11 years ago, I had the courage to ask Marchesa to marry me. For those who know her, days like this would have been so cliché. I remember thinking about when the right time to propose would be. I had two requirements in mind. First, I would ask her parents first and second, it needs to be a surprise.

I was already shopping for a ring a couple months before with the help of Rogie. I finally had the courage to buy the ring and scheduled a time to talk to her parents. I decided on Valentine’s because I knew that she knew that I knew that she would never have expected a proposal on a day so common. Guess what, it worked. The surprise in her reaction was priceless.

Fast forward 11 years. We now have 3 kids and yet we still have that love. When you have three kids and you are doing what you can to pay the bills, love all of a sudden is manifested in other ways. It may seem that it’s taken for granted because it’s not like how it was when we were young. It’s difficult to find quality time without disruptions. Personal and habitual disruptions are the primary cause.

Selfishness perhaps.

Love is hard work. Time and love produces a lot of good things but in the other hand, it also produces familiarity. Familiarity as the adage says, breeds contempt. Love is indeed hard work. After 11 years, I love her more than the first day I realized that I loved her.

I can’t be complacent. Love should breed thirst. The thirst to know how my wife has changed into who she is now, someone better. Someone I love still and will always love.