It Could Have Been My Worst Valentine’s…

Two days prior to Valentine’s Day, Peter and I have been on a rather busy schedule. Thursday evening was spent with our girlfriend Jana talking about business opportunities and early Friday morning until afternoon was spent with our girlfriend Ces at Megamall’s Bridal Fair. It was no wonder that come Valentine weekend, we were both pretty much tired. The moment 12:00 AM hit the clock and Valentine’s Day was officially   announced, I had an inkling to just stay home and watch the new  DVD movies Peter and I recently purchased. But being the type who wants to stick to her own schedule, I decided to not sleep anymore so I can wake Peter up at 1 a.m.and prepare for our trip to Clark Field, Pampanga to check out this years’ Hot Air Balloon Fest. Unfortunately, Peter just had a tiring Friday and I had a difficult time waking him up come early Saturday dawn. I almost went to sleep myself. Finally, at 5:00 a.m. we were on our way hoping to see those exciting balloons just like year 2006.

As expected, the traffic was horrible. By the time we reached Clark, people were already camping outside the airfield, away from the venue itself but near enough to take pictures of all flying things. I thought of camping there myself but eventually brushed the thought away. After about ten years, we were able to find parking, bought tickets for Php100 each and voila, we’re in! I armed myself with our Olympus Digicam on my left hand and our Sony Video Cam on my right hand trying to document what’s left of the airplane exhibition. Next thing I know, I was tumbling down the  rocky pathway over and over again and by the time I was able to steady myself, I was already seeing white stars all around me like everything was an over exposed film. I remember this feeling quite vaguely… Back in college, when I thought I cut my finger off and after seeing blood, I totally blacked out. My brother and sister told me that I passed out for twenty minutes.

Now, I didn’t want to faint in front of all those people at the Balloon Fest while I was wearing my cute cowboy attire. Tumbling down was already embarrassing enough. I figured I’d pull a “Miriam Quiambao” instead. So I steadied myself and concentrated hard to avoid fainting while Peter looked for first aid. The good thing about that moment was that I didn’t feel any pain in my knees at all. I was aware that I probably sustained major wounds on both knees. But every time I looked down or anywhere at all, all I saw was white. When Peter got back, he gave me a bottle of water and practically carried me all the way to the first aid station. Still, I didn’t feel a thing. I knew it was my body’s way of protecting myself from severe pain. Physiologically, the brain flushed me with an overdose of  adrenalin and endorphins as part of the body’s fight/flight response. My brain knows how I hate the sight of blood and my very low threshhold for pain. So I am very thankful for being “high” at that moment. By the time the first aid people were dressing my wound, the high I was feeling was slowly subsiding and I was starting to feel a bit of tingling on my left knee which sustained terrible wounds from the repeated tumbles. But again, I used mind over matter to make myself not feel too much. I didn’t want to cry. I even let Peter take pictures of the planes around  even for just ten minutes (against his will too because he just wanted to bring me home; such a sweetie).

When he came back to me, he insisted that we go home. And so we did. The ride back was one of he most “romantic” things that ever happened to us. Peter  made me laugh every minute and I never felt so close to him. Despite the little accident I had and the fact that we didn’t even get to see much of the hot air balloons, the incident left us closer to each other as husband and wife. He never left my side even when we got home. He helped dress my wounds and put me to bed. He did most of the chores so I can rest. He even cooked me a very special dinner (chicken cacciatore). So while this could have been my worst Valentine’s Day ever, I actually consider it my best. I know, I am weird. I remember there was this one Valentine’s when he even bought me Charriol jewelry and a huge bouquet of flowers but I still ended up being mad at him. And this year, nothing special really happened, and yet here I am ending up more in love with him than ever. I guess I’ve matured quite a lot over the years. Superficial stuff don’t impress me that much anymore. As long as my man can show me how much he loves me through his actions, then that is enough. He is enough. ^_^

I hope all of you had a heartfelt Valentine’s too!