Judy Ann will wait till there is him

Judy Ann Santos has mixed feelings as she nears her 25th birthday on May 11. Sure, it’s a mature age to be, she concedes. And the Soap Princess loves the responsibilities – a business (a restaurant-bar in Quezon City), a family to take care of, a career marked by product endorsements and a string of commitments that keeps her hands full most times of the year.

But even the rosiest outlook has its downside. Judy Ann feels the pressure any loveless (though not exactly suitor-less) girl in her mid-20s has: settling down and bearing a child.

"Friends tell me 26 is the best time to give birth," she sighs. "But I don’t even have time to go out with anyone!"

People are pressing her and Piolo Pascual, Judy Ann’s leading man in Star Cinema’s feel-good Till There Was You, to make their reel-life team-up for real.

The two dismiss the possibility with a chuckle.

"I feel so comfortable with Piolo," she begins. After all, Till There Was You, Star Cinema’s 10th anniversary offering, is already their second movie together, after Bakit Di Totohanin, a blockbuster shown two years ago.

"We work together every single day, and he eats anything laid before him," Judy Ann begins. "But no way will we force ourselves on each other. We just want to let things flow naturally."

Piolo agrees. "Juday (Judy Ann’s pet name) is one of the people I’ll continue to hold in high esteem even after I retire. But I won’t succumb to outside (romantic) pressure just because it happens to be that strong," he explains.

No problem with that. After all, Judy Ann’s attention is focused on a dozen other things instead.

The child in her still hopes – against hope – for a reconciliation between her parents, years of separation keeping them apart notwithstanding.

Judy Ann’s eyes sparkle when she recalls a ‘feat’ she did three or four years back, when she graduated from high school.

"I told my parents to dress up and we had a family picture," she says, ecstatic.

The dream has not faded with time. "I am still wishing for a family picture even if there’s no occasion for it. I am still looking forward to the day when I can have that family picture without exerting much effort," she concedes. But Judy Ann is realistic enough to realize she’s asking for the moon.

"But I know it (gathering for another family picture) is something that will not happen again," she says.

Judy Ann is not pining her days away crying over spilled milk, though. She has more realistic dreams to fulfill.

"My birthday wish," she gushes, "is to be able to renovate my house the way I like it ."

Which is?

This time, the words tumble one after another, ready to overtake every syllable that issues from her mouth.

"I want a bright, well-lit house. I don’t want a place with no room to move around in. All the furniture must be minimal, but must carry a statement," Judy Ann ticks off her wish list.

The one thing that beats them all, though, is her dream kitchen. Having graduated from black pasta to the more sophisticated bulalo and kare-kare, Judy Ann wants to whip up dishes in the comfort of a well-equipped, comfortable kitchen.

"I want an island-type one with lots of beautiful appliances," she says. But, as usual, reality set in. Judy Ann asked around, and, after finding out that it will cost her a cool P500,000 at the least, decided against it.

"I’d rather pay for my house first," she explains. Judy Ann is referring to a three-storey, five-bedroom affair in Quezon City.

She’s not above counting her blessings.

"I’m thankful that whatever happens, I still have my friends who remind me I’m still the same Juday. I’m thankful for my family, my job, people who trust me in my business, fans who love me, and Ate Sharon (Cuneta), who loves me very much," she ticks off her blessings.

No wonder that even if she can’t have it all – success and one complete family all at the same time – Judy Ann Santos is not exactly ranting and raging at the world around her.

She has learned to take the good with the bad, the yin with the yang. And her mixed feelings, at 25, shows the mark of a woman who has come to terms with the world, imperfect though it may be.