five real-life happy marriages

yesterday, students under (one of the most inspiring teachers i have ever had in my lifetime) fr. dacanay attended the married couples seminar which is required of us, otherwise, you won't have a grade for theology 131. it was what i have actually been looking forward to since day one of our theology class. despite spending a school holiday in school, i didn't mind listening to couples who were there to give us inspiration and hope for happy marriages. especially since my parents are in the process of separating legally, (they have long been physically separated), i was eager to learn. i'm very much grateful to have had that chance of being with these couples in a time where a lot of couples are not happy with their marriages.

the day started with all of us assembling at the escaler hall. the five happily married couples were introduced by fr. dacanay. (if i am not mistaken, either the husband, the wife, or both were his students then way back in college). there was two tantoco couples, (the husbands were siblings--with the older one as a lawyer), the camus couple, a couple with ten kids, and beng and gerry. after the introduction, we all divided ourselves in into groups of five, having a more intimate session with a couple each.

the couple whose talk i attended was rico and pia camus. rico is younger than pia (who is an ilongga-- and as expected she was sweet, and even funny). they have four children--two accidental, two planned. they spent their first three years alone in the states, with no plans of children then. they became officially a couple in 1980, then got married in 1987. their marriage wasn't really planned so much. rico had to leave for the states to take his MBA degree, and prior to rico, pia had a long-distance relationship which consumed her so much and eventually turned sour. so, pia told rico that either they get married before he leaves or they break-up. so they got married, went to the states together. they spent their first three years there alone, went back here and bore their first child-- a boy. they were supposed to have five children, but pia suffered a miscarriage before her first child.

while they were speaking to us, i felt nothing but envy. i could see them holding each other's hands, joking around, making kulit (as lambing) in front of us, and they were just the epitome of a fulfilled marriage. during the talk, she told us that when she decided to leave for the states to join rico, she gave up her job, in exchange of being an all-around maid to her husband. she had no regrets, and to her, she felt that it was the perfect calling, to be a wife, and a mother. she now works as a housewife and this consumes almost all of her time. contrary to how we would feel, she doesn't feel bad about it. she's in fact happy and puts her heart to everything she does for her children and her husband. she rarely goes out with her friends. but her only consolation was that she would leave the house alone for a week, without telling anyone where she would b going except for her husband of course, and take a break.