Meeting Leonarda del Rosario
It was in Grade 5 when I first saw my future wife. I was 14. She was a classmate in Grade 5. We always have this flag raising ceremony in front of the building. Lining up are the girls in front and the boys in the back. Leonarda would be in the back because her last name is R. I would be in front since my surname begins with C. I always see her there. She was cute. I always tell this story that somehow Cupid was watching us on the second floor of the Calderon building and shot me with an arrow. I swear the first time I saw her face I had a crush on her. She was special and always lifted my spirits when I see her.
That day was 69 years ago. We are now married for 56 years. We have two sons and two grandchildren. Little do I know that this girl who became a wonderful woman will be my lifelong companion, my soul mate for better and worse. Today she is 80 and I will be 80 too. The years we spend together is great and wonderful. I am very lucky to meet her and to be her husband.
We had a skit in class where I play a king and I have three daughters played by Annie Solis, Corazon de Jesus and Leonarda del Rosario. In one of the scene. the daughters one at a time give me a gift and a kiss on the cheek. I savor that moment and can not wait for us to repeat it. Ha, ha. In Grade 6 Leonarda was in Section 2 and I was in Section 1. We did not see each other then. She was a big boyish. She said she played with the neighborhood boys. One particular game is called tumbang preso. She was not good at it and was always the "it".
