The Song Playlist of Our Love Story

PART 1: WHEN I MET YOU

"WHEN I MET YOU"
Sarah Geronimo

As the lyrics says,

["I love the touch of your hair
And when I look in your eyes
I just know, I know I'm onto something good
And I'm sure, my love for you will endure
Your love will light up my world
And take all my cares away where they can't bother me
You gave me a reason for my being
And I love what I'm feeling
You gave me a meaning to my life
Yes, I've gone beyond existing
And it all began when I met you"]

You may play and listen to the specified song while reading each chapter of the story by scanning the Spotify QR code located at the top of your screen.

Year 2016..

I remember it was a warm and sunny afternoon in the summer of 2016; I was 25 years old back then. Most of my friends met the love of their lives, meanwhile I struggled finding love on my own all because of the trauma I carried along with me from a past relationship I had 5 years ago. The time I thought I was ready to love again was the moment I went to church. On that day I went to St. Joseph Cathedral, one of the most beautiful churches in the city, where I used to live. I walked down the aisle, as I closed my eyes I imagined how I would look like in my dream wedding dress, with that someone I wanted to end up with waiting for me on the other side. I guess this was the after effect from watching Korean dramas all the time. I heard those church bells ringing and it woke me up from my daydream. I walked towards the front, entered the first pew and just knelt down and prayed. I asked God that if someone would come into my life, hopefully it could be someone that I can just be myself with, someone who's patient, respectful and who would love me for who I am. I prayed to God that this man would know how to cook, would shower me with love, would listen to my heart and who would be someone that could look me into my eyes and see my soul. Then, as an extra bonus, I asked for someone who's charming and handsome, not only with his outside appearance, but also inside.

One month later..

My dad got sick, he was diagnosed with a Chronic Kidney Disease and his doctor recommended that he should be on this specific diet to help him delay the progression of his kidney disease. As a nurse, I know how hard it was to avoid food, especially since my dad's kidney failure was due to his Ankylosing Spondylitis; a rare arthritis that is an autoimmune disease that causes his body's natural defense system to unrecognize the difference between his own cells and foreign cells; causing the body to mistakenly attack his normal cells. At that time, my mom could not understand the severity of my dad's condition because it was her coping mechanism to always avoid any negative situation and to just think positively. She often let my dad eat what he wanted even if I advised that he needed to avoid them. My mom was unaware with properly cooking my dad's new diet, and neither did I, so I decided to learn how to cook. It was May of 2016, when I decided to enroll at Alternative Learning System with the program Culinary Arts 1 & 2; I reserved for Sunday classes, since I worked 6 days a week and only had Sundays off every week.

A week later..

It was finally the day I have been waiting for; for my classes to start, but unfortunately, I had to go on duty. I worked as a company nurse at one of the prestigious companies in the city, where I used to live. I was asked to cover a half day shift on Sunday due to the construction happening onsite; I had to supervise the place for the employees' safety. That afternoon, I got off duty and was on my way to my class, but it started to drizzle; I suddenly stopped because I didn't bring an umbrella with me. For 15 minutes, I waited for a pedicab to stop at the corner of the street where I was located at. I got soaked when I arrived at the school, everybody was looking at me the moment I entered the classroom. I was glad that the class did not started yet; I felt a sense of relief. I continued rushing inside as I was catching my breath and sat down. Our Class Instructor introduced herself as Mrs. Ara Mariano and gave everyone in the class the opportunity to introduced themselves as well. After our introductions, Ma'am Ara instructed the class to have at least 5-6 members in every group to learn from each other and together. Each group was assigned to have a main dish to cook on the scheduled class demonstration every week. Since I was the only student who didn't know anyone in the class, Ma'am Ara assigned me to the group with boys in the class, and that's how I met him and his friends; RJ and James. I still remember vividly, that very moment our eyes met for the first time. Who would have thought that it would be the beginning of something beautiful. In just a month, God answered my prayers and I was unaware that you would come along unexpectedly.