And they loved happily ever after
A dream is a wish your heart makes…” so sang Cinderella, who eventually found the original Prince Charming with the help of a fairy godmother, her furry and feathered friends, and of course, a glass slipper.
While Cinderella and her prince are no more real than the next fairy tale, a wish like hers, sung or otherwise, still echoes in the hearts of many of us in the real world. And the best part is that these wishes do come true – and that’s fact, not fiction!
The same can be said about Leyte Fourth District Rep. Richard Gomez and Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez, who grace the cover of PeopleAsia’s latest issue, which was photographed at the elegant W/17 showroom in Makati.
Once upon a time, Lucy, like many teenaged girls, also wished for her own prince. Not just any prince, mind you, but the tall, dark and handsome matinee idol, Richard Gomez, whom she had admired from a distance. And no, it wasn’t a fairy godmother, but talent caster and friend Scho Parpan, who eventually helped the future power couple meet through a series of hit shampoo commercials in the ’90s.
And while the two didn’t get involved romantically while they were working together for the commercial, Lucy, the fan-turned-co-star, was most certainly over the moon. “I never liked vegetables and he must have noticed it,” she tells PeopleAsia with a soft chuckle. “So, when Richard told me that I should eat my vegetables, then part of the packed lunch the production was serving, because it’s good for the body, I ate every piece of it.” Earlier in the day, Richard sliced his baon, an apple, and gave the other half to Lucy. Unbeknownst to him, she kept the apple seeds inside a small white envelope, where they lay for years among other items in her “memory box” in Ormoc, since 1993.
The seeds, Lucy admits, have since crumbled to dust but the eventual romance that sprung between them has most certainly blossomed. The couple, who exchanged “I do’s” on April 28, 1998, is now headed to their 25thanniversary. “It’s very seldom in showbiz that a couple would last 25 years together. There are very few of us. Of course, if you ask me, I’m proud of our marriage. It seems like only yesterday. Ang laki na ni Juliana (Juliana [their daughter] is all grown up),” says Richard during the shoot.
So what’s the secret? Something more practical than magical, apparently.
“I think it’s knowing how your partner works,” adds Lucy. “Like I know for a fact that he doesn’t like drama and long-drawn-out conversations. Once we’ve come to a resolution, that’s it. Resolved na. Move on na.”
Richard, on the other hand, has always told his wife that “I’m no mind reader.” Thus, unlike in not a few relationships, the silent treatment has no place in the Gomez home.
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Joining Richard and Lucy on the pages of PeopleAsia are more couples who make each other’s dreams come true by simply being present.
For Doctors Vicki Belo and Hayden Kho, love is not just about giving each other expensive gifts, but being ever-present in making each other’s dreams come true. This couldn’t be truer than when Hayden held Vicki’s hand as she fought — and overcame the Big C — in 2016. “When she finished her treatments, the doctor told her to do only the things that she enjoys, which is seeing patients, treating them, studying and research. I promised I will do the rest, and that’s when I got fully involved in Belo,” Hayden tells PeopleAsia, which is coming out this red-letter week.
Award-winning composer Louie Ocampo and wife Jojo Marquez, a successful bank executive and former Hotlegs dancer, on the other hand, credit their 33 years of wedded bliss to “trust, respect and love.” “It’s so nice to love someone you can trust completely. And it’s so easy to love when you respect the person. So, because of the trust and the respect, love is covered,” says Louie.
Businessman Gerry Sy and wife Jinky Tobiano, whose serendipitous meeting at the doctor’s office reads like a scene from a movie, say it’s important to appreciate even the little things. “Always try to see the beauty in small gestures. Even getting a short text from her saying ‘I love you,’ makes me happy,” Gerry says of his wife of almost 12 years.
Laughter, on the other hand, works magic for supermodel Tweetie de Leon and her husband of almost 28 years, engineer Mon Gonzalez. “Between us, everything felt light, organic and easy. We’re like John and Marsha, or even Dolphy and Panchito. We make each other laugh and we genuinely enjoy each other’s company,” Tweetie shares.
For Miss World 2013 Megan Young and husband, actor and host Mikael Daez, love is “in situ (in the moment.” “Love means being happy at the moment. Just enjoying the moment we’re having right now. Just making the most out of now rather than worrying about the future,” says Megan, who, along with Mikael, kept their relationship and engagement under lock and key, before confirming everything in a rather discreet, intimate wedding in 2020.
And last but not the least, model-turned-influencer Victor Basa and wife Stephanie Pe Dan proves that it pays to say a little prayer, when it comes to winning not just your future partner’s heart, but that of your in-laws, as well. “There were times when we felt bad because of all the struggles that we went through within the family. We were really humbled that we were granted such a wonderful thing. We were finally able to make it official, to get married. It was such an impossible thing. It was a huge mountain to overcome,” says Victor, who is now expecting his first child with Stephanie.
And this is where real life trumps Cinderella and her prince. For unlike in fairy tales, happily ever after is not an ending for these couples, but the beginning of even more wonderful days, months and years ahead.
May we all live — and love — happily ever after!
(You may e-mail me at [email protected]. Follow me on Instagram @joanneraeramirez.)
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