Most showbiz weddings stand out for sheer pomp and grandeur.
A few others turn out to be more memorable not because of the glitz and glam, but more because of the unique and remarkable love stories that led to their "happy ever after" moment.
Austere and low-key by showbiz standards, the wedding of veteran actress/Mowelfund President Boots Anson-Roa, then 68, and Atty. King Rodrigo, then 74, on June 14, 2014 remains one of the most heartwarming unions this side of Tinseltown.
The couple tied the knot at the Villa San Miguel, Archbishop's Palace in Mandaluyong City amid the company of family and close showbiz friends.
Five years later, Boots Anson-Roa remains giggly as she looks back at the highlights of the day when the well-loved showbiz queen willingly gave herself to her gallant King.
Millennialls, take heed. There's much to learn about good old-fashioned love in this digital age.
It was a uniquely "fun" wedding.
The groom was walked to the altar by his 99-year-old mother, Mrs. Remedios Enriquez Rodrigo (RIP 2018).
Cardinal Chito Tagle set the laughing mode by starting the nuptial rites with a public confession: "This is the first time I am marrying a couple much older than me."
True enough, some curious onlookers thought they were attending a golden wedding anniversary mass.
Ninongs and ninangs Mayor Joseph Estrada, Susan Roces, Marichu Vera Perez Maceda, Tina Xerez Burgos, Raul de Mesa, and Eddie Roa were very upbeat about their "inaanaks" being parallel in age.
Imagine the bride and groom making "mano" to them. It really evoked giggles and amused laughter, while tugging at the guests' heartstrings.
The biggest and funniest announcement from the couple was that one year after, guests are all invited to the baptism of their firstborn, John-John Rodrigo, never mind that the Guinness Book of World Records would beat them to the occasion.
Flash forward to June 14, 2019.
Absent Baby John-John, King and Boots are still in honeymoon mode, celebrating their 60th monthsary, each marked by white roses and a romantic ditty in rhyme and meter from the "makatang abogado," King.
As befits his name, King accords me the royal treatment, fit for a queen.
His chivalrous gestures have not waned: still opens car doors; serves and spoon feeds at dinner; brings pasalubong from work; showers me with gifts on birthdays and other occasions, takes me travelling from as near as our weekend home in Tagaytay to as far as The Holy Land; ends his texts messages and phone calls with "I Love you," and provides for the home and family most dutifully and generously.
As my husband, he can't be a "Sugar Daddy" to me so let me just call him my "Azucarera de Papa."
At our ages, we are ticking our bucket list. As we approach retirement from our daytime jobs, we conscientiously go about fulfilling our respective mandates to the finish line, leaving no stone unturned at the workplace.
When the time comes to fully retire, we want to "cut clean" with our mission, vision, and advocacies fulfilled.
Meanwhile, we share our comfort and resources as best we can.
In the Ignatian spirit, we aspire to be men and women for others.
We seize the day—Carpe Diem—and live in the present moment, for we do not know about tomorrow. It suffices that we live each day gratefully with Christ as our Center and laugh heartily at whatever foibles old age brings us.