Love of a lifetime

“It had to be Pete or not at all.”

CEBU, Philippines - Pete now lies motionless on his sickbed, connected to life support systems, but assured that even though he couldn’t flood anymore his wife with chocolates, or give her a warm squeeze and a tender kiss on Valentine’s Day, she will continue to uphold the vow they’ve shared 50 years ago: to have and to hold from this day forward…in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do us part.

Josie Pereyra, Cebu’s dame in cinema advertising and film publicity and promotions, fell in love with 30-year-old Pete when she was yet a teenager. From the moment they met after having been phone pals (as was the trend in the times), she knew it has to be him — or not at all.

“He’s more than enough. I love him for his good manners. He’s such a good provider, such a good man. Having been an administrator for a local TV station, he saw to it that even though he wasn’t really earning that much then, we would be spending on the right stuff. His satisfaction lay not on material things, but more on the quality time he spent with family, I’m so blessed to have him,” a vibrant Josie recounted.

“Though my mother initially resented that May-December affair that Pete and I shared, I never ended up regretting I married him at 15 when I should have been enjoying the fine things about girlhood, reaching an important age. Showering me with chocolates was just the bonus,” she disclosed with a giggle.

The marriage turned golden last August 11. “What I really miss most about the life we have built was going to Mass together. Maibog ko sa ubang couples magdungan og panimba. That’s the only time I would begin sulking. I have never questioned God about my current situation kay bad man na. Makaingon lang ko nga pare-parehas ra man tag edad ni Pete ang bana, ngano mang lagsik pa lagi?”

She was asked a couple of times to pray that she be unloaded of her suffering. “But I would tell my friends I just don’t have the heart for that. Besides, I don’t really consider this as suffering. This is the essence of the love we profess to each other – to be patient, to be kind, to be enduring no matter what the circumstance may be.

“Of course, it would only take another miracle for Pete to regain his health with his condition right now. Vegetable stage na man gud siya. But since he recovered three months after being comatose in 1996, I believe miracles can happen again. But if he’s gonna be taken anytime, I would rather that it’s God’s will and not mine. I just don’t have the heart to ask for it,” she shared while touching open the photos saved on her smartphone on Pete’s current condition and the golden anniversary they celebrated last August.

The last V-Day date they had was two years ago. An asthmatic, Pete was able to go out for dinner at a posh hotel, on a wheelchair. This was when his already compromised immune system was still able to hold on. According to Josie, “Pete must have fought hard for that last Valentine’s Day date before the dreaded flatline.” After that, all she could remember was the last kiss they had as a sendoff. “I was headed for Manila on a business trip. I was informed after that he was rushed to the hospital. So when important occasions in our life come about, like the V-Day, it makes me terribly miss him.”

Of course, any marriage suffer from certain flaws. “Ours is not that perfect. There were times when I really had to visit him at work kay makadungog baya ko nga naay mag-flirt-flirt nga mga talents. But I have always stood by this: that any mistake of him should not be the reason for a broken home. That’s why in our union, I always spare a room for forgiveness,” Josie cited.

Come June 29 would be Pete’s 80th birthday. Josie looks forward to it with a certain sadness. “I also feel sad for him but I don’t feel bad. I would have thrown a grander birthday bash for him to mark another milestone, complete with his best loved dishes: callos and lengua. He’s Spanish-Portuguese man gud. And of course, sweets station would highlight sans rival that he’s most fond of. But it will only remind me that he doesn’t have the strength anymore to join us, and that’s the painful side to it. So, a kiss would be the greatest gift I could give him on that day and a fervent prayer that, if it’s not too much to ask from God again, he be given another lease at life.”

“He is the best Valentine gift ever. It had to be Pete, or not at all!”