You will know that you're getting old once someone asks you to stand as a principal sponsor on her wedding. In the customary Philippine setting, acquaintances are candidates for a slot in a wedding entourage. But of course, friendship or blood relationship is of key consideration.
On June 18, 2011 at Crossroads at Quezon City, I was standing in front of the invited guests holding the microphone as I address the newly wed couple, Liza and Aaron Gibbs,
serving them sermons of married life talisman to help them face their new life as spouses. I was feeling as if I was a sage who has already matured beyond my years, Well, everyone agrees, experience is the best teacher.
Actually I didn't know what to say but logic has carried me to just share a funny anecdote to drive home my point for the new couple. I would've told Aaron this other anecdote. I'll tell him that in the early years of their marriage, when he gets home and if it happens that they have a dog, it surely will bark and his wife Liza will be rushing to get him his slippers. A few years later on, when he gets home, Liza will be barking while the dog gets the slippers. And then I expounded on the significance of the art of communication, where someone has to send the message while the other must receive the message. The end result must be understanding each other.
Liza to me is an acquaintance brought about by our job connections, where we met somewhere at a common point. One of her bosses is my business partner. Liza is a diligent employee who has shown hardwork and integrity in his workplace. And by the wonders of technology, he first met Aaron Gibbs in a computer screen - so near yet so far away halfway across the globe. Born in Texas, USA, Aaron first got a glimpse of Liza when he was still assigned in Iraq as a Power Generator Supervisor. The rest was history as Liza and Aaron hauled their families to Quezon City to tie the knot on the blessed day of June 18, 2011.
I thought Aaron would not notice but I think he was well apprised about the wedding ceremony in the Philippines. I was actually waiting for Aaron to just come by my table and ask me the question, "How come we have more number of people in the entourage than those at the tables?" Well, I guess everybody just wants to have a nice role in this very momentous occasion of Liza's life.
What more can I say? Go ye and multiply. But most of all, love one another for the rest of your lives. God Bless.
