“…That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh…” –Genesis 2:24

It was, by all indication, an encounter written in the stars.
In 1956, a 22-year-old man, then working as a clerk-typist at a law firm in Sampaloc, Manila and unmarried, was carefree and enjoying bachelorhood. He had, in fact, just come from the province and was trying to find his destiny in the city. Meanwhile, a young lady was just starting to bloom into womanhood at 20 years of age. She has barely left her child-like demeanor, cloistered and sheltered, as she was by her close relatives; however, this did not prevent her from venting displeasure over the loud talking that a man and a fellow passenger were making on the bus she was taking home.
I touched upon this story in a column last year entitled “Melanio P. Mauricio, Sr., a man guided by God.”
“Your voices are way too loud,” the young lady told the man, who was sitting in the seat directly behind her. She then tried to glance at the man and saw he was wearing a white long-sleeve polo, white slacks, and white shoes; and was talking to the man seated next to him in Ilocano, her dialect. “It seems to me you are also Ilocanos, so why are you talking so loud?” the lady asked in Ilocano, directly addressing the man. The man then apologized (in Ilocano) and explained, rather sheepishly, that he and his friend were talking loudly because they wanted to grab her attention.
In response, the young lady blushed, telling him and his friend that what they were doing was distracting. The woman said she had to study even while she aboard the bus. The man again offered his apologies and proceeded to maintain his silence.
Upon reaching her destination, the woman got off the bus as the man strained his neck to look at the place—an apartment in Project 3, Quezon City. As the woman entered the apartment, the man saw that she looked back and, to his amazement, she threw him a demure smile. The man’s heart overflowed with a joy previously unknown to him, leading him to make a vow to wait for the lady once again the following day.
The man and the young lady became good friends and, as the days progressed, they found themselves meeting more often. During one of their meetings, the man confessed that he had been waiting for her every day at the same bus stop and riding the same bus without her knowing from the very first time he had laid his eyes on her. Their frequent meetings then blossomed into something more than mere friendship.
Their desire to be with one another grew stronger by the day, until they could no longer deny their hearts had started beating as one—truly enamored and in love with each other. By God’s design, they got married on July 08, 1956 and have since stuck with each other, surmounting even the gravest of marital problems, until they both departed from this world.
July 08, 2019, some 63 years from the very day they tied the knot, their children continue to recall with fondness and love their marital union.
Melanio Pauco Mauricio, Sr. and Salvacion Lazo Mauricio fully discharged their duties and responsibilities towards each other and, as parents, I am asking my dear readers to offer a prayer or two for them. Thank God in His Name of Jesus, Amen!

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Reactions? Please call 0977-805-9058, 0918-574-0193, or 0933-825-1308; message me on Facebook at Melanio Lazo Mauricio, Jr. or attybatas; or email batasmauricio@yahoo.com or mmauriciojr111@gmail.com/WDJ