Happy Anniversary, My Darling, Ander . . .

We met through a dating service. We are complete opposites. He is tall, blonde and blue-eyed. I am . . . ahem . . . "vertically challenged", full dark hair and dark eyes. He prefers beer. I am a wine connoisseur. He wears Birkenstock. I wear Via Spiga. I am more left brained - logical and rational. He is more right brained - artistic and flexible. I lived on the Westside, in one of the beach towns. He lived on the other side of the hill, in the Valley. You get the picture. Ideal match.

We talked on the phone for nearly six weeks before actually meeting in person. There was a terrible tragedy that occurred and it was then when we decided we were to take the relationship to the next level. It was August 31, 1986, Labor Day Weekend. It was one week later he proposed marriage and I accepted, on the condition, of course, my family approved. LOL!

And so, after a two-year engagement, we were married August 13, 1988. 18 years ago, today, we professed our love, our commitment and affirmed our vows before family and friends. It was a 3-hour ceremony as we included a full Catholic Mass to link with the traditional Filipino wedding rituals involved. Those of you who have attended Filipino weddings will understand.


Our reception was spectacular. We had the Samahan Filipino Dance Troupe perform traditional folk dances to entertain our guests.

"Filipino Folk Dance . . ."

It was a sit down, table service with 4 courses and the champagne toast. We had dancing throughout the evening. Our cake was a 5-tier architectural work of art that included fresh orchids and fragrant gardenias. It was an exquisite graduating stratum of the “signature” cake only available from the European Cake Gallery in Point Loma. Our family has claimed it as “THE” cake and we celebrate almost every significant event in our lives with “the cake”. During "the cake cutting", Ander had the pleasure of getting a handful of cake smashed into his face, while I only had a mere smudge on my nose. It was all good fun.


It was so much fun, that we did it all over again on our 1st Wedding Anniversary. That’s a post I’ll save for another time.

Happy Anniversary, My Darling, Ander.



Life is a banquet and you help make it an incredible adventure!

Thank you, Honey Bunny! I look forward to the next 20 years!