On Monday, July 12, 2021, Tove Ann and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary.
I took the day off of work.
We went to the 12:05 p.m. Mass at St. John's in Napa. This fit our schedule this day.
There, we met the new parish priest, Fr. Marlon, for the first time in person.
After Mass, Father did a blessing for a couple celebrating an anniversary for us. David Perez assisted him as acolyte. We also ran into some others that we know like Adrianna and Veronica.
Some other parishioners stayed to join us in the blessing. One lady, whose name I do not know, smiled and said some kind words afterwards. Kinds words go a long way.
I included this black "field ring" for Father to bless alongside my original wedding ring from 18 years ago. I know it's a bit unusual, but this is the ring I wear "in the field" for law enforcement chaplaincy. I don't want to lose my original platinum ring which has become loose on my ring finger and has come off many times.
After St. John's in Napa, my son Peter wanted to get In-N-Out Burger for lunch.
And then we went to one of the local parks. Here is my better half -- just me and Tove Ann.
She keeps my head on straight.
A deacon's wife is the deacon's first bishop. A married deacon's home is his first seminary.
My wife and kids are my priority and first vocation. Then, service to others follows:
God, family, work, ministry.
Here we are sporting our new P-Team shirts.
Kids were also studying about Coat of Arms and even military history. So they developed one for our family.
I told them we were royalty because of our baptism. We are princes and princesses of the Heavenly Father who is King and Mama Mary is Queen.
At top of family Coat of Arms is Cross and Crown of 12 Stars to represent Jesus and Mary.
Flanking the Coat of Arms are the U.S. Flag and Philippine Flag to represent Filipino roots before coming to America. The kids are 4th generation Americans with roots in the Philippines. This also shows the alliance between the U.S. and Philippines that was forged in blood, particularly in World War II when Filipinos and Americans fought, bled and died together for freedom.
I told E.J. to make sure to color the top part of the Philippine flag dark b/c it means the country is in a state of peace, but when you turn the Philippines' flag upside down that means the country is in a state of war.
In the USA, when the U.S. flag is upside down it represents being in distress.
Bottom of the Coat of Arms is the motto "Love Drives Out Fear" from the First Letter of John. This has roots when Tove Ann and I were dating.
The arrow pointing up reminds me of St. Louis Martin, father of St. Therese, who before he died pointed up and said his last dying words to his girls, "Heaven."
The eight-pointed star is an ancient symbol of Mary under title Star of the Sea.
"P-Team" means "Purificacion Team."
J.M.J. means "Jesus, Mary and Joseph."
There are 9 stripes for each family member: 2 parents (mom and dad) & 7 kids.
Emmanuel Jeremiah (E.J.) took the initiative with this Coat of Arms.
We then drove back to our city and then went shopping.
We had Costco pizza for dinner.
I wanted to watch "Matrix 2" with Tove Ann. But as a family we ended up watching "Saints Perpetua & Felicity." I was inspired after watching it and felt rejuvenated, perhaps more so than had I watched "Matrix."
Card from my wife:
My mom's choice of cards has always been meaningful over the years.
Card from kids below.
I have to re-tell the story of Tove Ann and my first act of charity as a married couple. We were originally scheduled on the parish calendar to get married on July 26, 2003, the Feast of Sts. Joachim and Ann. This is one of Tove Ann's feast days b/c it is the feast of Jesus' grandmother, and Tove Ann bears her name.
Well, several months before our marriage, we got a phone call from the office asking if we could move our wedding date to July 12, 2003. There was a couple that asked for July 26, 2003. And our time slot was the only one available. Obviously, we could have said no. But we didn't.
So Tove Ann and I moved our wedding date to July 12 as "our first act of love as a married couple" for another married couple.
Well, fast forward about 10 years later into our marriage, we found out that St. Louis and St. Zelie (who were then "Blessed" which is the step before official sainthood) also got married on July 12. And July 12 is their official liturgical feast day by the Catholic Church.
It was a gift.
So we've told the story of our wedding date of July 12 to our kids. And they made this for us:
We prayed the nightly family rosary during an hour of family prayer time.
We finished reading this book together as a family. 'Took us about a month. You can order it here.
I learned that St Louis helped his country's National Guard during time of war.
I am grateful to the Almighty for our 18 years of ups and down, joys and sadness, rich and poor, sickness and health, for better and for worse. I know marriage is difficult. But I am strengthened by faith that Jesus elevated it to the dignity of a Sacrament.
So thank you for reading this story.
Then we ended the day.
_____________________________
Here are some random photos over the past few months:
Mariana wrote and published (through the local printing company) her first book called "I Love Our Family."
At Mass:
Notes of what I did for my bday later in the month:
- began around midnight with prayer and thanksgiving to God for another year of life to serve Him
- slept in
- my daughter, Hope, asked for senorita bread for breakfast (went to nearby store b/c family wanted to get favorite onion rings and sunflower seeds for a little trip)
- went to get fish and chips out of town
- returned to town and did some window shopping
- as we got home, the ice cream truck passed by (Tove Ann and I have childhood memories of the ice cream truck so we wanted to continue that), so we got ice cream from the ice cream truck
- wife made homemade sushi with tilapia (usually we have it w tuna) and spaghetti
- E.J. made me a humongous vanilla peanut butter cookie "It's It" for cake
- Watched "Cheaper By the Dozen" for a family movie (had to correct some parts for kids)
- watched Mass followed by family rosary and prayer time
- kids did a surprise concert for me (w EJ playing his first real guitar piece to "Little Eyes")-
- Mariana made me a small book called "Tatay's Saints Book" with my favorite saints in it
- grateful for the family greetings
Life is precious. I am grateful for all these things God has given (and even for things He has not given).
I finished this blog on the Memorial Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
A.M.D.G.
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Master. Thank you.
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