To Arkim and Len,

Six months ago, during our meeting with the coordinators, I learned that as the maid of honor, I'll be asked to deliver a speech at your reception. "Six more months, I'm sure I can come up with a bad-ass speech", I told myself. December came and I still don't have any idea of what to put in my speech. I made an outline and started doing the draft. The one I made was full of cheesy crap; about how madly in love you two are, blah blah blah. 

However, that won't be me and I don't think you'd expect me to say anything like that, too.

So I figured, love stories aren't told. The great kind of love aren't read from books or heard from speeches, you witness them yourself, you feel them as if you're also a part of it. 

Let me share with everyone instead, my theory of how this day came to be.

My sister and I are close. We tell each other stuff all the time but we don't share the same interests or likes. We grew up with different sets of friends and acquaintances. We never had the same taste in men. We don't have the same hobbies (except for Judo of course). But we hate the same things. We're very good at pointing out flaws. We like bashing and laughing at people. We like being evil basically.

Anyway, I believe we were in high school then (I was on my fourth, she was on her second year) when this started. You know how talk shows would often have female guests and they'd be given beautiful bouquets? My sister would often drool at these things and say that she wants one. All the time. I don't like flowers of course. I believe it's a waste of money! Why would I want something expensive that I could not possibly eat?

I went to De La Salle University in Manila. Of course I somehow expected my siblings to follow suit. "Chong, gusto ko sa UST mag-aral", she mentioned one evening. I don't remember if I made any comments that night, but she went to UST and graduated there.

She had several suitors during college. She'd briefly tell me about them but never went to the details. I would probably not listen anyway. She just mentioned that she's having some trouble picking out which one to say 'yes' to and her solution was: whoever will give her roses on her debut will be the one.

At this point, Arkim and I were only acquaintances. I don't remember how many times we've met before the debut celebration itself but since he's also a judo player, it wasn't really that difficult to get to know him. I was thinking of getting my sister some flowers on that day since she's a real sucker for them, but when I spoke with Arkim, he mentioned he's giving her a bouquet or two.

I don't remember the details of the debut anymore (but I will never forget how my right thumb got caught in the van's door while I was getting in) but I remember that we were seated near the door (easy access in case a mascot shows up). The party was almost to an end and Arkim was still nowhere to be found. Len's teammates already had their fill of obnoxious Hetty and he's still missing. A few moments later, we all saw this walking ginormous bouquet of (yes you guessed right) red roses.

Destiny? I guess so because I never mentioned anything to him about the roses, that my sister wants them. But there he was, holding the bouquet higher than his head. My sister was smiling ear to ear and of course the rest was history.

So today, you're not listening to this speech, eating delicious food, drinking marvelous coffee, listening to soothing music, or witnessing this love story by accident. The couple chose you to be part of their story and as a sister to the couple and the bride's maid of honor, I would like to give you my deepest thanks for making time and celebrating this wonderful occasion with us. It's Thursday, December, and they probably demanded you to look your best at 7 or 8 in the morning. So thank you for being here.

To the couple, I wish you good healthy, cute babies, more wealth, more adventures, more fights (so we'd have something different to talk about!), and more loving. To the two of my most favorite people in the world, congratulations. I'm happy for you guys, I hope this day turned out to be what you've always wanted.

I love you both.

:)

**This was what I wanted to share at the reception but the fucking cry baby in me (and probably the wine) took over and I couldn't keep a straight head (or voice!) because I know I'll burst every time I open my mouth. I hope the speech wasn't that bad. Well, I guess so. I made you both cry (aha!) di ba? Hahahaha!