same: all the creatures we are

So, I had just tossed my empty milk tea container when somebody tapped my shoulder.

I turned around and there he was, a single rose in one hand, a goofy grin on his face. I looked back at the rose and then to his face again - he looked somewhat hopeful, and somehow terrified, and some sort of endearing, and it made me smile so hard - but it was such a big surprise. Me, he was giving a rose to me? I had to ask him, so I did. I said, Is this for me? And he said, Yes, it’s for you. So I took it, and jumped a little to give him a hug because he’s so much taller than me, and I said, Aw, thank you! And I had this humongous smile on my face that I wasn’t even ashamed of hiding, because I was so happy. This guy I liked gave me a rose!

That was our first Valentine’s together, and this year marks our fourth. It also happens to be our 15th monthsary, which I forgot about until he greeted me this morning - but it’s okay because, we happen to take turns in forgetting so, it’s forgivable. We celebrated after work, him buying fresh smoked salmon from SM Supermarket and carabao milk cheese and dill, and then us heading to French Baker to buy French baguette (because the ones from SM Supermarket aren’t as good), and moving on to Starbucks, where I got us a caramel macchiatto and a chai tea latte while he made my favorite sandwich - a smoked salmon with cheese and dill sandwich - of course, the very thing he makes, because it’s the best tasting sandwich in the world.

And then we talked about our day, about his job, about my job, about the future, about how he might prefer I shop uncontrollably over books instead of bags and shoes, about how he’d prefer I shop when I need to shop, about how that is quite an impossible request. We talked about my little brother making a purple Valentine’s card for his crush instead of a red one as my dad suggested, because purple is her favorite color. We talked about our first Valentine’s together, about how he didn’t get me flowers this year but that it’s okay, about how far we’ve come.

And I see more Valentine’s like this, but more than that, I see more ordinary days like this: eating, talking, sometimes watching movies, sometimes looking through books in bookstores, sometimes looking at shoes. We won’t have smoked salmon sandwich all the time, but everything else that makes us happy as a couple thankfully need not be stored away in a box, taken out only during special occasions. We can enjoy them everyday. That’s perhaps the greatest thing about having a best friend you can be in love with, and being in love with someone you can have for a best friend.

And that is why, four Valentine’s Days and fifteen monthsaries later, and hundreds more down the road, I still wouldn’t have it any other way.

Happy Valentine’s, everyone :)