Episode VI

Yesterday marked our 6th wedding anniversary. Unlike the dreamy Facebook posts of candlelit dinners and flower petals on hotel beds, ours was...well, let’s just say it was very "us".

Jan and I started the day doing the most romantic activity known to mankind: dragonboat rowing. Because what better way to celebrate love than by waking up at four in the morning and getting matching muscle pain?

The training was intense. Like “what have we gotten ourselves into?” intense. But I don't mind. It was a great bonding time with friends I've known for 23 years, along with their spouses. You see, we’re not getting any younger, so we figure it’s either this or start comparing blood pressure and glucose levels. Haha!

Everything went well. Until we were reminded that life loves a good plot twist. Our car battery died. It could have chosen to give up on another day, but nope, it had to be on our anniversary. And as a bonus, we spent part of our anniversary looking for an auto parts shop on a Sunday. Luckily, there was one open, which at that point felt like winning the lottery. Except that, we were back on the road 7000 pesos poorer. Yes, there goes our romantic dinner.

We took a nap when we got home at around 9am. And in our house, that means lying down while two tiny humans bug us for petty things that suddenly become emergencies the second we attempt to shut our eyes. At 1pm, we tried to escape the chaos, which in parenting language actually means running errands. Then we had our lunch by 3pm at Tokyo Tokyo.

We would have stayed out much longer for a date, but we were spent.

And that's how our 6th wedding anniversary went.

But you know what? Looking back, we never really celebrated our anniversaries. At least not in a fancy way.

2020, Year 1: Covid lockdown.

2021: Still Covid.

2022: I was two months postpartum. So it was a hard pass to anything that required exerting extra effort, including eating out. foodpanda saved the day anyway.

2023 & 2024: Honestly, I don’t even remember what we did, which probably means we didn’t do anything at all. Maybe we had food delivered again.

And here we are. Year 6, still married. Zero fancy celebrations. But a thousand tiny moments that matter more.

So here’s to six years of not doing anything grand. 10/10 I would do this again with Jan. 

To being tired, broke, and slightly old together. To the everyday, imperfect, beautiful life we’ve built. May the 4th be with us!