"will you marry me?"

For many girls/women, this has got to be the most awaited question you'd want your boyfriend to pop! Hmmm, truthfully speaking now, dears. Let's be downright honest here.

Of course, it depends foremost, most importantly, from whom this question is coming from...

From a boyfriend of a decade, come on, it's just about time he does, eh?

From an old flame who refuses to just let be, who pushes his way through, thinking a marriage proposal will bring back the love that's long been gone? Tsk tsk tsk, I dare say.

From a philandering boyfriend who moves heaven and earth to win you back after realizing you are the one, and not the scumbag he cheated you with?

Or from the love of your life, the one you know you're certain you'd wanna grow old with - no ifs, no buts, not a single doubt in your head...?

I've heard of the greatest, most romantic proposals; I've heard of the worst circumstances as well...

To note some, one of my closest cousins Pia was asked that magical question some years ago by the one love of her life, Manz. This magical evening went about - amazingly arranged and prepared for - at the Shangrila in Mactan. Pia somehow saw it coming, she presumed it would. Then again, she was just as surprised when Manuel knelt infront of her, told her he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, then asked THE 4-word question. Of course, Pia said YES (she presumed this occasion, after all, she already knew what she was going to answer). Almost five blissful years after, they have a set of twins and expecting more (single ones) kids in the years to come. Manuel was Pia's greatest love, and I reckon the same goes for Manuel.

Melissa, another of my gorgeous cousins, was proposed to at the paradise island of Boracay, during an all-cousins (and then some) getaway last year. It was an amazingly short weekend but it was nonetheless unforgettable, especially since after we got back from the island, we were told of this superb news! Chichu, the lucky guy to capture Meli's precious heart, was supposed to propose to her one early morning (after the all the rains the day before) when they decided to go for a walk. Alas, the previous day's almost-typhoon hindered that beautiful surprise. Still, though, all went well, the YES still coming after he proposed to her by our rooms' patio. It was just as magical! Uniting a love so pure and beautiful. The wedding is set in two months - all of us more eager than usual since this is the first grand wedding from our clan from amongst our generation; the first apo to get hitched, to put it simply.

Martin, then-boyfriend, now-husband of my cousin Juni, proposed (or sort-of, as she put it) to her during their Discovery Weekend in Tagaytay. During the retreat, they both realized they were both ready (and wanted to so badly) to start a new life together. So it went. They had such a beautiful wedding in February.

I've mentioned quite a few of those romantic "will you marry me?" moments, there are some I could mention, but would rather not (hahaha), about not too romantic (more traumatizing, actually) 4-word-question moments.

I write this blog not to share my own moment (it hasn't happened just yet, I know it will in God's perfect time, hopefully not quite too soon just yet hehehe) but to share about one moment in my friend's life when her very own philandering boyfriend proposed marriage to her... Darn, that got me. The romantic in me hugged her with glee, the bigger practical part of me told her straight out to pray for this big big big question. It was only upon hearing of her predicament did this whole oh-so-serious and BIG question become sooo scary, sooo BIG a deal to truly comprehend. Of course it comes with the territory of betrayal. Like I told her even back then, betrayal is one thing I'd never forgive nor forget easily, or not at all. Suddenly, the whole excitement of being proposed to dawned on me, truly, it is most welcome, most looked forward to under the right circumstances, because if it weren't, it would just be another one of those scenarios in your head you'd rather forget or worse, have that part of your brain holding such memory erased (I'm hearing eternal sunshine, eh?). The short-lived hysteria of the whole proposal was just that, short-lived, after taking into account (reality slamming right into our faces five seconds after the whole jumping gleeful me realized the bigger picture) my friend's betrayed emotions, all those three years, and how their relationship has actually turned for the better as soon as her boyfriend realized the great loss, thus trying to win her back now at all costs. Then again, is that enough to make up for such a big mistake (premeditated I'd even like to put it - betraying a loved one is never just an "accident" or something that "just happened). At the end of the night, I bring her aside one corner, told her I was happy for her, but that in the end, it ought to be her decision, what would make her happiest, how I thought she was such a courageous woman, and that her big decision should come with prayer, lots and lots of it...

I can't say I'm an expert in the romantic department because I'm not. I've had four failed relationships - serious, long-term ones at that. I've never been the player-type, never been the type to get involved in short-term flings. So being some failure in that field, I can't say much but speak based on my personal experiences. After all, it hasn't just been too long ago when I've finally found my "golden pot at the end of the rainbow", "the one for keeps"... And to this day, I continue to pray for God's best to truly be revealed in all the beautiful experiences which have unfolded by far. Like I always say, "all in God's perfect time" - I dare say that with conviction.

Having shared all those, I once again end this deep, intriguing plentiful-thought of a blog. Bow.