By Jose Jello S. Cubello
For her, it was an answered prayer. For him, it was the proverbial love at first sight.
It was a painful relationship that brought Angelique Selma-Llaban to altar’s foot at the Carmelites monastery in Mabolo.
“It was so funny, I just came from a traumatic relationship and I really prayed a novena to find a good man. Weeks after, I found him at a restaurant and I said to myself that this must be it,” she shared.
“She was very far among so many people. She was like at the tip of the restaurant and I was entering the restaurant. But she stood-out right away,” recalled John Francis Llaban.
“It was so long ago but I can still remember what she was wearing. You were wearing a white polo shirt right?” he asked, while soliciting a look of approval from Angel who was being prepped-up for the pictorial.
“And you were wearing green, uhm no, orange,” she responded.
“I asked from God a man who can really take care of me when I grow old, someone I can be comfortable with, and someone who is responsible. But God gave me more! There was a bonus, he gave me someone handsome!”
After that, Francis knew that he needed to find out who the pristine face in the sea of strangers is. Eventually, connections and common friends linked the two.
Incidentally both families are closely connected but despite existing in a common world, the fates only allowed their meeting on that day.
Francis, swept by Angel’s charm, was also enchanted by the closeness of her family. The Sunday reunions were appealing to him and her family was very eager to welcome him into their own.
A year and six months of dating and seven months of engagement, Francis and Angel tied the knot on Feb. 18, 2005.
“The relationship was giving me signs and I was willing to commit,” he said.
Their time was perfect as each of them were already stable. Francis couldn’t care less about forgoing a party-defined bachelor life.
For most part, the marriage changed their relationship. “The priorities are different now. Especially when you have children,” he said. “Before we were all about diving and traveling,” she concurred.
Now, their lives gravitate around their three children. “We cook together, we go to the beach and we go to the mall,” she said. “We go to Shangri-La. We do fish feeding. The kids love the Adventure Zone,” he said.
In every relationship monotony can be a real enemy. “We always try to shift the monotony,” she said. “We still get excited but not that much when we were still single. We still need to create it. We set the mood of the room,” he said with a knowing smile.
Francis and Angel make it to a point that no fight gets in their way. “I could never remember us fighting. I think it’s because of my nature and her nature. We really don’t clash. Of course we have little arguments every now and then,” he said.
When asked what gifts they are fond of giving each other: “Were really not so into things,” she said. “We’re more about memories,” he added.
Divine intervention paved way for them to meet and now that they are together, for Francis and Angel life couldn’t get any better. (Sun.Star Cebu)
