An MMK kind of love story

If Boots Anson-Roa would write a letter to Charo Santos-Concio’s Maalaala Mo Kaya? (MMK), I guess it would read like this:

Dear Ate Charo,

No, Ate, I won’t break it to you gently. I am so excited that I can’t hold the good news much longer. Yes, I am getting married again in June next year. I will be a June Bride, would you believe?

Yes, Ate Charo, I believe that Someone Up There really loves me. And someone down here is ready, willing and (still!) able to spend the rest of my life with me. Engaged na po kami, Ate.

He’s slightly (lang naman po!) older than me. I am turning 69 on Jan. 30 next year and he, 75 on June 14 also next year which happens to be the date we have set for our wedding.

Ay, sorry, sa excitement ko muntik ko nang di maipakilala sa’yo ang bagong love ko. He’s none other than lawyer Francisco “King” Rodrigo, eldest among the children of Sen. Francisco “Soc” Rodrigo. Hindi sa pagmamayabang, practicing lawyer siya not only in the Philippines but also in the US. May hitsura siya, di ba? Look at our pictures on this and the “jump” page.

Ay naku, that STAR writer who interviewed us at Annabel’s yesterday was very naughty. Imagine, after he presented us three flowers (na kinuha lang yata niya doon sa table nila), he made King and I kiss — sa lips! Something I’ve never done before, not in public anyway, not even, if memory serves, with late husband Pete (Roa).

By the way, Ate Charo, before I said “yes” to King, I asked for signs from Padre Pio and St. Therese (The Little Flower of Jesus). I asked for a white flower and I got not just one but four, biro mo! And that STAR writer, naughty talaga! To kick off our interview, he gave me a white flower (bulaklak, ha, not the Chinese oil that you rub on your head to relieve the pain). Hmmm, akala niya hindi ko nakitang kinuha lang niya doon sa nakapulunpon sa table behind our back!

Ate Charo, nag-novena ako kay Padre Pio at kay St. Therese ako humingi ng sign. The first flower came from King (uy, he didn’t know that I was asking for a sign, ha!). The second and the third I got just out of the blue. Then, we had just attended a Mass and a nun that we knew gave King a white rose. So, Ate Charo, I told myself, “May approval from Up There!” King even kissed the flower, ayyy!!!! How sweet!

We also asked the permission of our late partners. We went to Pete’s grave and to that of Olga (Syyap), King’s late wife. Sabi ni King, “Wala namang umusok,” so approved! By the way, Ate Charo, King and Pete were classmates in high school and I was at Assumption then.

Opo, Ate Charo, King and I  move in the same circle. I know his siblings (Pempe Rodrigo, et al) and he knows my family.  

King even composed a poem for me. Heto:

ANG ROSAS NA PUTI

Nang aking handugan ng rosas na puti

Si Boots Anson-Roa’ng aking minimithi

Siya ay nagulat at tila nahikbi

Siya’y natameme’t tinikom ang labi.

Nang aking tanungin kung anong dahilan

Heto ang sinagot, “Dapat mong malaman

Ang rosas na puti na sa’yo nanggaling

Ay sagot ni Therese sa’aking hinihiling.”

Nang pilit alamin kung anong hiniling

Hindi s’ya sumagot at siya umiling…

“Maghintay ka na lang,” ang pakli sa akin,

“Huwag kang mainip malalaman mo rin.”

Kung rosas na puti ay may kinalaman

Sa aming ugnayan at kinabukasan

At ang pag-ibig nya’y aking makakamtan

Ako’y maghihintay hanggang kamatayan.

O, Ate Charo, if I know kilig to the bone ka, ano! You will be more kilig if you know how the courtship went. Four months ‘yon! Siempre, not naman na nagpakipot ako, hindi lang ako agad-agad bumigay. Like you, sweet ang image ko, ano! Hahahaha! Like we were sweet sixteen? No, like second childhood, hahahaha!

“Worse than that, better than that,” King admitted at  yesterday’s interview. “Aside from writing poems, I did many things that I haven’t done in my whole life. The other night, we watched ballet, eh, hindi ako nanonood n’yan! Nadala na n’ya ako sa sine; we watched Captain Phillips and When The Love Is Gone. You see, I don’t go to theaters and movies. The last movie that I watched was Gandhi…30-plus years ago! We also watched the concert of Martin Nievera. She was kidding me pa, ‘O, bago ito, ano ang last concert na napanood mo, Joni James! I’ve never worn maong jeans in my life and she has made me wear one! We were in Subic and she bought me a Wrangler.”

Natawa ako, Ate Charo. He has sense of humor and that’s what I love about him, among many other things ha.

King started courting me only four months ago, even if those from his side and those from my side were planning na pala to match us. When King went to New York for the wake of his daughter, he told me, “When I come back, I will start courting you.” He brought his daughter’s ashes for the wake here. I was there.

Last Nov. 16 when we got back from Subic, we were inside an elevator and I told King, “O, ayusin mo na ang time table mo sa lahat ng sinasabi mo.”

Ate Charo, did you know that noon pa man, textmates kami ni King? O, di ba? Text lang kami nang text because he’s always busy and so am I, until that night nga when we were inside an elevator. Alam mo, Ate Charo, up to now, hindi ‘yan tumatawag na hindi muna humihingi ng permiso sa akin!

You know what our term of endearment is? Malabs! King was clueless. “At first,” he said, “bakit ka sabi nang sabi ng malabs sa text,” until finally I told him, “By malabs, I don’t mean malabo.”

No more details yet about our wedding, Ate Charo. But definitely, it will be here, maybe with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle officiating. I have four children and King now has only four; I have nine grandchildren and he has also nine. They will be our secondary sponsors. I will be given away by my son and King by his 99-year-old mom.

And the honeymoon? Secret pa muna, Ate Charo.

O, sige, Ate Charo. Hanggang dito na lamang. Huwag kang mawawala sa kasal namin, ha?

                                                                              Sumasainyo,

BOOTS

P.S. Ate Charo, in case may gusto kayong ipayo sa amin ni King, paki-text na lang po, ha?

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)