Fifty-six years ago on December 24, 1963, Gigi and I exchanged marriage vows. We promised to love and honor and care for each other till death parted us. Till then, it would be the two of us facing the future and taking on life’s challenges.
But we soon became more than two. Ringo was born and we became three. Then Christina came and we were four. Then Jojo and Jinky followed. And we were six.
For years, there were six of us. But then we moved to Maryland. And on our first New Year’s Eve in America, all the children had their own places to go to and friends to greet the new year with.
In our little chalet in Cambridge, Maryland, Gigi and I found ourselves alone with each other once more. Just the two of us.
It was a harsh realization that, at the end of the day — or of the year or of life — we could only count on the two of us.
Life has been good to us all these years. Our family has managed to stay together in America. But we soon needed to go our separate ways. I had to work in California while the kids had to study in Salisbury, in San Francisco and in Baltimore.
Gigi found herself all alone in our little chalet in Cambridge. So she asked to join me in California.
Happily, all the other children decided to join us in the San Francisco Bay Area. And we became one large family again.
But not for long. The children all got married and raised their own families.
First, it was Ringo who got married to Vicky and had one child, Derick. Then Jinky married Kathy and now they have Vegas and Cerise. Jojo wed Anne and they have Sofia and Max. Christina married Jack and they have a son, Lawson or Jack-Jack.
We soon found ourselves counting six grandchildren plus in-laws.
But the children have to raise their own families and live in their own homes. They have to live their own lives.
Jack and Christina and Lawson. Jinky and Kathy and Vegas and Cerise. Jojo and Anne and Max and Sofia. Ringo has decided to go back to our home in Paranaque. His son, Derick, stays with us. Derick’s mom is in Maryland and has remarried. We hardly see Derick because he is always at work or with friends.
On Dec 31, 2019, 56 years and several days from when we were wed, Gigi and I were waiting for the year to end. When I wrote this, it was just a few minutes to midnight.
The children were with their families, celebrating the new year. Derick was with his friends. Gigi was watching TV, while I nursed a glass of wine, waiting for another year to end and a new one to begin.
When the clock tolled, I would go over to Gigi and give her a kiss. She would smile at me and we would hold hands, resigned to the fact that, at the end of the day, or of the year, or of life, there will be just the two of us.
And then just one.
