12 Years of Firsts

It was the year of the new millennium.  If you know what the centennial bug is, then it means you were old enough to experience the excitement and technological anxieties approaching year 2000.  Will our microwave oven and office computers still work after 1999?  Everyone thought the entry of new millennium was going to be a game changer. Well, it turned out that it was...at least for me.

Year 2000 was the year i met the man i was going to spend the rest of my life with.

Fast forward to year 2012.

Last week i was reviewing old episodes of FRIENDS (as i always do) and i came across an episode where Monica was having wedding jitters. Here are snippets of their conversation (edited version).

Monica: Doesn’t it ever just freak you out that-that you’re never gonna be with anybody new again?

Chandler: What?

Monica: It’s just that sometimes it bothers me that I’m never gonna have that feeling. Y’know when you meet someone for the first time and it’s new and exciting? Y’know that rush?

That got me thinking. Don't we also have similar thoughts once in a while? The thrill of going on that first date again, meeting someone new, getting anxious and excited at the same time.  It's not like we don't love the one we're with, it's just that sometimes we miss the rush.

But i like the conversation that followed after that.

Chandler: Look,  for me the rush is knowing that we are gonna be together for the rest of our lives.

Monica: y’know what? I’m gonna have a lot of new things with you. The first time we buy a house. Our first kid. Our first grandkid…

And it's true. Being married does not mean an end to the excitement.  Remember how you felt the first time you realized you're having a baby? How about the first time you brought your child to school? Or your first successful business venture?  Now that you're married, you simply have someone to celebrate all these milestones with for the rest of your life. Isn't that even more exciting?

First Boracay trip together, 2002

First time to ride a camel, Great Wall of China 2002

First badminton tournament, 2003

First time to meet a baby elephant, Thailand 2004



First Europe trip together, Paris 2005

First pregnancy, Las Vegas 2006

First cruise together, Alaska 2007

First night with a baby at home, 2008 

First trip with a baby, Japan 2009



First baby girl

 

To the man i will continue to celebrate all my firsts with,

Happy Anniversary, Love! 

It's wonderful to wake up beside you every day.

Always,

fan 

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Where were you on 9/11?

My husband and I became a couple on September 11 in 2000. A year after, when we were celebrating our first anniversary, terrorists attacked the United States. I remember being in a Karaoke place in Malate with my cousins and bible study group when my aunt called to say we have to go home immediately. She said the World Trade Center has been bombed. Our immediate thought was ‘the World Trade Center near Roxas Boulevard? Oh no, we have to go home fast before traffic starts to build up’. On our way home, we got another call from my aunt saying we need to pray for our uncle in the US since they cannot contact him. That’s when we realized that she was not referring to the World Trade in Manila but the twin towers in New York. That was where my uncle worked.

I remember getting home and seeing my parents glued to the TV. We watched the planes hit the twin towers on the news in disbelief as we constantly tried to contact my uncle. We finally got to speak with him after what seemed like a long time.

My uncle was telling us about his experience that day. He was already in the office when they heard a loud crashing sound. They were then asked to evacuate the building immediately. He did not know what was happening and did not realize the gravity of the situation. My uncle went out of the building and just stayed there to wait for further instructions. After a while, they were given clearance to go back to the office. My uncle and his friends decided to go get some ice cream first. A few minutes after, their building collapsed. He said he still did not know what was happening but started going with the crowd rushing outside of the area. He only found out about what really happened when he reached home and saw the news.

I remember an email that was sent around during that time and I’d like to share a portion of it with you.

·         As you might know, the head of a company survived because his son started kindergarten.

·         Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.

·         One woman was late because her alarm did not go off in time.

·         One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of a car accident.

·         One of them missed his bus.

·         One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change.

·         One went back to answer the telephone.

·         One had a child that dawdled and did not get ready as soon as he should have.

·         One couldn't get a taxi.

·         One had a blister on his foot and stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid.  

Now when i am stuck in traffic, miss an elevator, turn back to answer a ringing telephone and all the little things that annoy me, i think to myself, this is exactly where God wants me to be at this very moment.

This is not to say that God was not watching over those people whose lives ended on 9/11. God’s will is perfect…and though we cannot understand his plans, we should just trust His heart. He knows what is best.

For those of us who have lived through difficult times and witnessed God’s love and power,  do not forget what God has done for us.

Joshua 4:20-22: And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' Tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground'"

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