Inigo De La Torre 11115408 Transcript of the interview: 1. Please explain the details how you met each other.

We were neighbors since childhood.

11/28/2013 TREDFOR TVEP Part 1

2. What influenced your decision to get married? My age ( I was 29 year-old then)and the feeling of loneliness leaving alone in Manila.

3. What are the blessings of married life? The children and the happiness of coming home after a long day of work.

4. What are the challenges of married life? Building a house that you can call home and bringing up happy and responsible children.

5. What can you advise to the young people who are in a relationship and plans to get married? Be sure that both of you are ready to handle responsibilities and hurdles of a married life. Sometimes, love is not enough reason to get married...

I have been with my parents ever since and they have always been around. They're not the ones who had to work out of the country just to get us by like other parents do, so we really all are close to each other, especially my mom. My mom has lots of stories about how she and dad ended up together. At first, I didn't want to believe that it was my mom who was making most of the moves to be noticed by dad, but now that I understand my dad's behavior, I can probably say that most of what mom tells us are true. Haha! We usually talk about these kind of stuff during dinner so when I asked to interview them for this paper, they just kept it short since they knew that I knew most of the answers already.

My mom and dad were childhood neighbors in Tayabas, Quezon. In fact, both of their houses are literally just a few steps away from each other! Their siblings are playmates since they all went to the same school until high school. My mom is a batch lower than my dad. Mom had a clear memory that dad was an achiever in school since he was the son of one of the most respected teachers in town. But mom also remembered how rowdy dad can be at times. I remember her story when mom, if I remember right, was able to be first to get the material they both needed for a project. Dad chased after mom with a branch or something. Haha! According to my mom, one of the factors why she had to "start making moves" to dad was that she was getting to old. Mom was 29 years old already and with the plan already in her mind, the only missing piece to the puzzle was dad. Mom is the type who plans everything ahead and that is what she also tells me: visualize what you want in the future, plan it, so that it may come true. It was in her plans to marry by that age and already have children since she had already saved enough to loan on a house and lot. She also felt a certain missing part in her already. Being in a relationship was not enough for her at that moment so she really wanted to take things to the next level and felt confident about it. They say it's rewarding to come home from work and seeing us, their kids, smile. They are happy to be able to provide for us. I really feel proud of my parents. We are 2 siblings, and both of us are enrolled in premiere schools in Manila. My younger sister is currently high school in Miriam College. I was in Ateneo De Manila for grade school and high school, and I can only imagine how hard it was for both my parents, for mom who was only an employee in PLDT (she never wanted a promotion because she wanted to always go home early so she could teach us when she gets home) and for dad who just entered that time into a business venture on air-condition with his classmates in college. It was never an easy task to keep the marriage perfect at all times, according to mom. I have seen these two fight before, and it was pretty nasty. Though it was not physical, I think the mental stress you get is really something that will push a human beyond his/her capabilities.

Another challenge they said was bringing us up to certain standards. I know for a fact that mom and dad had different takes on how to discipline us. Dad was the type who just kept silent but really had nasty one-liners that felt like hard blows to our character. Mom, on the other hand, was the type who had a machine-gun mouth and really used brute force. She's the one who uses a belt to discipline us and a mouth that really can't be stopped once started. But I know that those scolding sessions were worth it because I wouldn't be like this today if it weren't for the firm guiding hands of my parents. It may really hurt, the process of being in a marriage. I can only imagine being with the same person for eternity and how boring it can get, but I think, what pushes you to continue is the fact that it's not just yourself who you have to love: you have your kids. That is what my mom and dad tells me. They wouldn't have gotten through those rough patches if it wasn't for me and my sister. They loved us too much to just think of themselves. I admire them for that. Right now, me and my sister can really be materialistic, but to think about dad and mom, just being happy and content to see us happy, I realize how selfish I am at times. I am thankful to God for my parents, for maybe without them, I wouldn't be the man I am today.