Smile, Surprise, Spanish
Bro. Eddie loves Sis. Dory with all his heart
By: Evelyn O. Katigbak
Photo Credits: Soc Garcia
As she smiles, her lips invite her eyes and nose to yield a very pleasant and sweet countenance. Simply put, a Sis. Dory smile is so charming!
But to those who know Sis. Dory, such charm is concealed by her notable frankness and firmness, and sometimes, “sungit.”These traits have always marked Sis. Dory, that’s why Bro. Eddie had a hard time courting her.
The young Eddie, a gifted keen observer, must have uncovered early on the charm beyond the sungit. Unknown to Sis. Dory, Bro. Eddie had always mingled with customers in their family restaurant just to see her. The Jose family owned and operated a restaurant outside a movie house in Bulacan; inside, they also had a small store. The restaurant never ran out of customers, especially after movie screenings. During the summer vacation before she went to college, the family assigned her to attend to the restaurant. The Jose residence was being constructed and her parents needed full attention to the construction. She helped in the cashier and sometimes, she also helped attend to customers’ needs. With the many customers they had daily, it was impossible to notice Bro. Eddie. But Sis. Dory did not have to notice. Bro. Eddie found contentment in simply gazing at the charming Sis. Dory.
When he had finally mustered enough courage, Bro. Eddie approached Sis. Dory and asked for a cup of warm water. When Sis. Dory gave him the cup of water, he asked how much it was. The question was not met by a smile; it unleashed the sungit in Sis. Dory.
“Para tubig lang eh! Hindi binabayaran yan!” Sis. Dory was irked.
But the ever persistent Bro. Eddie was not deterred. He came back again and again. Each time, he had a new strategy for initiating a conversation with the lady he was pursuing.
In one instance, he told her that he and Sis. Dory had a common classmate. The name was Danilo Concepcion. Danilo was his classmate in high school and her classmate in grade school. Sis. Dory’s reply: “Eh ano ngayon?”
In yet another attempt, Bro. Eddie gave her a love letter which she refused to receive. He left the letter on the table in the restaurant thinking Sis. Dory would not have a choice but to get it. But the firm Sis. Dory said, “Hindi! Pag hindi mo kinuha yan, ibibigay ko sa Inang ko yan. Ang Inang ko ang pababasahin ko ng sulat mo. Lumayas ka dyan!”
On Sis. Dory’s first year at the National Teachers College (NTC), Bro. Eddie found another way to be close to her heart: He would fetch her from school.
Scenes at the NTC gate were a battle of who was more quick-witted. Sis. Dory, who did not want a suitor fetching her, would peek at the campus gate and see if Bro. Eddie was waiting for her. In the beginning, she always outsmarted Bro. Eddie. She hid inside the ladies’ room until such time that Bro. Eddie had left the waiting area outside the campus.
But after a while, Bro. Eddie was able to catch his beloved. Sis. Dory was walking from the campus to Quiapo to get her ride to Bulacan when all of a sudden, the persistent Bro. Eddie walked beside her and lovingly called her name, “Dory!”
His unexpected appearance surprised Sis. Dory, but still she managed to not talk to him all through their trip to Bulacan.
The love letters kept on coming, but they were no longer returned. The sungit Dory, without her wanting to admit, admired the obvious intelligence and smartness of the letter-writer. “Very brilliant,” she said of Bro. Eddie.
Bro. Eddie continued to fetch her, and Sis. Dory no longer hid from him. In her heart, she knew that she was safe in the company of a caring man.
Love was slowly unfolding.
But even if the sungit had subsided, Sis. Dory did not want a boyfriend yet. When asked if they could be boyfriend-girlfriend, the answer was a firm “No.”
Bro. Eddie then had to craft a strategy to get the answer he wanted. He gave her a small, heart-shaped, grimy metal and told Sis. Dory: “Alam mo ‘tong metal na ‘to, pag ito’y kinikiskis, kumikinang. Parang madumi. Pero pag kiniskis mo ng kiniskis yan, kikinang. Nakalagay dito, ‘Only You.’ Walang pangalan. Tapos nakalagay sa kabila, ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You – Eddie.’ Iiwan ko ito sa iyo at pag nakita kong kinikinis mo, ibig sabihin ‘Yes’ na.”
Sis. Dory replied, “Ano? Hindi!” 
But the equally firm Bro. Eddie left the metal in the restaurant. Sis. Dory put it on top of a jar and left it there. She did not touch the metal again. But on a Monday when customers were not too difficult to attend to (Mondays and Tuesdays were for English movies which drew fewer viewers than Tagalog films), the metal caught Sis. Dory’s eyes and she got curious. She thought,“Totoo kaya ang sinasabi ni Eddie o niloloko lang ako?”
Sis. Dory’s eyes carefully searched the theater lobby, all its corners, as well as their restaurant. She wanted to make sure that Bro. Eddie was not around. Convinced that her eyes have done their work, she reached for the metal, got a tissue, and cleaned the heart-shaped metal. “Susubukan ko lang,” she said to herself.
“Aba, kumikintab nga!” She got so excited about the seeming magic that she did not feel Bro. Eddie approaching her.
“Huli ka!”, the naughty Bro. Eddie said. “Ibig sabihin nyan, ‘Yes’ na.” It was another surprise!
Even if she was so surprised, Sis. Dory refused to give in to the trick and threw the metal to Bro. Eddie. He got the metal and when he came back to see her again the following day, Sis. Dory’s name was already inscribed on the metal: “Only You, Dory.”
Sis. Dory did not accede to Bro. Eddie’s insistence, but they eventually became a couple. The sungit Sis. Dory met her match in Bro. Eddie, the first and only boyfriend she had. After a five-year relationship, they tied the knot on June 5, 1971.
But wait, the love story does not end here!
Sis. Dory proved herself right in her assessment of the man she married. Bro. Eddie was intelligent and caring, and, she discovered-- a lot more. He cared not only for his family, but also for the poor, oppressed, and victims of injustice. Only weeks after their honeymoon, Sis. Dory nearly became a widow when Bro. Eddie was almost killed as he helped factory workers stage a labor strike to protest the low wages given to the workers.
When martial law was declared in 1972, or only a year after their wedding, Sis. Dory was left at home after Bro. Eddie, together with other political activists, went to Infanta, Quezon to hide. He was a known labor leader in Bulacan and he was up for arrest. Bro. Eddie’s temporary home was the Villanueva-owned fishpond in Infanta which he generously shared with fellow activists.
Sis. Dory was not used to this kind of struggles in life. She was the only daughter in a brood of four and they were all raised in a relatively well-off family. With Bro. Eddie committed not only to her but to the cause of the poor and oppressed, she felt that she was less loved. “Mas mahal pa ang mahihirap at manggagawang inaapi kaysa sa akin,”Sis. Dory described her feelings.
Why not leave the marriage then?
She could not. The sungit was no longer there. Sis. Dory loved Bro. Eddie.
Their love for each other was a true-to-life definition of love: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails...” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8)
This year, Bro. Eddie and Sis. Dory will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Their love for each other continues to grow, except that today, they are both servants of the Lord Jesus Christ and their love extends to the family of God in the Jesus is Lord Church Worldwide (JILCW).
They accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Personal Savior in 1973 and, hand-in-hand, founded the JIL Church which is now established in 45 countries across the world. Bro. Eddie, a respected student leader in his time and Sis. Dory, a trained educator, also established the Jesus is Lord Colleges Foundation, a visionary endeavor that aims to ensure a succession of generations of youth who love God and the nation.
In their youth, Bro. Eddie professed and proved his pure love for Sis. Dory. As they advance in age, he continues to surprise Sis. Dory with his showers of affection.
In the latest Encounter God Retreat (EGR) for JIL’s Pastors and Fulltime Workers held only last January 25 and 26, Bro. Eddie, as always, was passionate to talk on stage about his love for God. And in an instance that nobody expected, he shifted topic and said that he remembers only one Spanish sentence today: “Yo Te Amo Con Todo Mi Corazon, Sis. Dory.” (“I love you with all my heart, Sis. Dory”)
Bro. Eddie surprised not only Sis. Dory but the audience who then loudly applauded in much delight. Blushing among the audience, Sis. Dory gave the man she loves a charming smile.
Courtesy of: JIL Worldwide Website
Available online at: http://jilworldwide.org/resources/archives/425
