It turned out she was the invited guest performer. When she started singing, we were all transformed from envious would-be attackers into instant fans. Men and women were mesmerized. When she did her unbeatable rendition of Take 5, we were simply bowled over!
I was very fortunate to have joined Boy Abunda’s roster of talents a decade later, and it was then when Verni and I, and the rest of the Backroom Family as we call it (including The CompanY, Ai-Ai de las Alas, Dessa, Ariel Rivera and Monique Wilson) became quite close. Verni, already an icon in the music industry, turned out to be a very sweet, cool gal, unruffled by any upcoming show or performance. (Other artists I know wouldn’t want to be disturbed on the day of the show; Verni would ask you to go shopping with her just a few hours before a big solo concert.)
In 1994, Verni the Vamp started going out with the gorgeous Ric Oledan, the man who would later on capture her heart. As Ric was a golf lover, Verni would sometimes go with him to the golf course driving the golf cart for him. Soon, the lure of golf became so strong and Verni decided to try it out for herself. In her first golf game, Ric even had to tee the first shot – very funny indeed! Then Ric decided to teach Verni the basics. He thought: If this girl could be my golf mate, I could be with her for the rest of my life. And their dates became golf dates.
Compatible in every sense of the word, Ric and Verni got married on July 1, 1995. Little did Ric know that his protégé would turn out to be not just a great companion in the green but a great golfer in time. Ric never thought that within a few years, his golf and house mate would accumulate 10 golf trophies (either as champion or runner-up), which record has now beaten her numerous awards in singing, or do a very rare hole-in-one (!) at the Alabang Golf and Country Club.
Still carrying a whistle-bait figure at 35-24-35, she could be a distraction in the golf course, though. Caddies, instead of guarding their golf balls, would be reduced to just staring at her lovely figure as she makes her swing. Foreigner golfers would allow her and Ric to play ahead of them to be able to watch her as she sexily struts down the golf course. Ric, of course, ever secure and proud of Verni, doesn’t mind at all.
It was raining cats and dogs, as they say, when I decided to watch my husband Paul, his best friend Dr. Ririt Roxas, Verni and Ric play a golf game at the Orchard – (which, I would say is quite a beautiful, well-maintained place). I have never understood my husband’s love for golf; I even have considered myself a golf widow – not the unhappy, resentful type though. And I always thought playing golf even while it rains is absolutely crazy! I guess one needs to be a golfer to understand the irresistible urge to play for such long hours in all kinds of weather. So there I was, hiding myself in the golf cart complete with layers of jackets and towels and protected by umbrellas, while these golf addicts went on from hole to hole not minding the rains.
No, this couldn’t be, I thought. Sooner or later, they would come to their senses and stop. But hey, no, to my puzzlement, they did all 18 holes through the long rains and intermittent sunshine.
Verni, the great golfer, is still Verni, the great artist. My husband says golf is a game of concentration and he describes Verni as a very serious player who has focus and determination to do her best. Very relaxed and cool (the Verni I know), she surprisingly can make long hits and "outdrive" the men.
Dr. Ririt and Ric’s friends would joke that Verni is actually a man who had a sex change, what will all that power. Verni, the ever-humble person that she is, credits it instead to her Ping G5 from Golf Depot. But, as my husband says, "It is the Indian and not the arrow."
Watching Verni from the sidelines, I felt not a tinge of envy but pure happiness, this time, for the lovely woman. I saw how much she loves her husband and how much she is loved in return. Both of them never fail to show appreciation for each other: when Verni makes a good shot, Ric shouts, "Lovely shot, Mama!," "Love you, Mama!" and when Ric himself does well, Verni counters with "Nice shot Pappy! Kiss, Pappy!" Aahh, love... If there’s a marriage made in heaven, Ric and Verni’s is a love story made in the golf course.
(E-mail me at celebrationsdot@yahoo.com)