..more nervous than the bride....

it's my time.. maybe by end of may or early june... and all i want is a simple civil wedding. why? first, because my future hubby is a non-catholic christian and second, im too shy... always shy...

haha..... when men say wedding is a woman's excuse to lavish herself with beautiful wardrobe and pampering, i opted for a simple private one...

i am a church choir member and i think during my college years, whenever i was available during saturdays or any time of the week, as long as there was a wedding in our chapel, me and my other co-members were also present there to sing for weddings... regularly, there are two weddings in the morning and one in the afternoon...

i heard different interpretations of Priests of the Gospels chosen by the couple... I heard too many ""bilins"" from sponsors to the newly weds.. and i always ended up feeling more nervous than the bride for my song for her walk... yeah, so true, i always sing for the bride's march... why nervous? because all the people would be listening to me while watching the beautiful bride going up to her groom... should i croak, could you just imagine what would have happened?

i know that everytime the bride takes up that first step from the back of the church, she is also hoping for me to deliver well... and that walk is a once in a lifetime walk (well, for most, hahahaha.... ) that walk is her shining moment, isnt it?

my future hubby still wonders why i insist on a civil wedding.. why i want us to save money instead... he cant understand my love for privacy and discreteness (may word bang ganon?).. when all he wants is to show my family and relatives how he loves me...

i hope that i'd still have a good wedding inspite of the simplicity and privacy i am after...

...my Love for the Consecration of Our Lady of Banneux

the Consecration:

Oh Mary, Virgin of the Poor, Mother of Our Saviour, Mother of God, I am totally Yours.
I wish to be your child, your friend, your witness, your worker, your instrument, your servant, your slave.
Oh Mary, I want you to be my mother, my friend, my helper, my protector, my guide, my queen.
Oh Mary, please lead me to Jesus, in whom is the fullness of grace, life and salvation.
Amen...

Babang Luksa

In the Philippines, we have this called Babang Luksa, or the remembering the First Death Anniversary.. People remembering the first death anniversary of their loved ones often offer Masses, prepare food and come together to reminisce times with their Loved one who passed away the year before...and finally let go of their mourning....

For us, we experienced the most comforting Babang Luksa... My dad passed away on April 3, 2004. A year after, i think at the wee hours (Philippine Time) of that April 3, 2005 Sunday morning, Pope John Paul II passed away....

When we attended that 10a.m. mass in our Church that day, the Parish Priest had only comforting words to all the Churchgoers... and that for me, I believe that Pope's death was timely=== for him to rest finally and for us mourners to let go fully...

In my heart, I fully believe that my dad is happy in Heaven..

His life was well spent loving all that came to him. My dad's wake took 13 days (if I'm not mistaken) coz we still had to wait for his brothers from the USA, but everyday, everynight, people flooded in like they also never tired to pray with us, mourn with us, drink brewed coffee with us during the cold summer nights and mornings of La Trinidad... and sing with us the religious songs, cover to cover, from the song books the Parish lent us...

Flowers flooded in for free, so too with vegetables and monetary donations...

From all of us siblings, Pau, Donna, Philipp, Me, Tim, and Izang, we would like to once again express our deepest gratitude to all of our neighbors, relatives and friends, especially my dad's friends for making that difficult time a time in our lives to remember always that we are deeply loved and appreciated...