Our Un-TVshow-worthy Love Story

Before I got married, one of my best friends told me that he'd nominate my and then-bf's love story to be shown in "Wagas", one of the shows he worked for when he was still here in the Philippines. It was a TV program that featured stories about real life couples overcoming their relationship's up and downs. I always just laugh his suggestion off because I know our story wouldn't pass the media's watchability test.

If shown in a storyline graph, TV show-worthy love stories would look like this:

Ours is more like this:

Love stories shown on TV shows would usually go like this:

• girl and boy's meet cute

• girl and boy become a couple

• something bad happens (fighting, cheating, death, or other extreme cases)

• problem/s get resolved, which makes the relationship stronger than ever. Thus, making it a story about a wagas na pag-ibig (pure/true love)

Ours is still a story of a wagas na pag-ibig, and my love for my husband is 100% wagas. It's just that our relationship is so uneventful you would have to tweak the story a lot to make it marketable to a TV audience.

Not a meet cute. More like, "I'm here. Oh...you're there."

My husband (who we'll call J in this article) and I have known each other since we were in Grade 3. We only became somewhat friendly to each other in our last two years of High School because of CAT. If you've never heard of that, you must have only been a baby or a fetus during that time.

At the start of our Senior year, there was a new girl in my class that J wanted to get to know. He wanted to have a picture of her but he was too shy to ask. Because I was very willing to be a match maker, I asked for her picture and gave it to him. Mobile phones with cameras weren't a thing back then, so when I say picture, I'm talking about printed ones on glossy paper. After that, I didn't get to interact much with him again. Except for the times I've gone to their classroom to bully another close male friend into buying me food from the canteen. One time, I was about to demand my friend for the same thing again when J offered to buy me food. I said okay and thought nothing of it.

We got to know each other better with the advent of unlitexting promos haha. He was still a bit shy in person so we would talk more when we're in the comfort of our homes, making the most of the unlimited texting promo we signed up for until it expires.

A few nights before Christmas, we were outside on our CAT uniforms, singing Christmas carols for funds, when J asked if pwede ba siyang manligaw. Me being a pabebe girl during that time didn't give him a direct answer on the spot. I told him "yes" through text. My adult self is cringing while typing this down.

However, I wasn't that much of a pabebe after all because we officially became a couple mid-January, on the day of the Sto. Niño festival, after another CAT activity. A few conservative eyebrows were raised because our courtship didn't even last a month. But friends who know us very well were very happy for us. We like each other very much and I didn't see any point in prolonging his agony.

Uneventful but stable

In the remaining months of High School, he would wait for me at the entrance of our school before classes start. I was late most of the time so I would just tell him to get in when the bell rings. He would also accompany me home. We'd get off at the kanto of our subdivision and walk. Walking kind of became our thing. Although we could take a trike all the way to my house, we would always walk.

We got into different schools. He would still try to visit me sometimes and we'd take a considerable amount of time walking around the campus while talking about our day/s. Sometimes, we'd buy snacks at kiosks along the way. Then he'll take me home and we'd still walk. On nights when we would both get tired of waiting for jeeps or shuttles to take us home, he would say sorry for not knowing how to drive and/or not having his own car. I would always say it's okay. At least commuting takes longer and we could spend more time together lol.

He supported my decision to take a leave of absence from school and work because of our family's financial problems. He also supported me when I came back to school as a working student.

When we both graduated and got jobs, we would go on dates, splurge on food, and go on a few trips out of town. We would also encourage each other's hobbies. His was collecting film cameras and Gundam robots. Mine was books and crochet.

We also would have lazy days where we'll just spend time together doing separate things, or doing nothing. We'll watch TV or a movie. He'll play games on his phone while I crochet or read a book. We'll just be satisfied with each other's presence and then we'll call it a day.

Of course we would have arguments and petty disagreements, but neither of us could stand being angry at the other, so we would always apologize. I could be prideful sometimes but never with J.

This plateau-like story line would go on for 12 years before we got married. And we didn't mind. We were already set even in the beginning with the fact that we're going to end up together for a long time. So, there's no use in shaking things up just to add drama.

And that's why...

...our love story couldn't be featured on a TV show. It's just going to be too boring to watch. However, I agree with what Eleanor's step mom in Never Have I Ever said, "You know what's hot? Stability." By the way, that show is great. But if you want craziness, our life-after-having-a-kid story has plenty of that.

Are there people here who have boring love stories just like ours? Do you think your love story could be Wagas-worthy? Let's talk about it in the comments, yes?

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I was already very sleepy when I urged myself to finish this article. I guess mental persuasion trumped my after-laundry body aches. I'm kind of happy I got to finish writing this. I've got a few topics lined up in my drafts and I hope you join me in wishing that I get better and faster at writing hehe

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