the perennial smile... the incomparable unwavering kindness... memories...so many memories. *sigh* can you blame me for loving this guy?

to my original bae...the man of my deams...happy birthday! i miss you! :D

rj

"Happy is the person who learns to wait as he prays and never loses his patience, for God's time is the perfect time."

it's hard not to root for someone when you find that he's worked hard all these years. despite the failures and rejections, he persevered and never lost hope. despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles and devastating losses, he's never ceased to see the good in people and in situations.

and when all these blessings come pouring in, instead of saying, "finally! this is a long time coming...i deserve all this"... he says "thank You! i am forever grateful.". instead of being smug and complacent, he presses on, continuing to work even harder.

he doesn't forget the people who has helped him along the way. he doesn't begrudge success that come quickly to others. he is kind, humble, and generous. 

and you see him fall in love...deeply. and you see him giving it his all...keeping nothing to himself. and you see how he looks at her. and you see how his face brightens up when she walks into a room. and you see all his efforts to make her happy.

you root for him because you simply can't help it. you root for him because you believe he is worthy. you root for him because he deserves to be happy...and so much more.

and you hope and pray that his heart, as big as it is, doesn't get broken.

"i may have run out of songs to sing
i may have run out of words to say
but all that i want you to know is what i feel for you:
i love you
as endless as forever
our love will stay together
you're all i need to be with forevermore"

i wonder who else has noticed that they're playing the other version of the song in the opening credits... come to think of it, i wonder how many people even know there is a different version of the song.

two things i realized in all this... one, i'm a hopeless romantic... two, i am, first and foremost, a SideA fan. :)

#forevermorepamore