How I met my wife
Meeting my forever traces back to the construction of the Main road at the campus of Negros Occidental National Agricultural School (NONAS). I was 17.
In the early 1950’s, our Alma Mater NONAS was still in its pioneering stage. The school lacked many facilities that could make the daily activities of the students, faculty, and non-teaching employees more comfortable and enjoyable.
One of the important assignments in our Physics class was road improvement. The abundant, polished white stones in the nearby Banga Creek was an important filling material. The creek divided NONAS into two areas according to the cardinal direction: East and West. All the boys and girls in the class were assigned to gather and haul the stones manually from the Creek to the job site. Some students paired up and used old sacks as containers. The bigger boys were assigned to gather bigger stones while the girls gathered the smaller stones. In the midst of our searching and gathering, one of the girls was distracted by a pair of white, shiny legs. These legs were the talk of intrigue, curiosity, and gossip among the girls. The chatter ended when the identity of the legs was revealed to be mine, Marcelino Dechavez.
A classmate incited more thrill and revealed that the very observant little girl was Miss Amelia Montes. This was the beginning of a year-long romance. The teasing continued within our close classmates, adding fervor to our young and innocent love. While we spoke of some concrete promises, at times I was tempted to court other girls who showed some admiration towards me or exhibited some seductive behavior. Sometimes, I intentionally showed attention towards those girls to test the firmness of Ammie’s affection. But I discovered that she was more mature than our young age. She never showed any jealousy or indifference in her behavior.
This relationship was made more real and lasting when our English teacher assigned us to role play the battle of Adam and Eve at our junior and senior Prom. The most touching, memorable, and romantic portions of Eve’s battle says:
I am Woman
I am the daughter Eve
I am the mother of Empire
I am the hand that rocks the cradle and rules the world.
I am woman
To you, man, I give my heart and soul
Make me a part of your life forever.
And the part of Adam:
I am Man
I am the Heir Adam
I am the hand that feeds the universe
I am the father of nations.
I am Man
To you woman,
I surrender.
I am yours till the end of this world.
So, this is the short story of how Mars found his darling Inday Ammie. Today, Mars (age 85) continues to court his Inday Ammie (age 83), even after 59 years, 8 months, and 3 days of a happy marriage.
Our love ripens and blooms with the Lord’s blessings through our magnificent eight children, 26 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. Inday Ammie is the whole answer to my FOREVER. To our Holy and Mighty One God, be all the Glory.
