Remembering Birthdays and Anniversaries

Change #1
After we got married, we stopped celebrating our mag-boyfriend anniversary. I didn’t want to impose or be the first one to greet him. I preferred that he remembered it on his own. He never.
Minsan hindi ako makatiis, I would say “Tart, tapos na yung anniversary natin”. He would quickly retort “Di ba matagal pa (referring to our wedding anniversary)”. When I told him yung mag-boyfriend kami he would say “Tart naman, isa na lang ang i-cdlebrate natin, ang dami ko namang kailangang date na tandaan, isa na lang”. Medyo inis pa yan.

So every September 4, I just kept quiet and not be conscious about the importance of that day in our love story (Ssssh, I will tell you. That was the day we first kissed on the lips. Lips to lips. Inside the sinehan).

After more than 30 years, abah milagro. He greeted me “tart, happy anniversary”.
I was actually the one who forgot about it. Nagulat pa ako. I thought he was referring to something else. Abahhh after three decades, ano kaya nangyari?

Change #2
One time he almost forgot that it was my birthday. Or maybe he didn’t, except that he didn’t think it was something important. Pero nung mag-boyfriend kami very important sa kanya ang birthday ko. It was almost 6 pm and I still didn’t know if we were going to the chapel and dinner. When he came home at almost 7 pm, I was in tears but I didn’t say anything. to aggravate my injured feelings, he even said “birthdays are not important to me”.

I was 12,000 kilometers away from home last May. He dropped everything he was doing, despite not feeling well, and in the heat of big problems, he flew from Manila to where I was and surprised me. I didn’t know he was going to do that. Oyen knew but she didn’t tell me. Kaya pala I was wondering the past two days how come he was not calling or replying to my messages. Three hours before my birthday, someone rang the door bell. Ding dong. There he was, standing in the dark on a cold night. Surprise! Happy birthday! Ubo ng ubo and ang sama ng boses. In-export pa ang virus nya.
Abah, napa bilib ako. Kung manliligaw ito, yes na agad. Napawi ang marami kong tampo sa kanya.

Change #3
Last August 27 he asked me where I will celebrate my
60th birthday. Ang sagot ko “naku tart, napakatagal pa nun, saka ko na iisipin”.
E—-“Isipin mo na!” He told Oyen “start planning for mommy’s birthday”.
Saan kaya makapunta? Botswana or Antartica? O sa Tagaytay na lang para mura at walang jet-lag.

A few days ago he asked me where I would celebrate my birthday. Hindi daw yung 60 kasi nga ang layo pa. Pero to plan for my next year’s birthday celebration….? Ang layo pa ng birthday ko. October, November, December, January, February, March, April, May. It’s still 8 months away.
Ano daw ang plano ko. Saan? See, iba na ang panahon ngayon. Pro-active na sya.
Yesterday he asked me again. Tonight he asked me again. Abah, the older he gets, the sweeter and kinder he becomes. Thank you Lord!